Obedience = Faith

10 Lepers find Jesus passing through their region and plead, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"  Jesus' response - "Go, show yourselves to the priests (Luke 17:13)." What?! I think by "have pity on us" the lepers were hoping Jesus might touch them and heal them, so I can only imagine the confusion in their hearts when Jesus sends them on a hike! Not only that, it was unthinkable to approach a priest in such a condition of uncleanness; the lepers were almost guaranteed a strong rebuke from the priests. In short, Jesus' request didn't make a whole lot of sense. It could have seemed cruel to some.

Truth is - Jesus never speaks to the mind, but to the spirit within a person. When we obey what Jesus speaks to us in our spirit, regardless of what it looks like to this world, we will begin to live on earth as it is in heaven!

The Lord has been teaching me that the things of heaven just don't make a whole lot of sense on earth. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2 that Spirit-ual things are foolishness to this world. In other words, we are trained from birth to judge things according to what we can discern with our five senses. We trust more what we see with our natural eyes than what we might see with the eyes of our spirit. Paul goes on to say, "No eye (natural) has seen, no ear (natural) has heard, no mind (natural) has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, BUT God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." 

The most difficult thing I'm learning is to trust what Jesus speaks through Holy Spirit to my spirit, NOT MY MIND. 

Now, think about the command Jesus gave to the 10 lepers. They sought healing and he gave them an order. Their choice? To be, or not to be...OBEDIENT. Some might slap my hand at this point suggesting that I'm encouraging a form of "works-righteousness," which means we work for God's blessings. No, I'm not saying that. I am, however, suggesting that we TRUST our way into God's blessings, and our TRUST is TESTED by our OBEDIENCE to whatever Jesus speaks to us. 

Let me clarify something: we are called to obey whatever the Spirit speaks to us on Jesus' behalf; not what he spoke two years ago, but what he speaks to us today! In Romans 10:17 and Ephesians 6:17, we learn that we are saved by the "rhema" word of God; that is the Spirit-inspired word spoken to us for any given situation, which breaths life into our spirit, making anything he says to us "light and easy." Let us not forget the Pharisees were rebuked by Jesus because they knew the scriptures better than anyone, but MISSED what the scriptures point to - the living Word - Jesus! Holy Spirit uses the scriptures to point us in any given situation into the arms of our Savior. But apart from the "rhema" word from Holy Spirit, the scriptures are nothing more than another law to be followed in our own strength. 

There is a difference between doing something because you're pastor or a Christian author told you the bible says so, and doing what Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit. (Think about that one for a minute.)

So what happened to the 10 lepers? "And AS THEY WENT, they were cleansed (v.19)." I am convinced the 10 lepers received their physical healing because they obeyed what Jesus spoke to them in that moment, no matter how much sense it did or didn't make to their minds. I want to learn obedience to every "rhema" word spoken to my spirit, in every situation, regardless of potential consequences. I believe this is what Paul referred to as "walking in the Spirit." Abraham did this when he left home for a "promise land." Joseph did this when he interpreted the chief baker's dream, even though it was unfavorable. Moses did this when he told Pharaoh to let God's people go.  The people of Israel did this when they followed the cloud wherever it led. Joshua and Caleb did this when they chose to hold to God's promise rather than follow the crowd. David did this when he challenged Goliath. Mary did this when she endured shame for the birth of the Son of God. The disciples of Jesus did this when they left everything to follow a guy who never spoke a rational word.

YOU and I do this every time we say "yes" to what Holy Spirit tells our spirit. Obedience to the voice of Jesus through Holy Spirit leads us more deeply into the reality of heaven on earth. The cost? YOU and I become like Jesus, a 'weird' guy who was more interested in what Holy Spirit was saying to him than what the people around him said; more attuned to the Spirit-ual than the natural; more eager to fulfill his father's desires than his own or of anyone else.  The cost? Jesus said it well, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow (trust/obey) me."