Grace Covenant Church of Mid Mo
I WANT TO COME BACK AND SAY THANK YOU! 2

      • Psalm 133:1NKJV

      • Psalm 147:3NKJV

      • Psalm 67KJV1900

  • The Cave Was Not Your Ceiling

    Opening

    There are moments when God announces your future while you are still living in circumstances that look nothing like it.
    David had been called from the sheepfold. Samuel poured oil upon his head in the presence of his brothers. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and heaven declared that he had been chosen.
    Yet after the oil came conflict.
    He defeated Goliath, but victory did not make his life easier. His success made Saul jealous. The songs of Israel became a source of irritation to the king. The same David who had been welcomed into the palace was soon running from it.
    He went from playing the harp before Saul to hiding in caves because Saul wanted him dead.
    But God was doing something in those caves.
    The cave was not David’s burial place. It was his classroom.
    The wilderness was not the end of the promise. It was where God prepared David to carry the weight of the promise.
    Foundational Scriptures: 1 Samuel 22:1-5, 1 Samuel 24:1-7, 1 Samuel 30:1-8, 2 Samuel 5:1-12,
    1 Samuel 22:1–5 CJB
    David left there and took refuge in the Cave of ‘Adulam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family heard of it, they went down to see him there. Then all the people in distress, in debt or embittered began gathering around him, and he became their leader; there were about four hundred with him. David went from there to Mitzpeh of Mo’av and said to the king of Mo’av, “Please let my father and mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” He presented them to the king of Mo’av, and they lived with him as long as David remained in his stronghold. But the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave, and go to the land of Y’hudah.” So David left and went to the Forest of Heret.

    The Central Burden of the Message

    Before David ever sat on the throne, he learned how to survive in the wilderness. Before he wore a crown, he slept in caves. Before people called him king, Saul called him an enemy.
    Yet the cave was not proof that God had forgotten David. The cave was part of God’s preparation. God used the wilderness to strip David of self-reliance, develop his discernment, govern his emotions, deepen his worship, and teach him how to trust the promise when everything around him contradicted it.
    David was anointed, but he was not immediately elevated.
    That is where many believers become discouraged. We think the oil should remove the opposition. We think the prophecy should eliminate the process. We believe that once God speaks, everything should begin moving quickly.
    David teaches us that a word from God can be true while your surroundings still look wrong.
    Samuel had anointed him, but Saul was still king. David had the promise, but Saul still had the palace. David had oil on his head, but he had dust on his clothes. Yet none of those conditions cancelled what God had spoken.
    The message is this:
    You may be in a low place, but God has already spoken a higher word over your life.

    The Higher Place Begins With a Divine Choice

    In 1 Samuel 16:7, God told Samuel that man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
    David was overlooked by his father, underestimated by his brothers, and left with the sheep. Yet God saw something in him that others did not see.
    His elevation did not begin when people recognized him. It began when God chose him.
    That speaks to those who feel unseen. You do not have to force people to recognize what God has already appointed. You do not have to manipulate your way into a room that God has ordained for you.
    When God prepares to take you higher, He does not need everyone’s approval. He only needs your obedience.
    The oil found David in the field.
    That means God knows where you are. He knows your address. He knows the cave. He knows the wilderness. He knows the hidden place. When your appointed hour comes, the oil will find you.

    Going Higher May First Look Like Going Lower

    David’s life appears to move backward after his anointing.
    He is chosen, then hunted.
    He is celebrated, then rejected.
    He is brought into the palace, then driven into the wilderness.
    This is where the sermon can confront our understanding of elevation. We often define higher by visibility, comfort, position, and recognition. God defines higher by maturity, obedience, character, and spiritual authority.
    David was physically lower in the cave, but spiritually he was growing higher.
    He was becoming more prayerful.
    He was becoming more discerning.
    He was becoming less dependent on human systems.
    He was learning how to hear God when there was no prophet standing beside him.
    Some seasons feel like demotion, but heaven calls them development.
    You thought you were being pushed down. God was driving your roots deeper.
    You thought you had been forgotten. God was teaching you how to survive without applause.
    You thought the cave was punishment. God was preparing you to enter the palace without becoming corrupted by it.

    The Cave Taught David Dependence

    Psalm 57 is connected with David’s experience of fleeing from Saul into a cave.
    David says in Psalm 57:1, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee.”
    The cave forced David to depend on God.
    There were no palace guards protecting him. There was no army surrounding him. There was no royal treasury funding him. David had to learn that God could sustain him without the resources of Saul’s kingdom.
    This is a major theme for the message:
    God may remove what you leaned upon so that you can discover the strength of the One who has been holding you.
    Higher requires another level of dependence.
    God does not take us higher so that we can become independent of Him. He takes us higher after we have learned that we can do nothing without Him.
    John 15:5, reminds us that without Christ, we can do nothing.
    John 15:5 CJB
    “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing.
    David learned this in caves. Jesus demonstrated it in prayer. Before major decisions, Christ withdrew and prayed. Before Calvary, He prayed in Gethsemane. The higher the assignment, the deeper the dependence.

    The Cave Taught David Restraint

    In 1 Samuel 24:1-7, David had an opportunity to kill Saul.
    Saul entered the cave where David and his men were hiding. David’s men interpreted the opportunity as permission. They believed God had delivered Saul into David’s hand.
    Yet David refused to kill him.
    This is crucial because not every opportunity is an instruction from God.
    David could have taken the throne, but he would have damaged his soul.
    He understood that a right promise could not be possessed through a wrong method.
    Higher requires restraint.
    David had to prove that he could handle power before God trusted him with the throne. He had the ability to destroy Saul, but he did not have divine permission.
    There are people who will encourage you to do something because you have the chance. They will tell you, “This must be God. Look how the door opened.”
    Every open door is not a door God wants you to walk through.
    Sometimes the test is not whether you can defeat your enemy. The test is whether you can spare them.
    Sometimes the test is whether you will allow God to vindicate you instead of taking revenge.
    Romans 12:19, teaches us that vengeance belongs to the Lord.
    David did not have to destroy Saul to become king. God had already determined David’s future.
    You do not have to become like the person who wounded you in order to rise above what they did to you.

    Higher Requires Healing From the Previous Season

    David could not carry Saul’s spirit into David’s kingdom.
    He had been mistreated, hunted, lied on, betrayed, and forced from his home. Yet when the time came for him to reign, he had to lead people without allowing bitterness to govern him.
    This is where the message can speak directly to the congregation.
    Some people have survived the cave, but the cave is still living inside them.
    They escaped the situation, but they have not escaped the anger.
    They left the place, but they still carry the wound.
    They survived what happened, but every decision is still being shaped by what happened.
    God is not only calling you out of the cave. He is removing the cave from your heart.
    You cannot go higher carrying every offence, every grudge, every name, and every painful memory as part of your identity.
    Hebrews 12:15, warns us about a root of bitterness springing up and troubling us.
    Higher will require you to release what cannot follow you.

    Ziklag Was the Final Test Before Elevation

    In 1 Samuel 30:1-8, David returned to Ziklag and discovered that the city had been burned. The women and children had been taken captive. David’s own men spoke of stoning him.
    David had already endured Saul’s hatred. Now the people closest to him turned against him.
    Yet 1 Samuel 30:6, says David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
    This is a turning point.
    David did not have anyone encouraging him. He had to reach into his relationship with God and find strength.
    He then asked the Lord, “Shall I pursue this troop?”
    God told him to pursue, overtake, and recover all.
    Ziklag looked like another loss, but it stood close to David’s elevation. Shortly after this, Saul died, and David was brought into the place God had promised.
    The pressure intensified because the transition was near.
    This can become a powerful word for the church:
    Do not mistake the intensity of the battle for the cancellation of the promise.
    The enemy wants you to quit near the border of fulfilment.
    David had to keep moving while grieving.
    He had to seek God while disappointed.
    He had to lead while wounded.
    He had to pursue while exhausted.
    Yet when God said pursue, David moved.

    The Season of Running Came to an End

    In 2 Samuel 5:1-3, the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and acknowledged what God had already established.
    They said, “The Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel.”
    David did not have to campaign for what God had promised.
    The same people who once overlooked him came to recognize him.
    The same nation that watched him flee from Saul now gathered to crown him.
    God knows how to bring people into agreement with what He has spoken.
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign. The promise had survived the waiting. The oil had survived the wilderness. The calling had survived the cave.
    He did not arrive empty. He arrived prepared.

    The Prophetic Declaration

    This section can rise with repetition and congregational response:
    I declare that in this season, you are going higher.
    Not higher in pride, but higher in purpose.
    Not higher so people can applaud you, but higher so God can use you.
    Higher in discernment.
    Higher in discipline.
    Higher in prayer.
    Higher in wisdom.
    Higher in spiritual authority.
    Higher in your understanding of the Word.
    Higher in your ability to forgive.
    Higher in your ability to endure.
    Higher in your ability to hear God clearly.
    God has already turned it around for your good.
    What was intended to destroy you has developed you.
    What tried to break you has built endurance in you.
    What forced you into the cave taught you how to pray.
    What made you cry taught you compassion.
    What stripped you taught you dependence.
    What delayed you taught you patience.
    What opposed you taught you how to stand.
    Romans 8:28, still declares that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
    The way has been made.
    The door has been opened.
    The season has changed.
    Your due season is here.
    Galatians 6:9, says that we shall reap in due season if we do not faint.
    You did not faint.
    You may have cried, but you did not faint.
    You may have slowed down, but you did not faint.
    You may have questioned how long it would take, but you did not walk away from God.
    Now it is time to reap the harvest of the Lord.

    A Strong Refrain

    The cave was not my ceiling. The wilderness was not my grave. The oil is still on me. The promise is still alive. In this season, I am going higher.
    Another refrain could be:
    I survived the cave. I passed the test. I kept my heart. I am ready to go higher.

    Christological Direction

    David’s story ultimately points us to Jesus Christ.
    David was an anointed king who suffered before he reigned. Jesus is the Anointed One who suffered before entering His glory.
    David was rejected by Saul, though he had done no wrong. Jesus was rejected by His own, though no sin was found in Him.
    David went into the cave and emerged to reign. Jesus was placed in a tomb, but the grave could not hold Him.
    Philippians 2:8-11, shows Christ humbling Himself unto death, followed by God highly exalting Him and giving Him a name above every name.
    The pattern of the Kingdom is clear. The way up passes through surrender. The crown follows the cross. Resurrection follows death.
    Because Jesus got up, every believer joined to Him has hope beyond the cave.
    Your higher place is not grounded in positive thinking. It is grounded in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    Theological Emphases

    Sanctification before elevation: God develops the inner person before expanding the public assignment.
    Divine providence: God can use opposition, delay, rejection, and wilderness seasons without becoming the author of evil.
    Christlike restraint: Spiritual maturity is revealed by what we refuse to do, even when we possess the power to do it.
    Resurrection hope: The cave cannot become the final word over the life of one who belongs to the risen Christ.

    Questions to Press Upon the Congregation

    What has the cave produced in you?
    Has the wilderness made you bitter, or has it made you dependent on God?
    Can God trust you with authority after you have been wounded by authority?
    Are you trying to force what God has promised?
    Have you mistaken an opportunity for an instruction?
    Are you prepared to leave the pain of the previous season behind?
    Can you encourage yourself in the Lord when everyone else is silent?
    What must be healed in you before you go higher?

    Altar Direction

    There are people who know that God has called them higher, but they are tired from the cave.
    They are tired of running.
    Tired of waiting.
    Tired of fighting the same battle.
    Tired of carrying the memory of what Saul did.
    This altar is for those who are ready to release the wilderness season.
    You are not coming because you have failed. You are coming because God is preparing you for what comes next.
    Bring Him the fear.
    Bring Him the bitterness.
    Bring Him the disappointment.
    Bring Him the need to be understood.
    Bring Him the temptation to force the promise.
    Come and declare, “Lord, prepare my heart for the place You are taking me.”
    The cave was not your ceiling. The wilderness was not your grave. The oil is still upon your life.
    I declare that in this season, you are going higher.
  • There are moments in life when you do not need another request. You do not need another prayer list. You do not need another prophecy. You do not need God to prove anything else to you. Sometimes you need to stop where you are, turn around, look back over where the Lord has brought you from, and say, “Lord, I just came back to tell You thank You.”
    I know there are still things we are believing God for. Every prayer has not been answered the way we wanted. There are situations still sitting on the altar. There are names we are still calling. There are doors we are still waiting to see open. There are things we have asked God for that have not yet manifested. But before I ask Him for another thing, I want to thank Him for what He has already done. Before I ask Him to open the next door, I need to thank Him for the doors He already opened. Before I complain about what I do not have, I need to remember what I did not have before He blessed me. Before I talk about where I want to go, I need to remember where He brought me from. I want to come back and say thank You.
    Luke 17:11-12, tells us that Jesus was traveling toward Jerusalem. That detail matters because Jesus knew what was waiting for Him in Jerusalem. The cross was ahead. Betrayal was ahead. Gethsemane was ahead. Rejection was ahead. Calvary was ahead. Jesus was walking toward His own suffering, yet while He carried the weight of His own assignment, He still had enough compassion to notice somebody else's suffering. He was headed toward the cross, but He still heard the cry of ten lepers standing beside the road.
    Luke 17:11–17 NKJV
    Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
    That alone is enough to thank Him for. Jesus can be carrying the weight of redemption and still hear somebody crying His name. He can be moving toward His purpose and still stop for people who are hurting. He can be dealing with the greatest moment in human history and still have mercy for somebody standing on the edge of society.
    Luke tells us that these ten men stood afar off. They did not stand at a distance because they were shy. They stood at a distance because their condition required it. Leviticus 13:45-46, explains that a person with leprosy was considered unclean and separated from the community. Leprosy did more than attack the body. It attacked relationships. It attacked family. It attacked worship. It attacked human contact. These men were alive, but isolated. They were breathing, but disconnected. They could see society moving around them, but they could not freely participate in it.
    There are some conditions that create distance in your life. Sometimes shame creates distance. Sometimes failure creates distance. Sometimes grief creates distance. Sometimes sickness creates distance. Sometimes disappointment causes you to withdraw. Sometimes what happened to you makes you stand afar off because you have convinced yourself that you no longer belong close.
    But I thank God that when they could not get close to Jesus, Jesus was still close enough to hear them.
    Luke 17:13, says they lifted up their voices and cried, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They could not touch Him, but they could call Him. They could not get near Him, but they could cry out to Him. Their condition had taken many things from them, but it had not taken their voice.
    Never underestimate what can happen when hurting people use the voice they have left to call on Jesus.
    The enemy may have attacked your money, but you still have a voice. He may have attacked your body, but you still have a voice. You may have been betrayed, but you still have a voice. You may have been disappointed, overlooked, rejected, talked about, or misunderstood, but if you still have breath, you still have something with which to call on God.
    Psalm 34:6, says, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him.”
    There are cries God heard that nobody around you ever heard. He heard what you whispered into your pillow. He heard the prayer you prayed sitting in your car. He heard what came out of your mouth when all you could say was, “Jesus.” He heard you when you could not put the pain into a proper sentence. He heard you when you did not know how to explain what was going on inside of you.
    He heard you.
    And somebody ought to come back and say thank You because He heard you.
    Then the text takes an interesting turn. Luke 17:14, says that when Jesus saw them, He told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
    Jesus did not touch them. He did not call them closer. He did not immediately pronounce them clean. He gave them an instruction.
    Go.
    According to Leviticus 14:1-32, the priest was responsible for examining someone who had been healed and declaring that person clean. The priest did not perform the healing. The priest certified that healing had taken place.
    So Jesus told men who still looked diseased to start walking toward the person who would certify their healing.
    Think about that. They had no visible evidence yet. Their skin still carried the appearance of the disease. Their condition still looked the same. But the Word of Jesus had been spoken. Now faith had to decide whether the Word was enough.
    The Bible says, “And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.”
    As they went.
    Not while they stood still.
    Not while they debated what Jesus meant.
    Not while they waited for physical evidence.
    As they went.
    Their miracle met them while they obeyed.
    There are times when God will change your situation before you move, but there are other times when God tells you to start walking on the Word He gave you, and somewhere in the obedience the manifestation appears.
    Abraham learned this in Genesis 12:1-4,. God told him to leave his country and go to a land that God would show him. Israel learned it at the Jordan in Joshua 3:13-17,. The waters did not move until the priests stepped into the river. Peter learned it in Matthew 14:28-29,. He had to step out of the boat after Jesus said, “Come.”
    The ten lepers discovered the same truth. Some miracles are not discovered while standing still. Some miracles are discovered while walking in obedience.
    Now before we become too critical of the nine who did not return, we have to acknowledge this much. All ten obeyed. All ten started walking. All ten believed Jesus enough to move at His command. All ten headed toward the priest. All ten were cleansed.
    But the deeper question in this passage is not who got cleansed.
    The deeper question is what they did after they were cleansed.
    Luke 17:15, says, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned.”
    That verse is the heart of this sermon.
    One of them saw.
    All ten had been cleansed, but one looked closely enough at what had happened for what he saw to affect his heart.
    I can imagine him looking at his hands. Looking at his arms. Looking at the places where disease had once eaten away at his body. Maybe he saw healthy skin where sores had been. Maybe he realized that feeling had returned to places that had been numb. Maybe he looked at another leper walking beside him and saw the same thing happening to them.
    Something inside of him broke open.
    He could not keep walking.
    Something in that man said, “I know Jesus told me to go to the priest, and I will obey what He told me, but before I do anything else, I have to turn around and go back to the One who did this.”
    Gratitude changed his direction.
    That is what biblical gratitude does.
    True thanksgiving does not merely celebrate the gift. It follows the gift back to the Giver.
    Gratitude says, “I know this did not happen by accident.”
    Gratitude says, “I know I did not bring myself through this.”
    Gratitude says, “I did not heal myself.”
    Gratitude says, “I did not preserve myself.”
    Gratitude says, “I know where my help came from.”
    Psalm 124:1-2, says, “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side.”
    Sometimes you have to have an old-fashioned “if it had not been.”
    If it had not been for the Lord, I would not be here.
    If it had not been for mercy, that mistake would have destroyed me.
    If it had not been for grace, that season would have taken me out.
    If it had not been for God holding my mind together, I might have lost myself in what I went through.
    If it had not been for God protecting me from dangers I did not even know were around me, I would not be standing here.
    So excuse me if I turn around.
    Excuse me if I lift my hands.
    Excuse me if I get emotional.
    Excuse me if tears run down my face.
    You do not know what I am remembering.
    You see where I am now, but you do not know where He found me.
    I want to come back and say thank You.
    Luke 17:15, says that the man returned “with a loud voice glorified God.”
    I love that part because when this man needed mercy, he was loud. Luke 17:13, says the ten lifted up their voices asking Jesus for help. When he needed something from Jesus, he had no problem making noise.
    And when he received something from Jesus, he still had no problem making noise.
    He did not become quiet after he got blessed.
    That speaks to us because sometimes people are loud during the crisis and silent after the deliverance.
    When trouble comes, we cry, “Lord, help me!”
    When the doctor gives a bad report, we ask everybody we know to pray.
    When the money gets tight, we say, “Jesus, make a way.”
    When our children are in trouble, we know how to call His name.
    When the marriage is under attack, we know how to cry out.
    But then God brings us through and suddenly we get quiet.
    The Samaritan teaches us that if I was loud when I needed mercy, I ought to be willing to be loud when mercy shows up.
    Psalm 107:2, says, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.”
    If He healed you, say so.
    If He delivered you, say so.
    If He protected you, say so.
    If He kept your mind, say so.
    If He forgave you, say so.
    If He restored you, say so.
    There ought to be something in our worship that reveals we remember what God has done.
    Hebrews 13:15, describes praise as the sacrifice of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
    This Samaritan did not have a choir behind him. He did not have musicians. He did not have an organ. He did not have a praise team telling him to lift his hands.
    He had a memory.
    Sometimes memory is enough to make you worship.
    He remembered how he looked when Jesus found him. He remembered how far away he had to stand. He remembered the disease that had been consuming his body. He remembered the isolation. He remembered being treated as unclean.
    Then he looked at himself healed.
    Memory became worship.
    Spurgeon once made the observation that external religious exercises are often easier than the inward movement of a thankful heart. All ten were willing to carry out the religious requirement of going to the priest, but only one turned the whole moment into praise.
    That is where the text begins to examine us.
    It is possible to obey religious procedures and still miss intimacy.
    It is possible to go to church and never really fall at His feet.
    It is possible to know when to stand, know when to sit, know when to clap, know when to shout, know the songs, know the Scriptures, know the language of church, and still fail to recognize how much mercy has been poured into your life.
    The nine continued toward the priest.
    The one came back to Jesus.
    Luke 17:16, says he fell down on his face at Jesus’ feet and gave Him thanks.
    Look at the movement of this man’s story. In Luke 17:12, he was standing afar off. In Luke 17:16, he is lying at the feet of Jesus.
    Mercy closed the distance.
    The man who could not come close is now at His feet.
    The man who had been separated is now in the posture of worship.
    The man who had to cry from far away is now near enough to fall before Christ.
    That is what Jesus does.
    Sin says, “Stay away.”
    Shame says, “Stay away.”
    Condemnation says, “Stay away.”
    But grace brings us near.
    Ephesians 2:13, says that those who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
    Somebody ought to thank God because you are not where you used to be.
    You were far off, but now you are near.
    You were alienated, but now you have been adopted.
    You were guilty, but now you have been forgiven.
    You were condemned, but now you have been justified.
    You were lost, but now you have been found.
    You were spiritually dead, but now you are alive in Christ.
    That is why when I thank God, I cannot stop at material things.
    I thank Him for the house, but the house is not my greatest blessing.
    I thank Him for the car, but the car is not my greatest blessing.
    I thank Him for the job, but the job is not my greatest blessing.
    I thank Him for provision, but provision is not my greatest blessing.
    My greatest blessing is that Jesus saved my soul.
    The miracle of salvation is greater than anything God can put in your hand.
    Luke then tells us something that would have surprised the original Jewish audience. The man who returned was a Samaritan.
    The unlikely one came back.
    The outsider came back.
    The one people would have expected the least from gave the greatest demonstration of gratitude.
    Luke often uses Samaritans this way. In Luke 10:30-37, it is a Samaritan who stops to help the wounded man. In Luke 17:11-19, it is a Samaritan who returns to worship.
    There is something powerful about people who know they had no entitlement to what they received.
    Entitlement suffocates thanksgiving.
    When you believe God owes you, you stop thanking Him.
    When you believe you earned everything you have, thanksgiving dries up.
    But when you understand grace, gratitude begins to flow.
    Ephesians 2:8-9, says that we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
    The Samaritan had no reason to boast.
    Neither do we.
    Gratitude is an act of humility because it forces us to admit, “Somebody did something for me that I could not do for myself.”
    That is the Gospel.
    We could not save ourselves.
    We could not cleanse ourselves.
    We could not reconcile ourselves to God.
    We could not erase our own sin.
    So Jesus came.
    Romans 5:8, says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
    Calvary is enough reason to say thank You.
    If He never gives me another material thing, thank You for Calvary.
    If another door never opens, thank You for Calvary.
    If my name never becomes known, thank You for Calvary.
    If I never become wealthy, thank You for Calvary.
    If my life does not unfold exactly as I planned, thank You that Jesus died for me, rose for me, called me, forgave me, and gave me eternal life.
    Then Jesus asks a question that ought to trouble every thankful heart.
    Luke 17:17-18, says, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?”
    Jesus counted.
    He knew how many had cried.
    He knew how many had been healed.
    He knew how many were missing.
    That means Jesus notices gratitude.
    And Jesus notices the absence of gratitude.
    He does not ask where His payment is.
    He does not ask why nobody compensated Him for the miracle.
    He asks where the people are who received mercy.
    “Where are the nine?”
    That question reaches beyond the road in Luke 17,.
    How many times have we been among the nine?
    We prayed for something, received it, and moved on.
    We asked God to bring us through something. He did, and we barely stopped long enough to acknowledge Him.
    We begged Him to open a door. Then once the door opened, the door became more important than the One who opened it.
    We asked for the relationship, then allowed the relationship to take us away from God.
    We asked for the business, then became too busy to worship.
    We asked for the ministry, then became more consumed with ministry than with the God who called us.
    We asked for increase, then allowed the increase to steal the time we used to give to prayer.
    We asked for healing, then after we recovered we began living as if we had healed ourselves.
    And heaven still asks, “Where are the nine?”
    Psalm 103:2, says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
    David does not say, “Bless the benefits.”
    He says, “Bless the LORD.”
    The benefits should awaken the memory, but God must receive the worship.
    There is always a danger that we begin loving what comes from God’s hand more than we love God Himself.
    Israel struggled with this. God gave them manna, and they complained about manna. God gave them water, and they complained about the journey. God brought them out of Egypt, but in Numbers 14:3-4, they began talking about going back.
    Romans 1:21, says that although humanity knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, neither were they thankful.
    That tells us that ingratitude is not a small spiritual problem.
    Ingratitude reveals a heart beginning to lose its awareness of dependence upon God.
    A thankful heart remembers dependence.
    An unthankful heart begins imagining independence.
    Thanksgiving says, “I need God.”
    Thanksgiving says, “My breath comes from Him.”
    Thanksgiving says, “My strength comes from Him.”
    Thanksgiving says, “My opportunity comes from Him.”
    Thanksgiving says, “My salvation comes from Him.”
    Thanksgiving kills pride because thanksgiving makes us admit that we are recipients of mercy.
    First Thessalonians 5:18, says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
    Notice that Scripture says in everything, not necessarily for everything.
    We do not have to pretend painful things are good.
    Betrayal is not good.
    Sickness is not good.
    Abuse is not good.
    Death is not good.
    Loss is not good.
    But God is still good.
    So I can give thanks in the situation because my thanksgiving is not rooted in the goodness of the situation. My thanksgiving is rooted in the goodness of God.
    Habakkuk 3:17-18, gives us this picture. Habakkuk imagines fields without produce, stalls without cattle, crops failing, and everything around him looking empty. Yet he says, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”
    That is mature gratitude.
    Anybody can praise God when everything is going right.
    Faith learns how to praise God while the field is empty.
    Faith says, “I do not understand this chapter, but I know the Author.”
    Faith says, “I do not like where I am, but I know Who is with me.”
    Faith says, “My heart hurts, but God has not stopped being God.”
    Faith says, “I have cried, but I still have a thank You.”
    Philippians 4:6-7, tells us to be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to make our requests known to God.
    Thanksgiving belongs in the prayer.
    Why?
    Because gratitude gives prayer a memory.
    I can tell God what I need while remembering what He has already done.
    “Lord, I need You to make a way, but You have made ways before.”
    “Lord, I need healing, but You have sustained me before.”
    “Lord, I need provision, but You have never abandoned me.”
    “Lord, I need direction, but You have ordered my steps before.”
    Thanksgiving says that the God I am calling on today is the same God who carried me yesterday.
    David understood this when he faced Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, David did not begin his conversation with Goliath. He began with the lion and the bear. He remembered past deliverance before facing a present battle.
    Sometimes you need to remind yourself, “This is not the first thing God has brought me through.”
    That memory can change the way you face what is in front of you.
    The old story of Matthew Henry offers another picture of this kind of gratitude. After being robbed, Henry wrote about the reasons he could still give thanks. He was thankful he had not been robbed before. He was thankful they took his possessions but not his life. He was thankful that what had been stolen was not everything. He was thankful that he was the person robbed rather than the person doing the robbing.
    That does not mean the robbery was good.
    It means pain did not blind him to mercy.
    That is a word for somebody.
    Yes, I lost something, but I did not lose everything.
    Yes, I cried, but I survived.
    Yes, they left, but Jesus stayed.
    Yes, a door closed, but my purpose did not die.
    Yes, that season hurt, but that season did not destroy me.
    Sometimes thanksgiving is not about what God gave you.
    Sometimes thanksgiving is about what God would not allow to take you out.
    Luke 17:16, says the Samaritan fell down on his face.
    Gratitude bends.
    Pride stands up and says, “Look what I accomplished.”
    Gratitude bows and says, “Look what the Lord has done.”
    Pride says, “My intelligence got me here.”
    Gratitude says, “God gave me the mind.”
    Pride says, “My connections did this.”
    Gratitude says, “God gave me favor.”
    Pride says, “I survived because I am strong.”
    Gratitude says, “The Lord strengthened me.”
    Psalm 116:12, asks, “What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me?”
    How do you repay grace?
    You cannot.
    You cannot repay God for saving you.
    You cannot repay God for keeping you.
    You cannot repay God for forgiving you.
    You cannot repay God for the cross.
    You can only respond.
    Worship is a response.
    Obedience is a response.
    Giving is a response.
    Serving is a response.
    Holiness is a response.
    Thanksgiving is a response.
    I am not trying to pay God back.
    I am responding to something I could never repay.
    Then Jesus says something to the Samaritan that He did not say to the other nine.
    Luke 17:19, says, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
    Luke 17:19 KJV 1900
    And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
    All ten had already been cleansed.
    So what is Jesus talking about?
    The word used here carries the sense of being saved, delivered, rescued, or made whole. The Greek verb is sōzō. Luke appears to move our attention beyond the skin.
    The other nine received cleansing.
    This man encountered Christ.
    The other nine received what they asked for.
    This man returned to the feet of the One who gave it.
    I do not want God to only fix what is around me while something inside me remains untouched.
    I do not want a healed body with a sick soul.
    I do not want financial success with a starving spirit.
    I do not want ministry success without intimacy with Christ.
    I do not want the blessing to become more important than the Blesser.
    Jesus, if You bless me, keep my heart.
    If You increase me, keep my heart.
    If You heal me, keep my heart.
    If You elevate me, keep my heart.
    If You open doors for me, keep my heart.
    If You put my name in places I never imagined, keep my heart.
    Do not allow what You give me to become the thing that pulls me away from You.
    I want to come back.
    Maybe some of the things God has done in your life were invitations to return to Him.
    What if the healing was not only about the healing?
    What if the provision was not only about the money?
    What if surviving that season was not only about survival?
    What if the open door was meant to become a road leading back to Jesus?
    The Samaritan looked at his restored body and knew exactly where he needed to go.
    Back.
    Back to Jesus.
    There are people who need to come back to prayer.
    Come back to worship.
    Come back to Scripture.
    Come back to obedience.
    Come back to your first love.
    Come back to the feet of Jesus.
    Revelation 2:4-5, records Jesus speaking to the church at Ephesus and telling them that they had left their first love. He told them to remember, repent, and return.
    Thanksgiving begins with remembering.
    What has God done for you that you stopped thanking Him for?
    What are you living in today that you once prayed desperately to receive?
    Has the blessing brought you closer to Christ, or has the blessing quietly taken His place?
    Are you more passionate when asking God for something than you are when thanking Him after you receive it?
    When you look over your life, can you identify places where only the mercy of God explains why you are still standing?
    If Jesus counted His blessings toward you today and asked, “Where are the thankful ones?” would He find you at His feet?
    Grace Covenant, we have something to thank Him for.
    We are still here.
    After everything, we are still here.
    After attacks, we are still here.
    After disappointment, we are still here.
    After people walked away, we are still here.
    After questions we could not answer, we are still here.
    After seasons when we did not know what God was doing, we are still here.
    We have scars, but we are still here.
    We have memories, but we are still here.
    We have had to pray through some things, cry through some things, forgive through some things, and worship through some things.
    But we are still here.
    And I have decided that I am not going to spend all my time talking about the nine who did not come back.
    I want to be the one.
    I am coming back with worship.
    I am coming back with praise.
    I am coming back with obedience.
    I am coming back with my testimony.
    I am coming back with my whole heart.
    Thank You, Jesus.
    Thank You for keeping me.
    Thank You for covering me.
    Thank You for correcting me.
    Thank You for forgiving me.
    Thank You for every door You opened.
    Thank You for every door You closed.
    Thank You for people You sent.
    Thank You for people You removed.
    Thank You for prayers You answered.
    And now that I am older and wiser, thank You for some prayers You did not answer the way I wanted You to answer them.
    Thank You for dangers seen and unseen.
    Thank You that the weapon formed, but it did not finish me.
    Thank You that trouble came, but trouble did not get the last word.
    Thank You that when I wandered, You called me.
    Thank You that when I fell, You lifted me.
    Thank You that when I sinned, the blood still had power.
    Thank You that when I could not reach You, You reached me.
    Thank You for Jesus.
    Thank You for the cross.
    Thank You for the empty tomb.
    Thank You for the Holy Ghost.
    Thank You for another morning.
    Thank You for another chance.
    Thank You for mercy that was new when I woke up.
    I just came back to say thank You.
    Before we ask God for one more thing today, can we give Him what the Samaritan gave Him?
    He gave Jesus his attention.
    He gave Him his voice.
    He gave Him his humility.
    He gave Him his worship.
    He gave Him his thanks.
    Remember where He found you.
    Remember what He forgave.
    Remember what He healed.
    Remember what He carried you through.
    Remember what should have broken you.
    Remember the nights you thought would never end.
    Remember the tears nobody saw.
    Remember the prayers He answered.
    Remember the dangers He kept from you.
    Remember the mistakes He did not allow to destroy your future.
    Remember.
    And then come back.
    Come back with a loud voice.
    Come back to His feet.
    Come back and tell Him, “Jesus, I have not forgotten. Thank You.”
    There may be someone hearing this who knows you have wandered away from God. Your thanksgiving can become the road that brings you home.
    The Samaritan started far away and ended at Jesus’ feet.
    That is where grace wants to bring you.
    At His feet.
    You do not have to clean yourself up before coming.
    You do not have to fix your own heart before coming.
    You come to Jesus.
    Romans 10:9-13, says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
    Maybe your prayer today is not complicated.
    “Jesus, thank You for not giving up on me.”
    “Thank You for keeping me alive long enough to come home.”
    “Thank You for loving me when I was far away.”
    “Thank You for dying for my sin.”
    “Thank You for getting up from the grave.”
    “Thank You for giving me another opportunity to surrender.”
    Come back to Jesus.
    And if you are already saved but know your heart has become cold, come back.
    You have been doing the religious thing.
    You have been walking toward the priest.
    You have been attending.
    You have been serving.
    You have been functioning.
    But your heart has not been at His feet in a long time.
    Come back.
    Not because He stopped loving you.
    Come back because love is calling you closer.
    Father, in the name of Jesus, give us thankful hearts. Deliver us from entitlement. Deliver us from spiritual forgetfulness. Never let us become so familiar with Your mercy that we cease to marvel at it. Keep our hearts tender. Keep our memory alive. Keep our worship sincere.
    When You bless us, keep us near. When You increase us, keep us humble. When You elevate us, keep us at Your feet. When You answer prayer, do not let the answer replace the One who answered.
    Let thanksgiving rise again in our homes. Let thanksgiving rise again in our church. Let thanksgiving become part of the language of our families. Let husbands thank God for wives. Let wives thank God for husbands. Let parents thank God for their children. Let children learn to recognize the goodness of God. Let churches stop complaining long enough to remember how many times You have made a way.
    Let ministry become gratitude. Let service become gratitude. Let giving become gratitude. Let worship become gratitude.
    And when the enemy reminds us of everything that is going wrong, Holy Spirit, remind us of everything God has already done.
    Give us the heart of David in Psalm 34:1,: “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
    We will praise You in the valley.
    We will praise You on the mountain.
    We will praise You while we are waiting.
    We will praise You after we receive.
    We will praise You when we understand.
    We will praise You when we do not understand.
    And when we look back over our lives and see how mercy carried us, grace covered us, and the blood kept speaking for us, we will do what that Samaritan did.
    We will turn around.
    We will come back.
    We will fall at the feet of Jesus.
    And with a loud voice we will say, “Thank You for saving me. Thank You for keeping me. Thank You for healing me. Thank You for carrying me. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for never letting me go.”
    I do not want to be counted among the nine who received and forgot.
    Lord, let me be the one who came back.
    And if anybody asks me why I worship like this, why I cry like this, why I praise like this, why I lift my hands like this, I will tell them that I remembered what He did.
    I remembered where He found me.
    I remembered what should have happened to me.
    I remembered the mercy that kept me.
    And I just wanted to come back and say...
    THANK YOU!

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:18KJV1900

      • Deuteronomy 1:11CJBIB

      • Hebrews 1:3NKJV

      • Psalm 133:1NKJV

      • Psalm 147:3NKJV

Grace Covenant Church of Mid Mo
info@damascusministries.org
573-290-2144
https://www.mograce.org
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