Luke 5:12
And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

This verse is packed with power. Jesus was in a city and was met by a man FULL of leprosy. Leprosy is a skin disease. It may appear as bumpy skin or it may come in a form of discoloration- where a person’s  hands, face or other body parts are extremely light in comparison to the natural skin tone. Back in the Old Testament, when a person had this disease, they were known to be both physically and spiritually unclean. To signify to everyone else, this person was unclean, the leper had to wear torn clothes, live alone, and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ Leviticus the 13th chapter gives more details regarding the law concerning leprosy. 

This man does 3 critical things that forever changed his life:

1. He came to Jesus (Matthew 11:28)
2. He sought the Lord (Psalms 34:4)
3. He believed a Jesus (Hebrews 11:6)

First, the leper ignores every law to stay away from others, runs up to Jesus, and falls to His face. The act of bowing before Jesus is a sign of humbling yourself in honor, respect and recognition of who Jesus is. The leper had an effectual prayer. When you go into prayer, your first pit stop ought to be humbleness, gratitude and reassurance to the Spirit that you do know who He is.  Then the leper “besought” Jesus, which basically means he pleads and begs with Jesus to help him. He didn’t ask for food. He didn’t ask for money. He didn’t even ask for a place to stay. The leper wanted help for himself.

Here is where the praise party begins. Watch how the leper talks to Jesus. His words moved Jesus because they were words of faith.

“Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

The leper did not say to Jesus: “If you can, will you…?” You see, the word “can” expresses your uncertainty in the ability of someone or something. The leper had no doubt that Jesus could change his situation. He could’ve even said:

Lord, if you will, can you make me clean?

That would have been a question and once again, a form of uncertainty. In case you do not know (oh my Lord- I am excited again), the move of the Spirit in your life is according to the power in you, of which is demonstrated by the words we speak. Jesus can do beyond what we can even THINK or possibly imagine, but it is according to the POWER within YOU!

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Let me give you an example. A student does not have to ask the teacher CAN they go to the bathroom. The student understands that the bathroom exists. It’s a question of whether the teacher is WILLING to let the student to go. There wouldn’t be a question of me asking Oprah if she CAN feature my book in her book club, because I know this is something that she has access to and that she does. Therefore, the question is if Oprah is WILLING. The leper did not question if Jesus COULD cleanse him. Bae baeeee, he believed that healing was something that Jesus had access to. It was a question of whether Jesus was WILLING. 

It gets good right here. In verse 13, Jesus tells the leper, “I will.” Then Jesus touches the man and tells him to be clean. O M G. ARE YOU SERIOUS? Why is that so critical? Well…well…well…

Just a book over in John (15:3), Jesus says that NOW we are clean through the words that He speaks to us. Whenever you’re studying the word of God, and you come across words like “shall” and “will,” bae baeee those are promise words. One thing we know is that when God makes a promise, He fulfills it.

When Jesus said in Luke 5:13 that “He Will” clean the leper, He promised the leper. The leper had to be cleaned because Jesus said…I WILL, BE THOU CLEAN. Do you get what I am saying to you? If we are clean through the word, Jesus promised (I will) and then Jesus spoke the words: “be thou clean.” OH MY FATHER ON TUHDAY

What about us today? Are we really crying out for the lord to make us clean or to clean up our situation? If He cleans YOU, the situation you have MUST change. Wouldn’t it have been crazy for the leper to make himself look like he still had leprosy,  after he was cleansed, and him knowing how living an unclean life brought him so much shame and misery?

Why do you wanna look like you still associated with uncleanliness? If Jesus cleans YOU, you will have no desire to be associated with anything that looked like you used to. Why would you as a woman want to dress like you’re still of the world, if you’ve been cleansed? Why would you as a man still want to wear your earrings, as the world does, IF you’ve been cleaned? Why do you want to still look like you are the life of the party if you don’t party any more? Why do you want to look like the supplier, if you don’t sell anymore? Why would you as a parent STILL not spend time with your children- seeking for “me” time, and dropping your children off to grandma every weekend, so you can hang out, IF you have been cleansed?

IF your heart and your mind has been changed by the Jesus that I met, huntay you disconnect and dissociate with anyone or anything that makes you unclean. I mean, you changing phone numbers and everything. Why? Because I met someone who loved me enough to change my life. He accepted me when I was like the leper. I was an outcast and although I had no connection with Him because of my sin and how it separated me from Him, Jesus still touched me! It would be an insult to your Savior to behave in “mistaken identity.” That means, through your appearance, your conversation and how you have transformed to be like the world, someone would be shocked to know that you even go to church and you know His anointing is on your life.

If you’re asking Jesus to clean up your situation, and you’re not clean, you’re subject to going back to doing what you were doing before, ending up right back in the same situation (or worse). But if you ask Jesus to clean you, the situation has to change. 

I challenge you to open your hearts today to receive a word to change your heart and your mind. Once you transform your mind, your situation MUST change. Jesus WILL (change your life) if you CAN (simply open your heart). 

If you will, Jesus can. Thank you Jesus. I love you, more than anything. And I thank you for speaking a word over our lives.