In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple to pray. As they went through the gate to the temple, there was a man who had been crippled from birth and had been taken daily to the gate of the temple to beg for money.
When Peter and John were about to enter the temple, the crippled man began to beg for alms. At that point, the Bible says that Peter fixed a gaze on him and said, "Look at us" (v.4).
The beggar gave them his attention. He was expecting to get some money, but Peter said to him, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk" (v.6).
Then Peter took the man by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were healed. The man started walking, leaping, and praising God -- and he leaped, praised, and walked right into the temple.
The people and the religious leaders in the temple were astonished at what had happened. They recognized the beggar and knew this was a miracle that had happened. It could not be denied.
Needless to say, the beggar wouldn't let go of Peter and John (v.11), so as the two disciples stood in the porch of the temple with the beggar holding tightly on to both of them, they began to preach about Jesus. In verse 16 they said, "His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all."
Then in Acts 4, while Peter and John were still speaking to the people about the good news of Jesus, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees approached them. They were greatly disturbed and they grabbed John and Peter and physically took them to a holding cell until the next day. When the next day came, the rulers, elders, scribes and many of the high ranking priests and family members who were gathered in Jerusalem questioned Peter and John. They asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" (vs. 7).
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached to the religious leaders. Peter told them that the name of Jesus was the name that had healed the lame man. He told them that only through the name of Jesus can anyone be saved. They were amazed at his boldness. They marveled at his speech and realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus.
After Peter's speech, the leaders met and made a decision. They commanded Peter and John to quit teaching about Jesus and to never speak His name again.
When Peter and John heard this they said, "You decide whether God wants us to obey you instead of Him! We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we saw Jesus do and heard Him say." (vv. 19-20, author paraphrase.) Even though the religious leaders had threatened Peter and John, they had to let them go. They didn't want a riot.
The point is, when you truly believe and act in faith, you can see miracles. But in so doing, you'll upset the religious mind-set. That sounds like Jesus, doesn't it?
YOU HAVE WHAT YOU NEED :
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life... - 2 Peter 1:3, NIV
It’s easy to get stuck in life thinking you’ve reached your limits. But, God wouldn’t have given you a dream without giving you the ability to accomplish it. You have everything you need. The problem many times is that it’s buried inside. It’s hidden treasure. You have gifts and talents that you’ve not yet tapped. There is potential that is waiting to be released. When God laid out the plan for your life, He deposited in you the skill, the wisdom, the creativity; everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Now here’s the key. It’s not what you have in you that matters; it’s what you get out. If you’re going to reach your highest potential, you have to tap in to that hidden treasure.
Now the challenge is, “don’t die with the treasure still on the inside.” You have something to offer this world that nobody else can offer. You are unique, one of a kind. You are anointed to be you. Be confident in who God made you to be, knowing that you’ve got what it takes to step in to the fullness of your destiny.
BELIEVE YOUR DEBT IS MORE THAN PAID!
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. - Hebrews 10:22
I would like you to imagine this scenario: You borrow a huge sum of money from a friend and promise to pay him back in six months’ time. When the time comes, you feel really bad because you cannot repay him as you don’t have the money. A year rolls by without you repaying a cent. Now, you feel extremely guilty. You try to avoid your friend because you are too embarrassed and ashamed to see him.
Let’s say that your best friend hears about your plight. Out of the goodness of his heart, he goes to your creditor and says, “Look, I understand that my best friend owes you money.”
“Yes, he owes me US$50,000.”
“Here is US$100,000. I am paying you on his behalf.”
Your creditor says, “No, no, no! He owes me only US$50,000.”
Your best friend says, “I know. But take the US$100,000 so that you can never say that he still owes you money.”
Now, your debt has been paid, in fact, more than paid. But if you don’t know or believe this, that debt will still be on your conscience. You will still be afraid to see your creditor. And you will avoid him because he reminds you of your debt.
My friend, you need to know that Jesus was an overpayment when He offered Himself as your sin offering, because of the quality and worth of the Man Himself. My friend, He overpaid for your sins when He became your sacrifice on the cross.
But if you don’t know or believe this, you will suffer as your unbelief will rob you of assurance, joy and peace. You will still have debt on your conscience. Even though God is not imputing sin to you (Romans 4:8), sin is still on your conscience. And as long as sin is on your conscience, you won’t dare to draw near to Him.
Beloved, the truth is that your sins have been more than paid for. Jesus was an overpayment. So draw near to God today with no sin on your conscience!
Thought For The Day:
Jesus was an overpayment when He offered Himself as your sin offering, so draw near to God today with no sin on your conscience!
IT HAPPENS ON THE INSIDE FIRST
The apostle John tells us that God’s wish is that we prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. This means that our outward success, whether it’s in our health, family life, career or finances, is linked to ourinward soul prosperity.
My friend, if in your heart and mind you can see yourself successful in a particular area of your life, it’s only a matter of time that you will experience it outwardly. For example, if you are chronically sick, stop seeing yourself weak and sickly. Start seeing yourself healed, healthy, strong and full of life!
How do you do that? Meditate on the Lord’s promises of health and healing for you, such as Isaiah 53:5 or Jeremiah 30:17. Meditate on Jesus’ healing miracles and see His compassion and willingness to heal you. Believe it. Visualize it. Thank Him for it, and you will experience it!
TRUE GREATNESS :
Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. —Mark 10:43
Some people feel like a small pebble lost in the immensity of a canyon. But no matter how insignificant we judge ourselves to be, we can be greatly used by God.
In a sermon early in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. quoted Jesus’ words from Mark 10 about servanthood. Then he said, “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. . . . You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
When Jesus’ disciples quarreled about who would get the places of honor in heaven, He told them: “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).
I wonder about us. Is that our understanding of greatness? Are we gladly serving, doing tasks that may be unnoticed? Is the purpose of our serving to please our Lord rather than to gain applause? If we are willing to be a servant, our lives will point to the One who is truly great. —Vernon Grounds
No service in itself is small,
None great, though earth it fill;
But that is small that seeks its own,
And great that does God’s will.
Little things done in Christ’s name are great things
SPIRITUAL WARFARE :
MATTHEW 2:16, "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men."
Satan was the real motivator of Herod's actions. Ever since the Lord first prophesied that a man would bruise his head, Satan has been seeking out this "seed" of the woman (Gen. 3:15).
It appears that Satan is able to perceive when the Lord is making a major move in the earth. In the days of Moses, Satan moved Pharaoh to kill all the male children of the Israelite slaves, and here he motivates Herod to kill all the male children in Bethlehem. No doubt he was seeking to eliminate this "seed" who was going to bruise his head.
Once again, we see children being slaughtered today. This time it's through abortion. Our youth are also being attacked in unprecedented ways. Is it possible that Satan thinks this is the generation that is to bring in the second return of the Lord? Is he, in desperation, trying to stay off his doom by destroying this generation?
We need to have enough spiritual perception to recognize that just as in the days of Moses and Jesus, this slaughter of the innocent children today is an indication of an even more important struggle in the spiritual realm. We might be the generation that sees the Lord come back. Praise the Lord!
GETTING THEM FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADULTHOOD
'When I was a child...When I became a man...' 1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV
Do you sometimes wonder if your teenager is going to reach maturity? Welcome to the toughest phase of parenting! A teenager can go from optimism to pessimism, excitement to boredom, self-confidence to self-doubt, happiness to despair, sociability to reclusiveness, tranquillity to volatility, cooperation to opposition - in a head-spinning second! And when you ask them, 'What's wrong?' they say, 'Nothing,' or 'I don't know.' And the truth is; they don't! Bombarded by changing biochemistry, your child is navigating between the worlds of childhood and adulthood, needing your understanding and patience. For them the odyssey of adolescence can feel freakish, embarrassing and perplexing. Children know the roles and rules of their world, adults know . Children are expected to act like children, and adults like adults. But teenagers have traits of both worlds, yet belong in neither. When they're in child-mode, they're forbidden to be childish. 'Will you ever grow up?' we ask. When they're in adult-mode, they're denied adult privileges. 'Of course you can't...You're just a child!' The worlds of adults and children are relatively distinct, stable, predictable places. But it's not so in the fuzzy realm of your teen. They alternate between two worlds, never certain whether they're fish or fowl, adult or child. So they gravitate toward peers who share but also don't understand their experiences. What do they need? Parents who understand and assure them, 'When I was a child, I spoke...understood...thought as a child, like you do. But when I became a man [or woman], I outgrew the confusion, and you will too.'
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