The story of Peter and John being used by God to heal the lame man at the gate of the temple called "Beautiful" (Acts 3) has always intrigued me, probably because there is so much truth to be discovered in it. In an effort to whet your appetite for tomorrow's message, I want to share a morsel from that passage with you.
According to chapter 4, verse 22, this man was over 40 years old when God wrought about his healing, which means that someone had been carrying him to this gate everyday for many, many years--probably since his early teens, if not before. The reason is obvious: begging was his vocation--his way of "earning" a living. In my opinion, this probably grew very tiring for him, not to mention, very shameful. Every single day, he was carried to this gate to "ask for alms," which is a nice way to describe his not-so-nice vocation. (I am sure that someone is already thinking I am putting this beggar down but I am not, so keep reading!)
The point is this: everyday someone carried this man to this gate and carefully placed him on his mat in a very conspicuous place (for obvious reasons). Day after day he sat there in front of the Temple, holding up his cup, begging for money. For him the temple held one purpose: it was the place where crowds of people came everyday, giving him the best opportunity to succeed as a beggar, but regardless of how successful he might have been on any given day, his circumstances served only to confirm that he was a beggar. Take notice, however, because things are about to change for him.
The Holy Spirit passed by on this particular day, manifesting Himself in the lives of two ordinary people (Peter and John) and when He finished with this lame man, he was no longer merely sitting as a beggar on a mat in front of the Temple--HE WAS WALKING AND LEAPING AND PRAISING GOD!
I am praying that the Holy Spirit will pass by us tomorrow morning!
Expectantly,
Your Pastor
2 comments:
Mac,
We are in Fla enjoying our new grandson "Xander David-Keith". Yes, he is wonderful and beautiful. But obviously, we will not be there in the am. We will miss you all and will certainly trust that the Holy Spirit's presence will be openly manifested among our body there. We used to sing a little song about the man at "The Gate Beautiful". It goes like this: Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Jumping and leaping and praising God, jumping and leaping and praising God. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Have a wonderful, blessed worship time together in the am.
Love,
Dudley and Debbie
PS: I was sad to read David's resignation e-mail. I don't know Chris's and Paige's plans, but I would enjoy him leading our praise time. We will be praying about this.
Love,
Dudley and Debbie
Mac,
I find it interesting to remember that Jesus also walked by this man many times and was not led to heal him by the Holy Spirit. Maybe so we would have the witness of this man's healing through ordinary men like us.
Karen
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