Walking and Leaping

Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon. And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked them for help. Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, "Look at us." So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said, "I don't have silver and gold but what I have, I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!" Then taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them- walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognised that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him. Acts 3:1-10

This man would have seen and heard Jesus, if he was at the temple every day. Yet he did not receive healing from Jesus. All the people at the temple complex would have known about Jesus, His death and burial and probably heard all the fuss about the disciples. In fact the place would have been abuzz with talk about this 'new' phenemonena. 

Subtly and not so subtly the Lord was adding layer upon layer the new things of the kingdom of God. Interestingly the apostles still went up to the temple to pray, yet they now had a new and better way of connecting with God and living with Him, by walking in the Spirit. Yet, because they still lived as they had done before, whilst with Jesus, He went up to the temple every day when ahe came to Jerusalem, they came across this man.

He was ready for healing, ready for salvation, ready for new life. We have to be willing and ready to move on in life. We cannot stay stuck in the past. Constantly we are given new experiences to overcome. At each point we will break though the obstacle or be held back and caged by the obstacle.

Grief can be like that. Disappointment can be like that. When things don't work out as we imagine we can retreat into the new cage and set up camp or we can reach out and grasp the new. The apostles had grasped the new and now this man also had grasped the new, with amazing results.

This past week I lost a much loved and faithful pet. I was grieving. My other dog Emma is grieving. Yesterday I knew I must break out of my melancholy, I went looking for a new pet. Today I take Emma to visit a potential new dog called Mr Darcey. Now, the name alone gets me, but he is a little, white Maltese just as Chelsie had been. He is 5 and needing a new home. Emma is 14 and I need to be sure she is willing to grasp the new. We cannot stay in the grey,me must grasp the light. Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Rules?

The princes of Judah are like those who move boundary markers, I will pout out my fury on them like water. Hosea 5:10 World leaders of church and state are now all highly visible. When they are not open to consultation or do not listen they make judgements that are judged as foolish by both God and man. In Australia we just celebrated Australia Day and at this time various people are honoured for their contribution to society. Our Prime Minister, Mr Abbott, without consultation, conferred a knighthood on the Queen of England's husband, Phillip. Almost to a person, Australians judged this to be foolish. Even supporters have now distanced themselves. Imagine what it is like when church leaders follow their own emotions or the emotions of their people and change what is acceptable to God. For example, no longer considering adultery something that precludes a man from ministry. We might think we are clever, but actually going with a sinful flow. Where is God in all this? My emotions ar...
Read more

Know Your Sword!

So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "if you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: 'He will give His angels orders concerning You, to protect you, they will support You with their hands, so that you will not strike Your foot against a stone.' And Jesus answered him, "it is said: 'do not test The Lord your God." And the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time. Luke 4:9-11 In this third test Satan quoted scripture but Jesus knew His scripture and was not going to be deceived by his enemy twisting the truth. I am amazed at what Satan tempted Jesus with. He did not know Christ. He had succeeded in tempting the first Adam yet he was thwarted in this attempt. Jesus had lived 30 years and been tutored in godliness with contentment, he was prepared, baptised in the Spirit and sold out to the Father's purpose. Every time our enemy comes against us we ...
Read more

Little Things Grow

The boy's mother said to Elisha, "as The Lord lives and you yourself live, I will not leave you. So he got up and followed her. 2 Kings 4:30 The Shunamite woman had travelled to Mt Carmel to find Elisha after the death of her son. Although Elisha had sent his servant Gehazi to the boy with his staff the woman had come to find Elisha and was not leaving without him. I like this lady's spirit. I am sure The Lord God Almighty also valued her heart. She had a heart for God and made room for Him in her world. Now, having lost her son she knew what to do: find Elisha and not let him go until he came to restore her son. What made the Shunamite woman believe that Elisha could raise her son? Was it the same faith that made her provide him a place to stay in her home? I believe it was God working in her life. I am grateful for her faith, I can read and be encouraged. We do not know her name yet her story lives in scripture. What a little thing it was to feed Elisha and then provide ...
Read more