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| The Beautiful Gate or Eastern Gate where the lame beggar sat was the largest gate to the temple and the most beautiful. In Hebrew, the name of the gate means “Gate of Mercy.” It took 20 men to move the gate. The gate faces the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley. It was sealed shut, and a cemetery was placed before its entrance to render anyone who walked through the cemetery unclean. Jewish tradition says that the Messiah will come through the Eastern Gate when He comes to reign. Ezekiel writes of the glory of God entering the temple through the Eastern Gate. |
Walking in The Holy Spirit’s Stunning Power
.
Karen
Roberts
Look at
him! He’s walking. He’s jumping. He’s prancing around and praising God.
Wait …
he’s going into the temple with those men.
He
can’t do that; he’s unclean.
Hasn’t
he been lame since birth? I’ve seen him begging every day for decades.
What
happened?
Peter
and John focused on prayer as they approached the temple.
There
sat the lame beggar … same spot every day.
This
afternoon was different.
Peter
and John stopped and stared at him.
“Look
at us.”
Their
eyes locked.
“’I do
not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of
Jesus Christ the Nazarene–walk!’
“And
seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and
his ankles were strengthened.” - Acts 3:6-7
Jesus
had probably passed by the beggar many times as He entered the temple.
Undoubtedly,
Peter and John had passed by this man.
The man
asked for money, not healing.
He
received what he asked for. Except today.
Sometimes,
we ask for too little.
The Power of Deep Listening
Perhaps
this day was different because Peter was meditating on what God had done in the
previous days.
The
Holy Spirit had filled those in the Upper Room with the power to speak of God’s
mighty deeds in the languages of those from other countries who had come to
Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost.
“Repent,
and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” - Acts 2:38
About
3,000 believed and were baptized that day.
Were
Peter and John remembering that moment as they walked to the temple?
It was
time for prayer, time for doing God’s work, time for prayer.
Peter
and John stopped and listened to the Holy Spirit. They gazed deeply into the
eyes of the beggar, and understood God’s work for that moment.
Sometimes,
we need to stop, listen deeply to the Holy Spirit, and ask, “What is the good You want me to do this moment?”
The Power of Radical Action
That
whisper from the Holy Spirit telling us the action to take usually asks us to
take radical action – action we might not reasonably take in our own power.
Otherwise,
we would not need the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.
“You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
remotest part of the earth.” - Acts 1:8
Not only
did Peter tell the man to walk in the name of Jesus, but he also grabbed him by
the right hand and raised him up.
Peter
obeyed the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
He told
the beggar to do the impossible and then lifted him up. The beggar’s life was
transformed.
Sometimes,
the Holy Spirit prompts us to do the impossible, so that we operate in His
power.
The Power of Timing
Peter
and John were on their way to pray… to do good.
But
they recognized a divine appointment and delayed the good they intended to do to
accomplish the good that God intended to perform.
Jesus
had undoubtedly passed the beggar as He went into the temple. The lame man was
not healed.
Peter
and John brushed by the beggar, perhaps for years, as they entered the temple.
He received what he asked for, money.
This
time was different.
This
time, he was healed.
Many
people saw the healing and marveled.
· Peter listened to the wonder of the people and asked, “Men of
Israel, why are you amazed?”
· He acknowledged their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
· He identified with the people by stating that God is the God
of our fathers.
· Peter presented the Good News about Jesus to them.
About 5,000 men believed that day.
Like
the man born blind from birth, the lame man’s time to give glory to God was
this day.
There
is power in God’s good works and God’s timing.
My Prayer
Almighty
God and Father, You have created the heavens and the earth and all that is in
them.
There
is nothing too hard for You to accomplish.
As we
go about our daily lives trying to do good, help us to listen to the Holy
Spirit’s promptings.
Make us
sensitive to His leading.
Stop us
in our busyness.
Cause
us to pause and understand the true need of our fellow brothers and sisters.
Empower
us to take the action that You want us to take, even if it seems radical to us.
Help us
to be like Joshua, to be strong and very
courageous as You lead us.
We want
to transform lives for You.
Help us
to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thank
You Father.
In
Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Karen
Roberts. I
am a Christ-follower married to the man God prepared for me from
before the foundation of the world. I am passionately in love with my husband
and desire to show married couples how wonderful the gift of marriage is. We
celebrated our 49th anniversary of marriage and have been blessed with a unity
and love that becomes more intimate and wonderful with each day.
God
miraculously healed me from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome on
November 21, 2010. My healing journey began when the Holy Spirit guided me
through Scripture and gently taught me that I had placed limits upon God. The
Holy Spirit impressed upon Keith, my husband, and me that God would heal me.
That was two years before the Lord healed me.
I’ve
learned that God has promises for us, and He has equipped us to possess those
promises, and we must trust Him as we step out to take possession, like Joshua
and the Israelites did when they marched around Jericho for seven days.
I
live to point people to Jesus.
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