Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. (Acts 3:1-9)When you read these scriptures, meditate on them, receive them by faith and trust in God, and you will be a target for restoration, a target for healing, and a target for a miracle that God will perform in your life.
The Beautiful Gate in this chapter turned out to be not as beautiful as its name as daily the lame beggar sat at the gate, and every day he was hoping and expecting alms from people. It must have been a great burden for this beggar and his family to live their lives like that. Every single day he had to be carried to this gate and sit there begging from the people who were going in and out of the temple.
Before Peter and John passed by, no one apparently ever stopped and took time out to pray for him, except maybe to give him some small change as a sign of compassion. To him and his family this must have been the most important thing every day receiving the alms, so they could sustain themselves with whatever money they got. His weak body, poverty and circumstances probably already caused them to abandon all hope a long time ago. But look at what God did do in this tragic situation.
Peter and John, the disciples who walked with Jesus, loved and obeyed His will, went to the temple to pray. It was no coincidence that they passed through the Beautiful Gate. When the beggar saw them coming, he immediately went to work trying to get their attention so they would look at him and give alms. Instead Peter and John said, "Look at us." Without hesitating, he looked up to them expecting to receive something.
Beloved brothers and sisters, no matter how heavy the burdens of life are, whether it be sickness, troubles, or something else, Christ is also asking the same thing from us. He asks that we fix our spiritual eyes on Him, looking onto Him with hope. When you fix your eyes of faith on Christ and not on the sicknesses you are suffering, not on the burdens you carry, not on the situations and problems you are facing, then HE will DO SOMETHING!
But, too often it happens quite differently. Although we fix our eyes on Christ, we don't expect anything, because of a lack of faith and trust that He can do it. And so, we don't receive anything from the Lord. The beggar's face expressed hope, he was expecting something, and God responded and met his need through Peter and John.
Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." So, what did they have? They had POWER from the Most High God. Peter acted on the POWER that he had. He took the beggar by the hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
Brothers and sisters, there may come times in our lives when money cannot help us. Maybe some of you are already experiencing that maybe the doctor told you that there is no cure for your illness. A luxurious house, jewelries, a fancy car, fancy clothes, a trip abroad, may not be able to heal our inner wounds. But if we are a child of God, we have hope, and that is CHRIST!
The Scripture in Acts 1:8 states, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." The beggar who was lame since birth was healed! There was no doctor at that time that could cure him. But the power of Christ through Peter was able to heal him. That same power will work in you right now, if you open your heart and let Him. His Spirit is still working today.
I have personally seen the manifestation of God's power over and over again, a few months ago in one of the Crusades, 4 men carried a lame man with much effort on the stairs and laid him down upon the platform, the minute they laid him down the Power of God manifested, the man stood up and walked off the stage by himself.
In our earlier years of Ministry a little boy with his grandmother came over the border from Mexico, one leg was at least 6 inches shorter than the other and therefore he was limping badly. When we prayed, and laid hands on the boy's leg, by the power of God the boy's leg suddenly started to grow! I was amazed myself to see this, but praised and glorified God for His wonderful work.
In the end, God is glorified. Everything that happens in our lives as a child of God has a purpose, so that ultimately God may be glorified. It will become a living testimony for His children and especially for people who don't know God.
The lame beggar, who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, eventually had people amazed and praising God because of his healing and even today. The Beautiful Gate had now truly become beautiful and when we as children of God read these scriptures we know that God can do the same for us. God restores, God heals, God provides, God delivers and etc, and God makes His POWER known.
May this Christmas remind you to always keep your eyes on Jesus, and be faithful to God who gave us His Son. Have a Blessed Christmas!
The Beautiful Gate in this chapter turned out to be not as beautiful as its name as daily the lame beggar sat at the gate, and every day he was hoping and expecting alms from people. It must have been a great burden for this beggar and his family to live their lives like that. Every single day he had to be carried to this gate and sit there begging from the people who were going in and out of the temple.
Before Peter and John passed by, no one apparently ever stopped and took time out to pray for him, except maybe to give him some small change as a sign of compassion. To him and his family this must have been the most important thing every day receiving the alms, so they could sustain themselves with whatever money they got. His weak body, poverty and circumstances probably already caused them to abandon all hope a long time ago. But look at what God did do in this tragic situation.
Peter and John, the disciples who walked with Jesus, loved and obeyed His will, went to the temple to pray. It was no coincidence that they passed through the Beautiful Gate. When the beggar saw them coming, he immediately went to work trying to get their attention so they would look at him and give alms. Instead Peter and John said, "Look at us." Without hesitating, he looked up to them expecting to receive something.
Beloved brothers and sisters, no matter how heavy the burdens of life are, whether it be sickness, troubles, or something else, Christ is also asking the same thing from us. He asks that we fix our spiritual eyes on Him, looking onto Him with hope. When you fix your eyes of faith on Christ and not on the sicknesses you are suffering, not on the burdens you carry, not on the situations and problems you are facing, then HE will DO SOMETHING!
But, too often it happens quite differently. Although we fix our eyes on Christ, we don't expect anything, because of a lack of faith and trust that He can do it. And so, we don't receive anything from the Lord. The beggar's face expressed hope, he was expecting something, and God responded and met his need through Peter and John.
Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." So, what did they have? They had POWER from the Most High God. Peter acted on the POWER that he had. He took the beggar by the hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
Brothers and sisters, there may come times in our lives when money cannot help us. Maybe some of you are already experiencing that maybe the doctor told you that there is no cure for your illness. A luxurious house, jewelries, a fancy car, fancy clothes, a trip abroad, may not be able to heal our inner wounds. But if we are a child of God, we have hope, and that is CHRIST!
The Scripture in Acts 1:8 states, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." The beggar who was lame since birth was healed! There was no doctor at that time that could cure him. But the power of Christ through Peter was able to heal him. That same power will work in you right now, if you open your heart and let Him. His Spirit is still working today.
I have personally seen the manifestation of God's power over and over again, a few months ago in one of the Crusades, 4 men carried a lame man with much effort on the stairs and laid him down upon the platform, the minute they laid him down the Power of God manifested, the man stood up and walked off the stage by himself.
In our earlier years of Ministry a little boy with his grandmother came over the border from Mexico, one leg was at least 6 inches shorter than the other and therefore he was limping badly. When we prayed, and laid hands on the boy's leg, by the power of God the boy's leg suddenly started to grow! I was amazed myself to see this, but praised and glorified God for His wonderful work.
In the end, God is glorified. Everything that happens in our lives as a child of God has a purpose, so that ultimately God may be glorified. It will become a living testimony for His children and especially for people who don't know God.
The lame beggar, who had sat at the Beautiful Gate, eventually had people amazed and praising God because of his healing and even today. The Beautiful Gate had now truly become beautiful and when we as children of God read these scriptures we know that God can do the same for us. God restores, God heals, God provides, God delivers and etc, and God makes His POWER known.
May this Christmas remind you to always keep your eyes on Jesus, and be faithful to God who gave us His Son. Have a Blessed Christmas!
GOTN MINISTRY by John Hartman © 2006 All rights reserved. (Please include this line to forward).
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