I'll Give You What I Do Have!

“Peter and John were going to the temple courtyard for the three o'clock prayer. At the same time, a man who had been lame from birth was being carried by some men. Every day these men would put the lame man at a gate in the temple courtyard. The gate was called Beautiful Gate. There he would beg for handouts from people going into the courtyard. When the man saw that Peter and John were about to go into the courtyard, he asked them for a handout. Peter and John stared at him. "Look at us!" Peter said. So the man watched them closely. He expected to receive something from them. However, Peter said to him, "I don't have any money, but I'll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!" Peter took hold of the man's right hand and began to help him up. Immediately, the man's feet and ankles became strong. Springing to his feet, he stood up and started to walk. He went with Peter and John into the temple courtyard. The man was walking, jumping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. They knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the temple's Beautiful Gate. The people were amazed and stunned to see what had happened to him.” Acts 3:1-10 GWT

This morning while I was getting ready the Lord brought a passage of scripture to remembrance and began speaking to me about it! The above passage was what was brought to mind. As I began thinking about it, I started seeing a different side of this passage. I don’t know about you, but growing up in children’s church, this was a bible story that was told to simply talk about the works God did through the disciples, but today I saw it in a new light as a message to the church of today!

In the world today there is such a push for the visual and monetary things. So much emphasis is put on the label of clothes, rather than the person inside. A large emphasis is put on the outward presentation, whether it is false advertisement or not. And, sadly, this mentality has slipped into the church. Gone, it seems, are the days where people would come into four walls with a dirt floor and prostrate themselves in the presence of God without a second thought, crying out for his holy fire of revival to engulf the world that surrounds. This focus, of God’s presence being the only thing of value, has been replaced with the progressive movement to be just as fancy and cool as the world and its concerts. We’ve replaced the cry of believers for revival, with the high-pitched jamming of electric guitars, the real glory-cloud with an imitation known as a smoke machine, and the light of the world with the coolest light show in town! Don’t get me wrong, I am not against making the inside of the church beautiful and cutting edge, but in pursuing that we have lost the very thing that matters most.