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.

In Acts 3, we see that this lame man came EXPECTING to receive something. He thought all he needed was something of monetary and earthy worth. Many church people are conditioned this very way, they think all they need is the cool building that they go to called a church, that temporarily meets their needs. But, if you look in this passage, Peter states, "I don't have any money…” In other words, “I don’t have what you THINK you need…” “I don’t have the newest/coolest/most valuable thing on the market…” But He goes on to say, “…but I'll give you what I do have. Through the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, walk!" The passage goes on to say that this man went forth jumping and praising God and all who saw it were amazed! Peter had come to the realization that no matter how much you meet the fleshly and physical needs and wants of the people, it will NEVER compare to the life-changing experience of their bodies coming in contact with the POWER of Jesus Christ, the tangible presence of God’s Holy Spirit, and His anointing.

It is time that we, as the church, come to this realization that no matter how much you push the things of monetary value to fill the four walls you call a church, you will never be fulfilling the command God gave us in Mark 16:15-18 to go into all the world and Preach the gospel, heal the sick, to DEMONSTRATE His power in the earth! If you aren’t actively demonstrating the power of Jesus Christ in your church, then you are actively disobeying what God called us ALL to do! If Peter and John had simply given the man something of monetary and earthly value, they would have made an impact as long as that thing lasted, but they knew that in order to change a life they had to give something more, even if it meant some people thought they were strange. They knew, if they were to impact that man in a meaningful and eternal way, there was nothing they possessed in the natural that could do that. However, they knew there was one thing in their possession that would change not only that man’s life, but the lives of countless others, and that was the Power of Jesus Christ that they had been given the authority to walk in!

We have to make a decision that gone are the days of putting presentation above demonstration! Today, we need to make a commitment to quit hiding the power of the Holy Ghost in a back room and let him work in and through us to reach people with something that will TRULY transform their lives!

Actively Demonstrating, 

JRT