Lord Jesus, thank you for your love, grace and mercy that constantly surrounds me..
“And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God…. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all” Acts 3:5-8, 16
“The faith that is through Jesus”. Note how this verse explains how the claim to "faith in Jesus' name" works and what it means. To appeal to the name is to point to the person, Jesus. Just saying, “In the name of Jesus” is not a “magical” phrase that brings miracles. But it points to the person Jesus, that by faith the one speaking has positioned his life relationally with and can “introduce” Jesus into the situation and speak with his authority.
It is not clear that the lame man expressed faith before the miracle. So it was not by his faith he was healed, but by that of Peter and John’s. This could well be a "grace-faith miracle" where God grants power through the apostles to picture how much a gift life is (Luke 17:11-19). In Luke Jesus heals 10 lepers not by their faith. I sometimes hear in the church, even in my small circle of friends it said about someone who is ill or going through some trial, “We prayed for them, but if they do not have faith or believe, there is nothing we can do for them.” Or “I heard recently, “Their mother practices Wicca and as long as that takes place in the house we can’t do anything.” I cringe when I hear that. First of all THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO FOR THEM, IT IS ALL JESUS!! Only he can heal/change/restore their situation. And so by saying that, you are now speaking for Jesus and limiting who he can heal, how he can heal, why he can heal, and his power of restoration, to your limited human capabilities or understanding.
Peter and John did not ask if the man had faith faith before they healed him. They did not ask him if he understood the doctrine of Justification by faith or the need for repentance or if he was baptized. They simply pointed him to, and introduced him to Jesus. And our Christology (understanding of Christ) is that grace is at his core. And his grace is emphasized here in this passage. All throughout our day Christ graciously provides for us, heals us, restores us, and provides for us, Not because we deserve it or earned it any more than the crippled man at the gate and not because we asked him out of deep faith. And if we are honest, most days we do not even thank him. But he does it out of his love and grace towards us.
Lord, help me to be gracious towards those in my life: my wife, my daughters, family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and others. Even harder, help me when I encounter those lame, diseased, broken, abusive, addicted, and foul, dumped by the gate. People who may even reject you, that I do not withhold or try to limit your grace towards them, but bravely embrace your amazing grace and in the name of Jesus, point them to you. Help our church be a family of faith that just as grace is at the core of who you are Jesus, grace will be at the core of who we are as well.
My family, I pray today you do not limit the power of Jesus and who you share Him with by your limited understanding of Him. But, introduce Jesus to everyone you meet today. I pray you ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind anyone you have refrained from offering grace to out of religious piety or personal judgement, and seek them out, in Jesus’ name. Please pray the same for me. God Bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts of my post above or your reflections from your reading of Acts chapter 3 with us in the comments section below in the comments box.
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I am asking all of us as a church, as a family, as a community of faith to come together to begin to pray over a new revelation, a new manifestation of Jesus into the vision and ministries of our churches and our lives. I would like us to dedicate ourselves to pouring ourselves into his word and prayer as we seek God’s will and direction for our lives. To aid us in this I am asking us to commit to one another and join together in these 5 things:
1. If you and not in a Band group, start up or join one. A band group is the Wesleyan name for accountability groups of 2-3 people of the same sex that meet weekly. We need to both encourage and hold each other accountable to time in the Word, Prayer, and our daily walk with Christ and to discern what we hear Christ speaking into our lives.. Do not delay, pray to God who to ask you which one or two persons to invite to join you, and do it. Ne excuses, no delays.
2. Set aside just one hour a week (you can do more than one) away from distractions and spend that hour in solid prayer.
3. Fast one day a week in prayer.
4. Daily Lunch + prayer: Everyday when you sit down to lunch, you pray over your meal. After your prayer over the meal, add a 30 second prayer over yourself and your church and its ministries for God’s vision and leading.