Acts 3 – 4
Verse 3:6 has Peter picking up where Jesus left off:
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!”
He is healing a man who has been lame since birth and a fixture at the temple begging. From here he immediately gives glory to God and not to anyone else. Jesus said to the disciples they would do greater things and they are off to a good start. Now was that statement just to the disciples or to all believers in Christ? I want to believe that it is all believers, but have a tough time since most of the “healers” of modern time have proven to be frauds.
There is a series from Wanderlust Productions where Darren Wilson searches out people who have many of these gifts, including healing. It’s amazing to watch the miracles happen before the screen and with faith I believe them to be true. At the same time it’s one of those things I want proof still. I guess I still pray for my mess to clean up, my back and finances to be cleaned up with a prayer. At the same time what would it do for the body? And what says it hasn’t already happened but I just keep messing things up by not stretching and following 10/10/80?
Verse 4:11 ties into many of the verses we have read recently:
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.
I will have to say I respect how this reading links together. Either the Bible is formatted in such a way that it “naturally” link scripture with reading plans over a year or the “designers” of this program timed it. Go back three thoughts earlier when we were in Psalms and see that I mentioned this exact statement by Peter, who is referencing Psalm 118:22, pointing out Jesus is that “cornerstone”. Either this is a well-planned study by Biblical scholars or God made it that way.
Now one could look at Peter forcing the illustration or realizing that it is true. That is what one needs to do with all the prophecies in deciding if they were orchestrated by someone who knows the prophecies or God. This is really where the faith comes in since the prophecies existed well before Jesus and Jesus’ time is well documented. One has to decide if Jesus is the cornerstone or his life’s story was manipulated to fit into the prophecies. If you think about it the story can only be manipulated so far since a death and resurrection are difficult to fake.
Verse 4:31 is something I hope everyone can experience:
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
This is something that can only really be experienced and I wish I could feel this more often. The world creeps into our lives and we get distracted all too often which interferes with this experience we really could have all the time. The “deceiver” or Satan will do whatever it takes to remove our connection to God and to render God irrelevant in our lives. The Holy Spirit is our connection, we should pray for it daily to remain in the blanket of God’s protection. The one thing I can say is Jesus’ name will protect you and win!!