THE HOLY SPIRIT EMPOWERS
Acts 3:1-10, Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 12:27, Isaiah 35:6
To begin chapter 3, we see Peter and John, Jewish followers of Christ, going to the temple to pray. Peter and John's relationship with Christ is key to what we are about to see throughout this chapter. Jesus' 12 apostles, including Peter and John, were witnesses of Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. They directly witnessed the gospel by living life with Jesus The apostles are also set apart in Acts 1:8 when Jesus tells them that they will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. So they were especially empowered and used by the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ. We see this displayed here in chapter 3.
As they walk to the temple which was a routine act for Jewish people, they come across a lame man who was sitting outside the temple asking for alms. Essentially this lame man came to the temple everyday to ask for money from those entering the temple. Peter and John approach the temple, and sure enough they are asked by the man for alms, see verse 3. What Peter does here is telling of the Holy Spirit's presence in his life.
Peter and John, calling the lame man's attention, tell him that they do not have money for him but what he does have he will give. He then tells him to stand and walk in the name of Jesus Christ. Peter gives the formerly lame man the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit to be healed. Immediately the man is able to stand and walk and out of joy begins leaping and enters the temple to worship God for what had just happened.
We see ordinary men, Peter and John, through the power of the Holy Spirit within them, in the name of Jesus heal a lame man supernaturally. We also see a formerly lame man understand that he has been changed by God and begin to worship immediately. We too have been empowered through the Holy Spirit in Jesus name. We should strive to daily remember and more deeply understand that we have been saved and are being changed by God and worship Him. Within the greater narrative of what God is doing in the book of Acts we can see that because of Jesus we are saved, empowered, and that he is deserving of worship.
Do you actively live in belief that you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to expand God's Kingdom?
Do you respond to God in worship like the lame man from this story?
How can you respond this week to what we have read today?
