God Works Through Us In Spite Of Us - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 3:12-13a,

"Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus."

Peter healed a lame man at the temple and a crowd began to gather in astonishment. The above is how he began what he had to say to them.

The account provides something fascinating about God to me. Peter heals a cripple and then tells the mob that gathers that it was not due to his “own power or godliness”.

It appears to me that God uses folks for his purposes to accomplish his will and his desires apart from them having arrived at a level of "power" or “godliness”. While Peter had become an amazing apostle and carried within him the fullness of the Holy Spirit that led to his involvement in the miraculous, the prophetic, the production of the inspired Scriptures and the spread of the gospel, he confessed it was not him or any level of spirituality he had attained. God had done it!

I sense there may be some among us who calculate their spiritual bona fides on the basis of how God uses them. Peter's observation here should cure us all of such notions. While I certainly appreciate the faithfulness and desire of many who serve God and do amazing things for the kingdom of heaven, it is God who does it!

God uses us in our foolishness, weakness and inabilities. That God involves us at all in his purposes is just amazing and that he doesn’t require a level of accomplishment in our life to be used by him is even more amazing.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Jesus Christ: The Real Thing! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 3:2-10,

“Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful… Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.' Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God… they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
 
In the name of Jesus Christ, the natural order of events of the physical laws of creation were set aside. This crippled man was miraculously healed.

Surely all of the claims by Jesus Christ and the apostles he sent are vetted, verified and authenticated by these miracles!

Jesus Christ is the one for whom many over the years have been willing to die for, as they have discovered that he is the “real thing”.

Today I thank my God for providing us with these anecdotes of authentication!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

God Uses Us In The Midst Of Our Shortcomings - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 3:1-13a,

"One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer… Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day… When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money… Then Peter said, 'Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.' Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk… While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: 'Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.'"
 
This miracle demonstrates something fascinating about God to me. Peter heals a cripple and then tells the mob that gathers that it was not due to his “own power or godliness”.

I think we know all to many today in Christendom who flex their spiritual muscles in front of us by a "show" of spirituality through the exercise of their "spiritual gifts" to demonstrate they have that special connection with God, they have their pursuit of God that you and I don't, they are the ones with the inside scoop on how to understand the Scriptures and all things Christian.

How unfortunate they never had the opportunity to meet Peter and John! God used those two (and, of course, many others) in ways that no one today can lay claim to, and did it not by their "own power or godliness" (God did it)!

God often uses folks for his purposes to accomplish his will and desires apart from them having arrived at a special level of “power or godliness”.

God uses us in our foolishness, weaknesses and inabilities. That God involves us at all in his purposes is just amazing to me, and that he doesn’t require a level of accomplishment in our life to be used by him is even more amazing.

As I think about how God works this way I realize he gets the glory instead of some knucklehead like me.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Jesus Christ Sends The Holy Spirit To Dwell Within Us! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 2:33,

“Exalted to the right hand of God, he [Jesus Christ] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

Here is something I find just fascinating! Peter tells the crowd that gathered when the Pentecost event took place, that what they were witnessing was something Jesus Christ was doing in heaven at that exact time. What Jesus was doing in heaven was manifesting itself on earth!

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within the hearts and lives of each of the disciples. Since that time, as we learn in other passages such as Ephesians 1 and 1 Corinthians 12, each one of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith have had Jesus send the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives as well.

Our experience may not be the same as what these disciples had on the day of Pentecost, but just as with them, our Lord in heaven did something very personal for each one of us that impacts us here on earth: at the time we embraced Jesus in faith, he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us!!

Simply astonishing!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.