Abundant Life Church

"Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength." - Acts 3:6-7

After the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, many miraculous signs and wonders followed. The Holy Spirit transformed Peter, the coward that denied Jesus 3 times, into Peter, the bold preacher of Christ and the coming Kingdom. This same Spirit also transformed Peter, "ye of little faith" (Matt 14:31), into Peter, who's faith was so rock-solid his shadow healed those he passed by.

My favorite part of the scripture quoted above, is that Peter didn't simply pray for the lame man and move on with his day. He didn't preach for awhile and then convert this man to Christianity as a requirement to receive healing. He didn't pray and then cross his fingers in hopes that it worked. Nor did he pray and then watch and wait to see what would happen. He prayed for the lame man, and then he "took him by the right hand and lifted him up." Peter's faith was so undeniably set on the promises of Jesus, that he had the courage to lift that man off the ground and witness the full manifestation of God's healing power. For Peter, this wasn't an issue of "might be healed" or "could be healed" or "if it be your will, Lord" healed. He knew that by Jesus' stripes this man was already healed -- It was done once and for all on the cross (Is. 53:5). I believe that this same faith, this same power, these same signs and wonders are what God desires for the church today. It was promised to us that we would do "even greater things than these" (John 14:12). God is who He says He is and His Word means exactly what it says. If we really want to see God's power manifest in our lives, we must not allow ourselves to pray and cross our fingers, or pray and watch, or pray and hope. Let us choose to pray and live out our faith in action.