Give glory where it's due

2/1/2012

Acts 3:8- “He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.”

Interpretation: This lame man is no longer sitting in the dirt; he was healed by belief in the name of Jesus Christ. Once this man received his deepest desires by his faith in Christ, Peter’s response to the lead of the Holy Spirit, and God’s goodness, he didn’t just keep the miracle to himself. First note, he jumped to his feet- he didn’t hesitate to believe that God wanted to heal him or that God had the power to heal him. I think often times I can be the epitome of this man: sitting around, asking for something I can use, but secretly desiring the Lord to do something huge in my life. But I want to be waiting faithfully for that day when God actually comes through with answering my biggest prayer, and when he does, I want everyone to know about it! This man went into the temple courts that he had been sitting outside of maybe his whole life. He was walking, and jumping, and most importantly, praising God who healed him. He didn’t look at Peter as the answer to his problems, and he didn’t tell the people in the temple how great Peter was (although Peter was great). The glory went to God- it went to the right place- and as it says later in this passage the people were “filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” God does great things in the lives of his people. First, I want to believe that He wants to do great things in my life. Second, I want to recognize when He is doing them and not miss my opportunities because of lack of faith, and third, when He does do something great and He blows my mind, I want to be positive to give all of the glory to Him, not to myself, not to the other people involved, not just to random chance, but to the one and only true God who performs miracles because He loves us.

Application: I will go to bed early tonight and do a devo I missed a few days ago before bed. More of the word- more of God’s perfect will in my vision. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”