Thursday Devo
Scripture:
Acts 3:1-6
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Commentary:
3:1–10 Peter Heals a Lame Man. The healing of a lame man at the temple gate provides an example of an apostolic miracle (2:43) and attracts a crowd to hear Peter’s second sermon in the temple area. In Acts, actions often lead to an explanation about what God is doing; word and deed go together.
3:2 alms. Gifts of money or goods given to the poor.
3:6 To heal in the name of Jesus was to invoke his power and presence.
3:2 alms. Gifts of money or goods given to the poor.
3:6 To heal in the name of Jesus was to invoke his power and presence.
Questions:
- Often in life we can experience unmet expectations; a gap between what's ideal and what's real. Sometimes that gap can be frustrating, but other times it can actually be a good thing. In Acts 3 we see an unmet expectation in the lame man that was looking for a temporary solution to his problems. He asked Peter and John for money, and they heal him instead. That's the first gap Clayton shared between our IDEAL and God's REAL. Our ideal is often a shallow, immediate solution, while God's real is a deep, eternal transformation. When we make secondary things primary in our lives, we will always be disappointed. How often might we look for secondary things that will never satisfy us or solve our problems? What are some examples of this in your life?
- Sometimes our lives don't work out the way we thought they would, and sometimes we don't get the answers to our prayers that we expect. Sometimes we are left with a gap between our ideal and God's real. We still go through trials, we still get sick, we still experience pain. Clayton shared this quote by Charles Spurgeon: “The Christian grows rich by his losses, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied.” What does this quote speak to you?
Prayer Topics:
- That you would keep primary things primary and secondary things secondary.
- That you would always aim for God's REAL, not your own IDEAL.
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