Held Together By Christ's Love

2 Corinthians 5:14

On my first trip missions trip overseas, I was struck with the power of this verse, and used it in the first meeting that I had with a group of preachers in that country. No matter where we are from, or what our backgrounds are, it is the love of Jesus Christ that holds us together and makes us one big family. It is both the love that He has for us and the love that we have for Him that gives us a mutual interest.

“Constraineth” is “hold together” in Greek. There is a law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus that is at work in every believer (Romans 8:2). This law has made us free from living under sin and its partner, death. Acknowledging the love of Christ in us confirms in our heart that we are as dead to sin as Jesus is, which the rest of this verse brings out: “if one died for all, then were all dead” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

In a world of varying cultures and creeds, it seems almost fantasy that there could be one simple code that would bind these various entities together. The finished work of Jesus Christ is that one beautiful, simple thing that makes us who we are. There is something warming and encouraging about being in a foreign land, where you are thousands of miles from anyone else that you know, and hearing the name of your Jesus mentioned with worship and praise. The peace that He has given to you has also been given to others and it has a lasting effect on both your relationship with Him and your ability to show forth His love to others.

No one that does not know how loved that they are in the eyes of God can ever truly show forth His love to a lost and dying world. We do not have perfect love to give, neither are we capable of generating it. Even the love that we have for our children, which is as close to God’s love as we can naturally formulate, is imperfect in that it is effected by emotion. God’s love is a perfect love which knows no ups and downs and when we know that love, there is no room in our hearts for fear or for torment (1 John 4:18).

The further promise of the constraining love of Christ is that we are alive with Christ in His resurrection. We live this Christian life not after our own fleshly lusts and desires but we live it “unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Living our lives for Him means that we dwell on Him and His finished work, not on us and our unfinished work. Acknowledge that the old things are passed away and that all things are become new (5:17), and you will know that all things are of God (5:18), and that you have been reconciled to Him by the finished work of the cross. When we have this knowledge, we gladly accept the ministry of reconciliation.

I believe that those who do not rest in the love that the Father has for them can never fully embrace the ministry of reconciliation. Without a personal revelation of His love and forgiveness, you are always trying to impress Him and reconcile yourself to Him through your performance. The only way that you can reconcile yourself back to God is through His prescribed order and that is the cross of Jesus Christ.

May you go with God’s abundant grace and favor today, held together by the wonderful love of Jesus!

All Things Are Lawful

1 Corinthians 6:12

This was a watershed scripture for me so to speak. When I began to be shown the revelation of God’s grace and mercy, this verse was one of the first verses to jump off of the page at me and force me to reevaluate my beliefs about the usage of the law in both preaching and in living.

When Paul wrote the 6th chapter of 1 Corinthians, he addressed to major problems in the Corinthian church. First was the issue of Christians taking one another to court over civil matters (6:1-8), and the second was believers committing fornication with harlots (6:13-20). Sandwiched between these two important matters are four very interesting verses that show us the preaching style of the Apostle Paul.

When dealing with the first issue, Paul reminds the church of who they are in Christ, asking them, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (verse 2). This appeal to who they are, not a diatribe on what they have done, is classic Apostle Paul. He states the problem, shows them that they are better than to act as they have acted and then moves on.

What he moves on to is another appeal to knowledge, asking them if they realize that unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 9). Many have preached this passage to mean that Paul was warning them that if they continued in this pattern that they were going to miss heaven, but within context it is not what Paul is saying at all. He is reminding them of the class of people that they are going to court in front of and wondering why they would accept the civil decisions over spiritual matters from people who are not part of heaven’s inheritance (verse 10). To further the argument he reminds them, “Such were some of you”. Notice that they used to be like those sinners but now they “are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). These are present states, having remained that way in spite of some pitiful living.

Paul’s statement of “All things are lawful unto me” is his way of showing the church that they have been set free from the letter of the law. There is no law that binds the believer to live a certain way, for Jesus has fulfilled that law through His perfect lifestyle (Matthew 5:17), and then He took it out of our way, freeing us to live (Colossians 2:14). A “good, old-fashioned preacher” should have said “THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY” in this passage to set up the forthcoming passage on fornication, but Paul steers clear of the 7th Commandment, opting instead to introduce freedom from the law, and a new way to live right. By declaring us free from the law, Paul puts the believer on the path of God’s grace which will teach them how to live right (Titus 2:11, 12).

Notice that just because all things are lawful does not mean that Paul encourages all things. Some things “are not expedient”, meaning that they are not profitable. Other things are so binding that Paul knows that if he starts doing them, he will be brought underneath their power. Though he is free to live how he chooses, he wants that life to reflect the change that has taken place in his heart, so many things will be avoided because of this fact.

This appeal is used to keep the Corinthian church from fornication, reminding them that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost (6:19). Though they are under no trappings of the law, why would they want to fornicate knowing that they are God’s purchased possession and that they are sons and daughters of God? Grace appeals to the better angels of our nature, and truly makes us free.

The Law Breeds Anger

Romans 4:15

I have often thought that it would be a good idea for some Christians to be witnessed to, out of the blue, by a total stranger. When the stranger begins to tell them about Jesus, they would interrupt with, “I know these things, and I am a Christian”. The stranger, with a look of shock would reply, “Oh, I’m sorry, you looked so angry I thought you must need to meet my Jesus”. I’m sure that would go over nicely.

Just like the children’s song says, “If you’re happy and you know it then your face should surely show it”, our joy that is in Christ should certainly have an effect on our physical man. But many saints live a life of depression and misery. They are angry at sinners, saints, the church world, the government and just about anyone else that doesn’t line up with their way of thinking on every single issue. This anger is perpetuated inside of them with every passing day as they struggle to live the Christian life. There must be more to this walk with God!

Paul said that “the law worketh wrath” (Romans 4:15). The Greek word for “worketh” denotes an accomplishment or a finished thing. Paul uses the same word when speaking to the church at Ephesus, encouraging them to put on the whole armor of God, “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). The word “done” in that passage is the same word for “worketh” in Romans 4:15. When the law is injected into a life, its end result is anger.

This anger is two-fold. First, by placing ourselves under the demands of the law, we are going back to our own works and performance to achieve righteousness. This causes us to be judged on our own merit, and though Jesus paid the price so that we would never be judged on our own works, our lifestyle is stating that this is the way that we choose to live. Paul said that when you do this you go back under the curse, “for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3:10).

Secondly, we find ourselves living in anger when we live under the law. Believers that feel that they are bound to their performance in order to walk in the anointing or that they must do something to cause a daily sanctification to happen are perpetually angry at both themselves for their own inability and with everyone else around them. The source of our anger is our bondage to the law. We feel that God is never truly pleased with us so we do not feel pleased with us as well. If God is mad at us, and we are mad at us, it makes sense that we will be mad at everyone around us. We will be ESPECIALLY mad at those who aren’t working as hard at salvation as we are, for they must be walking in total rebellion.

God is not mad at you! He poured His entire wrath out on Jesus at the cross so that there would be no more wrath left for you. God killed Jesus (Isaiah 53:4), placing all of the sins of the world into His body at the cross (John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24), and by that death, judged Jesus instead of us (John 12:31, 32). If you have place your faith in Jesus, then there can be no wrath left for you, for God will not judge the same sin twice. If you do not accept Christ, then you go back under the wrath of God for John said, “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

If you are angry at everyone around you today, take inventory as to how you feel about God’s love and acceptance for you. See all of your sins in the body of Jesus and know that God can no longer be mad at you. This knowledge will free you to love a world that Jesus bled and died for.

Jesus at the Well

John 4:6-29

It would do us all good to read and re-read this beautiful story of Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria. He goes to this town on purpose, not by coincidence (verse 4), and this woman will never be the same because of it.

Jesus stops to rest on the town water well at noon when He is met by a woman of Samaria who has come to draw water. This is a red flag about the woman’s reputation. Most women came to the well in the early morning when it was cool, and they drew enough water to last them all day, sufficient for their various tasks. To wait until noon to come to the well denoted either laziness or an attempt to avoid contact with others. This woman has had five divorces and is living with a man that she is not married to. Perhaps the gossip and the insults around the well with the other women had driven her to solitude.

It is beautiful how Jesus finds people when they are at their lowest state and are accepted by no one else. His interest in her stuns the woman, as she asks how He could have anything to do with her, seeing she was a Samaritan (verse 9). Jesus’ response is, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, ‘Give me to drink’; you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10).

Oh that the world only knew what the gift of God is! “If you knew the gift of God” is such a powerful cry from Jesus. God’s love for us is the greatest gift that man could ever receive, yet so many know so little of it. The blame for that must first fall at the foot of the church, which has done a rather poor job of letting the woman at the well know just how much that God loves her. Much of the church is so busy making sure that the world feels sufficiently pitiful and guilty for their sins that they ignore the beauty of the gift of God. I even heard a minister say once, “Don’t tell them of God’s grace too soon or they won’t feel guilty enough to get saved”. Jesus ignored this method of evangelism.

True revelation of God’s love for you comes not from a chance encounter with religion. Nearly all sinners will speak highly of God’s love for the world, but they do not see God’s love as focused in on them alone. The woman asks Jesus for the water that He provides, but it is obvious that she still thinks the water is physical, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, nether come here to draw” (verse 15). Jesus ignores her request, not because He is cold-hearted and unwilling to save, but because she still sees His salvation as corporate and not personal. In order to prove to her that He is real, He reveals a secret about her life that only God could know and this prompts her to recognize His love for her (verse 18). With a heart tendered by His love, she can now see Him as the Christ (verse 26), and this leads her to tell her family, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that I ever did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29).

Thank God for the encounters that we have had with Jesus by the various wells of our life. Never once have these encounters been by chance but always by design. Pray for this encounter for your lost loved ones today, that they too may know the love that Jesus has, not just for the rest of the world, but for them.

Unreasonable Unbelief

Luke 7:30-35

It is reasonable to refuse to believe that there might be life on other planets. We have found no evidence of life outside of our own planet, and we have not had a visitor from a distant planet or star make contact with us. It is a reasonable refusal because there is no evidence to the contrary.

It is an unreasonable unbelief to hold onto the notion that man never landed on the moon; that it was all some elaborate hoax, concocted on a Hollywood back-lot with lights and special effects. It is unreasonable because we have the photos, the samples of dust and rock, the interviews with the astronauts involved and the return trips by different crews from different countries. To continue to live in denial is completely unreasonable.

For the inhabitants of Israel in the time of Jesus, it was unreasonable for them to refuse to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. He was born of a virgin, just as Isaiah had said He must be (Isaiah 7:14), from the tribe of Israel that was required (Genesis 49:10), and born in the town that it was prophesied that He would be born in (Micah 5:2). Aside from the prophecies, He brought healing to the sick, food to the hungry and even raised the dead. His power was obvious to anyone who would open their eyes and His lifestyle was impeccable, following every demand of the Mosaic Law (Matthew 5:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

When the general public heard Jesus, they were intrigued, and drawn to His message just as they had been to His predecessor, John the Baptist. They accepted His message, thus justifying God (Luke 7:29). The Pharisees and the lawyers were the resident powers of the church and the Mosaic Law in that time, and they refused to accept the ministry of Jesus. By this refusal, they were actually rejecting the counsel of God against themselves (Luke 7:30). Jesus gives us an amusing and powerful illustration as to what people are like who refuse to accept Jesus when given ample evidence.

Jesus likened these to children who play in the streets and who complain to one another when the other children don’t play right. One child whines that he has played the flute but none of the other kids danced. Another complains that he has told something sad and no one cried with him. Does this sound a bit immature? Of course, for that is what the silly games of kids are like! Jesus is not condemning the children for being this way, but rather He is condemning the religious leaders for acting like these spoiled, silly children.

He states that John the Baptist came refusing to eat and drink and they thought he sustained himself through the powers of darkness (verse 33). Jesus came both eating and drinking and they accused Him of being a glutton and a wino and too friendly with the wrong crowd (verse 34). Nothing, nor anyone was going to make them happy. They were like spoiled children.
It is an unreasonable unbelief for any of us to think less of Jesus than He is capable of. In light of what Jesus suffered at the cross on our behalf, it is an unreasonable unbelief to think that we must suffer for sins that He paid for. Let us be fully grown in our faith in Christ rather than like the children who complain.

Go Into Peace

Mark 5:25-34

Tradition says that this woman’s name was Veronica and that she was from Caesarea Philipi, but scripture identifies her only as “a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years”. She must have been very wealthy, at least in the early stages of her sickness, for she had been to many physicians and had suffered many things at their hands, “and had spent all that she had”. These 12 years worth of doctor’s visits had not bettered her in the least but rather she had grown worse.

This woman is a spiritual type of many things, but namely she is the church, typified by the number 12, God’s number of perfect government. Her issue of blood is a type of some sort of problem within the life of the believer that is robbing them of their life and their happiness, for the life of the flesh was in the blood.

When she heard that Jesus was coming, she made the life-changing decision to go and find Him. Her disease made her ceremonially unclean in Israel, so her arrival in a public place would have been a law breaking action. She throws this notion off, too desperate for a miracle to care whether or not she is judged by the law, and she approaches Jesus from behind Him. Perhaps she had let Him pass because she had a change of heart, and nearly let Him get away. Or maybe she let Him pass because she could not bear the thought of looking Him in the eye, content only to get her healing and sneak away.

She grabbed the hem of the garment of Jesus as He passed by and the very moment that she did, the bleeding stopped, and she felt her healing happen. Jesus turns to the crowd, sensing that power has left His body and He asks who has touched His clothes. After a brief exchange between Jesus and the disciples, the woman, “fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth” (Mark 5:33).

The response of fear and trembling is a result of being in the wonderful presence of the Lord and should not always be construed as a bad thing. Jeremiah said that when the earth hears all the good that He does to them, “they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it” (Jeremiah 33:9). Paul said for each believer to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Again, this is a beautiful event, for we are only working out of us what God has worked inside of us, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

Under the Old Covenant, no man could look upon the face of God and live. In fact, when Moses requested to see God’s face, he was denied and God let him look only upon his backside as He walked away (Exodus 33:18-23). Jesus is grace and He is truth (John 1:17), so when He has opportunity to show forth the nature of God, He looks the woman directly in the eye and gives her a title that He gives no other woman in the Bible, “Daughter”. He has adopted her into the family of God!

When Jesus says, “Go in peace”, He uses the word “eis” in Greek meaning, “go into peace”. As the woman dwells on her newfound position of “daughter” she will go into the peace of heaven. This peace will make her whole of her plague. When you find yourself troubled by the symptoms in your body and mind, just remind yourself that you are a son or daughter of God and watch your healing manifest in Jesus’ name.

The Twig and the Beam

Matthew 7:1-6

This is one of those straight-forward, easy to understand but hard to apply scriptures that we all need to remember. “Judge not, that ye be not judged” means very simply, don’t judge other people because you won’t like it if they do that to you. The next verse states that the manner in which you judge is the manner in which you will be judged in return. So, if you like to gossip about people or comment on rumors or condemn them upon first sight without all of the facts, be prepared for all of those little gems to come your way.

Jesus puts forth a pair of questions in verses 3 and 4 regarding motes and beams. The mote is a dry stalk, or straw, commonly referred to by the word, “twig”. It is contrasted in both size and constitution by a large piece of wood like a beam. He asks how you can spot the twig in your brother’s eye but ignore the beam hanging out of your own eye. The visual of this is quite humorous, and of course, impossible. Jesus is giving this extreme example on purpose, to illustrate the foolishness of trying to clean up those around you. Note that Jesus is speaking to us about our “brother” which denotes Christians judging Christians.

The second question by Jesus regards not only the recognition of a beam in your brother’s eye, but the pseudo-spiritual practice of being there to “help them”. I have seen many Christian’s involve themselves in others lives, in areas that was none of their business, because they say they want to help. This desire to help is often a mask for a greater desire to point out errors and problems and to talk and gossip about things better left unsaid. We must be certain that the twig in their eye doesn’t look bigger than it is because our own eyes are so messed up by the beam protruding from them.

Jesus goes so far as to call this attitude hypocritical (Matthew 7:5). He does not condemn the helping of a fellow believer with their issues, but only after we have taken an accurate inventory of our own problems.

In verse six, Jesus gives a token statement, found only in this passage, which appears at first glance to stand separate from the preceding verses, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you”. When you do help your brother with their issues, be sure that it is a brother. When you offer the same help and concern to the apostate unbeliever, you are throwing priceless pearls into a pen of hogs, and the end result will be unconcern and mockery.

This should not stop us from giving genuine love and grace to the sinner. Not all sinners can be categorized as swine and dogs, for many are simply wandering in the world without Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit in you to lead you in all three areas: knowing when there are issues in your own life; knowing how to help a brother with their issues; and knowing when to keep your thoughts to yourself if you are dealing with a swine or a dog spiritually.

These are simple and practical pieces of advice, but they will save us all much heartache.

Taste and See

Psalm 34

This Psalm of David is prefaced with the title, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed”. Abimelech is the title for the king of the Philistines, whose name was actually Achish. David is on the run from King Saul who has determined to kill him, and he finds himself in a foreign land, where the people recognize him which causes him to fear for his life. He changed his behavior and acted like a mad man, scratching on the doors and foaming at the mouth. This is a different attitude from David than we are accustomed to! This is the giant killer, foaming around on the floor? Where is his courage? Where is his Covenant God?

David is displaying a very common trait of most of us: fear. He has been a great man of courage but now he is scared for his very life. This is a low moment in his life, and one that I am sure that he wants to forget. When he writes the 34th Psalm, the title reminds us of this story, but then the lyrics to the song, which encompass 22 verses, make no mention of this low moment. David understood a great principle; that when your past has become past, leave it in the past. His song gives praise to God and not to his failure; and the song of our heart should give praise to His finished work as well.

Psalm 34 is an acrostic, meaning that all 22 verses begin with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in order. Perhaps this was used by David as a memory aid, so that the reader could quickly memorize the song; or maybe it was simply the Holy Spirit showing art as inspired by God. We may have no absolute answer, but we can be sure that it wasn’t accidental. Our God is a beautiful artist.

The first ten verses constitute a song, while the last 12 make up a sermon. It is in the song portion of the chapter that David challenges the singer to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (verse 8). Can you “taste and see”? How can your taste buds cause your eyes to open? Of course we know what David means, that if you taste of the goodness of the Lord, you will see that He is as good as advertised. However, there is a greater connection that states that as we taste of His goodness, our spiritual eyes will be enlightened. We literally see better in the realm of the spirit when our spirit man is feeding on Jesus.

Jonathan was coming back from battling the Philistines and his belly was grumbling with hunger. Unbeknownst to him, his father had forbid all soldiers from eating while he sought God for victory in the battle. Jonathan was told of the forced fast and he felt that it was foolish, for the people were growing weak from no food. He put his hand to a honeycomb and then ate of the honey, “and his eyes were enlightened” (1 Samuel 14:27).

When we place the sweetness of God’s love for us to our mouth, we have our eyes enlightened. Show me a saint that has no spiritual insight and who never has a fresh revelation of who God is, and I will show you someone who never feeds on God’s wonderful love for them. This has nothing to do with church attendance or “doing” Christian things. Many people are wrapped in religious trappings but they have no enlightenment of spirit. Be free from the trappings of religion and taste and see that your Lord is truly good.

Jesus Descended First

Ephesians 4:7-11

When Jesus ascended into heaven, following His Passion on this earth, he “led captivity captive” and then “gave gifts unto men”. The five-fold ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are from God, through the finished work of Jesus, to provide for the newly founded church. It is the action of leading the captivity captive that shows us volumes about Jesus’ accomplishment at Calvary.

Jesus told us that hell consisted of both flames for the sinner and Abraham’s bosom for the saint (Luke 16:22). Prior to the cross, no man could enter into heaven for their sins had not yet been taken away, only covered by countless lambs and bulls. Since these sacrifices could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), the saints that died went to a paradise, waiting the shedding of the blood of the Lamb, which would take away the sin of the world.

When Jesus died, He descended in spirit into the lower parts of the earth (Ephesians 4:9). While there, He preached deliverance to the captives (Luke 4:18), taking them out of this Paradise and leading them to the Father, the access which had been paid for by His blood. All men that exhibited faith in God prior to the cross were actually looking forward by their faith to that cross, accepting the blood of Jesus as the washing away of their sins. Jesus’ death then brought fulfillment to their faith, becoming a truly finished work.

After descending into the earth, Jesus then ascended far above all heavens, “that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10). The only way that Christ could fill all things is if He has first “fulfilled” all things, and the cross was the complete fulfillment of God’s plan for man’s redemption. By then pouring gifts, in the form of the five-fold ministry, into the church, Jesus has filled us with all that we need for growth and development.

It is beautiful to know that no one was left out by the finished work of the cross. Those who had died prior to the cross were covered by the descent of Jesus into the heart of the earth, while those who lived after the cross had just been paid for by the shed blood of the lamb. Those in Paradise were escorted to heaven to live forever with the Lord, while those of us left on this earth have the resurrection of Jesus, which allows the Holy Spirit to live His life through us. We are both provided for, and that through what Christ has accomplished.

The finished work of Christ is that which fills all things. You are who you are in the Lord because the work of the cross was so complete. The gifts that Jesus paid for are “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). This shows us that though the cross is a finished work, it is still finishing the work in us. We are constantly being molded and shaped into the very likeness and image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Glory to God for His perfect payment for you, by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Your past, present and future have been atoned for by His perfect work.

How to Walk in Power

Galatians 3:5

Galatians 3 is a harsh rebuke by the Apostle Paul to the church at Galatia, and it is very telling about Paul’s attitude toward the gospel. The rebuke of “O foolish Galatians” which leads off the chapter does not come as the result of spiritual laziness or some sort of sin. Instead, Paul rebukes them for mixing the message of pure grace with that of works and law. He says, “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3)

A misconception that is attached to the power of God is closely related to this attitude by the Galatian church. Many believe that when someone operates under the anointing in preaching or teaching or they have wonderful miracles come out of their ministry, that they must live a holier life or have some higher form of sanctification. This leads people to try to “pay the price” for power in their life and an increased emphasis on works is soon to follow.

Paul debunks this theory when he asks them about the power that rests on the preachers and miracle workers in their midst, “Doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Galatians 3:5) Is it the keeping of the law to a greater degree than his peers that causes this man to preach with authority or operate in the gifts of the Spirit? Paul’s answer is found in the last part of the question, “the hearing of faith”.

God does not “reward” the worker of the law with great anointing or signs, wonders and miracles. The more that the believer hears of Christ and His finished work and they learn to rest in that work, the more that they are used of the Spirit, for there is no dependency in their own heart on their performance. They do not fear being accepted of God and they know that they do not earn what Jesus has already paid for. The knowledge that they are loved and forgiven keeps them qualified in their minds to be used of God, and this hearing of the faith brings the power of the Holy Spirit out in them.

This was common knowledge among the disciples, but not so much among the laity. When Peter and John came into the temple in Jerusalem at the gate called Beautiful, they were met by a lame beggar, asking alms. Peter made the now famous statement, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). The man was healed instantly and the people looked on Peter and John, “greatly wondering” (Acts 3:11).

Peter senses that in the wondering of the people, they are convinced that they are looking at two great and mighty men. He says to them, “Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look you so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” (Acts 3:12). Note the phrase, “by our own power or holiness”. Peter knows that the people think that he and John are powerful and further, that they have paid some sort of “holiness” price to be used so mightily of God. This is the same attitude that Paul is confronting in Galatians 3, and it should be confronted again today!

When God uses someone, there has certainly been a price paid, but not one of works, otherwise God would owe that man or woman the power and the anointing (Romans 4:4). The price that has been paid is the hearing of faith. When you hear of what God thinks about you and you embrace it, you become usable by the Father.

Know what He thinks of you, and be prepared to watch God move in a mighty way.