MONDAY 19 April 2021 “Unexpected”

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Good morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

As you step out into Monday today may I ask… ‘how’s your heart’? Did the weekend encourage you? Did you have an encounter with God this weekend that frames your perspective on life today? How will you respond today to the unexpected which you and I, will most certainly experience?

Wherever in our great big world you will spend this Monday, I wonder if you’ll experience anything like what happened in Jerusalem many years ago, as recorded in Acts 3 in the Bible? Seems it was an ordinary day, nothing special. Jerusalem was a busy, active city and especially around the great Temple, which was at the highest point of the city, crowds of people were always going in and out of the massive Temple courts.

But on this particular, ordinary day, something outrageous happened. A man was jumping and shouting and people were clapping and pointing and celebrating a miracle! You see the people “…recognized him as the same crippled man who used to sit begging at the temple gate, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” (Acts 3:10)

Yesterday we looked at the ‘backstory’ and learned Peter and John had been going up to the Temple for afternoon prayers and this crippled man was sitting on the ground near the gate, as he did every day, for his entire life, doing what he always did…begging for a handout. Peter had said “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you, in the name of Jesus, stand and walk.” And a man who’d never stood, never walked… did, by the power of Jesus unleashed into him! Within seconds, standing and walking was not enough for the man, and he began leaping and shouting his excitement. Of course that drew a crowd very quickly, especially when they recognized who he was and what had happened to him!

The man did what you or I would have probably done. He grabbed ahold of Peter and John in his profound gratitude, but also in his amazement. Who were these two guys? How did Peter just heal this man from a lifetime of paralysis? Luke writes: “…all the people were astonished and came running to them… When Peter saw this he said to them, ‘People of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we made this man walk?” (Acts 3:11,12) Well let’s be honest here. Peter was now the one saying ridiculous things. Of course the people were surprised, of course they came running to see the miracle, of course they assumed Peter and John had some miraculous powers.

But on this ordinary day, God was at work orchestrating something that would change history, not just for a cripple who would never again sit on the ground begging, but for a great many people in Jerusalem that day, and for millions who have read this account ever since, all around the world!

Now ponder that a moment. As that ordinary day began no one expected what God was planning! The cripple assumed his day would end with a few coins in his cup, and someone would have to carry him home, and he’d be back in this same spot, and same condition, tomorrow. Peter and John assumed they’d have a busy day sharing the stories of Jesus with many people anxious to learn, just as everyday had been since Jesus left them and ascended back to heaven in full view of many of them. And the crowds? Well, just like any crowds anywhere… normal people going about their normal day, not having any idea they were about to be part of a miracle of God!

I wonder if TODAY, this day, wherever you live, might be a day just like that one was… an ordinary day where God steps in and the unexpected, the miraculous, changes everything! May I ask… do you live with that expectation my friends? That at any moment the ordinary might turn miraculous as Jesus reaches from heaven to you and your situation? I’ve been trying to live like that for some time and I can tell you, it’s exciting… but you have to keep your eyes and ears open, alert for the ordinary to become the miraculous in an unexpected moment!

With the formerly crippled man holding on to Peter and occasionally kicking up his heels or leaping just for the fun of it, the crowd was cheering and shouting. So, Peter did what he had done only a few days before, he took quick advantage of the moment and led by the Holy Spirit Peter started speaking, probably shouting to be heard, and he explained HOW this miracle had happened! This crippled man had just had an encounter with JESUS, the resurrected Jesus!

Peter declared the people of Jerusalem had killed this Jesus, but God had raised Jesus from the dead! Jesus appeared many times alive and then Jesus returned a few days ago, back to heaven. Peter and John were eyewitnesses of all this. Now, on this ordinary day, this Jesus had reached from heaven and healed this crippled man. “By faith in the name of Jesus this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to this man, as you can all see.” Peter said, (Acts 3:16)

Now let’s put ourselves in the crowd that day. We’ve all seen cripples or homeless folks sitting at the side of the road many, many times in the past. What would happen if suddenly one of them jumped to his feet and began dancing for joy!? So find a place where you can watch this Jerusalem crowd in this miraculous moment. Look, do you see the cripple, over there, standing there next to Peter and John? See how he occasionally leaps into the air? We’ve just heard Peter’s explanation. So what will you and I do with what we are experiencing? Are we hallucinating? Have we gone mad? Is this simply something we write off as amazing but unexplainable so we push it aside, we walk away and go on about our day simply trying to forget it?

Now before you answer too quickly, consider this: I think you and I probably see evidence of God’s miracles everyday, all around us, and we simply miss or disregard them! When you looked into the mirror this morning and did whatever you do to fix yourself so you can go out in public… what did you see as you looked at yourself? God says: “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you…” (Jeremiah 1:5) Do you believe that? God wants us to join with David in saying with amazement, “You, O God, created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” (Psalm 139:13-15)

Are you awed by all the details of your design and creation and how God keeps you alive moment by moment? And then when you look at the clock or the calendar are you simply overwhelmed with this thought: “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book, O God, before one of them came to be.”? (Ps. 139:16) May I urge you to consider beginning each day with that experience as you stand before the mirror… and then just express your praise to God, right there in your bathroom!

In closing today, let’s spend this day pondering the words Peter said, with the healed crippled man jumping up and down right next to him… “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.” (Acts 3:16) What will you face today, this ordinary Monday, that will need you to be strong? Strong emotionally, strong spiritually, strong intellectually, maybe strong physically? Where will your strength come from? What might you face today which will call for an infusion of Jesus’ power into your life? Do you and Jesus have a strong enough, authentic enough relationship that whatever happens in your life today, your faith in Jesus will be more than enough? Are you who you are because the Great I AM, the resurrected JESUS has designed you, created you, and saved you by HIS mighty Easter power, and Jesus is today infusing you with all the power you will need for what HE knows you will face this Monday?

I found a new song that celebrates this reality. Oh my, join in this worship my friends . .

Today’s Scripture is Acts 3:10-16.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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