And a man who had been lame from his
mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at
the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those
who were entering the temple.
Can you imagine him being lame from his mother’s womb.
He knows nothing else but that most of his life is spent asking for
alms- Anything
given gratuitously to relieve the poor, as money, food, or clothing, otherwise
called charity.
He had to be carried all of his life.
As was his custom he was sitting at the gate of the
temple.
This day would be quite
different from any other day.
He gave his attention to Peter and John expecting to receive
something from them.
He did receive something but this time it was not charity.
He walked!
But Peter said, “I do not possess
silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ
the Nazarene—walk!” And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and
immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he
entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the
people saw him walking and praising God; and they were taking note of him as
being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms,
and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
:6-10
It is all about Jesus and our faith in Him
And on the basis of faith in His
name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and
know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health
in the presence of you all. 3:16
Every one of us has a testimony of when we came to know
Jesus.
I remember the day clearly, it was in the spring of 1974. Our friends came over to share with us
Jesus. We had been friends for a long
time and we could see the difference in their lives. I know that day was when I was saved. I was totally changed. I felt it in my heart. The first evidence of it was I no longer
swore. Pretty much before that about
every other word out of my mouth was not pretty, but from that moment on it
completely stopped and still has to this day.
My friends were amazed at the change in my life.
Would love to hear your testimony!