Something From Nothing - Part 2

Within minutes of meeting Peter and John the ex-beggar is now a walking, leaping, worship leader, and any chance of keeping this story under the radar of the God police was gone. The story of his healing had broken and Peter and John were going to have to explain themselves to the crowd and the religious leaders. The listeners must have been confused as they heard Peter and John deny all responsibility for the miracle, but for you and me that’s exactly what we need to hear. I’m glad the breakout of Gods power is not about superhero personalities but ordinary people with a trust in Jesus.

So in this worldly season of financial gloom what can we learn from Peter and John

Recession, lack, debt, impossibility, call it what you want, it will never stop the church because our source is something more powerful and more available than silver and gold. Banks can run out of money, companies can run out of customers, governments can run out of popularity but one sure thing is that the Church will never run out of God. The power of the church is not in popularity or its bank balance, but in an all powerful, all loving, ever present, unchanging God.

At times like this we have to remember that God does not need us to have our own resources in order to meet people’s needs through us. Just as he did with Peter and John God can take our nothing and do something incredible with it if we are prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us.

The best thing that ever happened to this beggar was the day when 2 people full of the Holy Spirit had no money to give him, and instead of just helping him survive the day they helped him get his life back. There is no doubt that the best way to meet a need is to be full of the Spirit. After all He is the ultimate gift giver.

We must decide how we will respond when faced with needs beyond our own resources. Will our response be "Sorry we can't help you now, things are a bit tight" or will we continue to expect the Holy Spirit to be at work among us meeting needs by pouring out his own gifts to people through us.

The language we use will always give our expectation away. Negative people are viewed as negative people because of what they say not what they feel. It’s no surprise that the first thing the Holy Spirit did at Pentecost was get hold of the disciples mouths and fill them with his own language. What we say matters because it reflects what is in our heart. So when you face your own crippling situations watch your language.

Fortunately for the cripple in Acts 3, Peter’s attitude was shaped by the language of faith. We should be no different. At a time when lots of people want to talk about how difficult things are, I think it is important for us to speak with an expectation that God is ready to meet our needs regardless of finances and that we, as the people of God, are still able to be the light of the world even in its dark times.

Peter and John did not limit Gods ability by their own natural resources. Their attitude was that when they had nothing they still had someone, and that someone could do anything. An important lesson for us all in this season.