Dare to Believe

Acts 3:1–10 NKJV

1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Have you ever been in a situation that appeared hopeless? Maybe it was a diagnosis or a circumstance that without a miracle there was no chance that things would change?

I want to challenge you today to dare to believe God and cultivate a spiritual hunger through expectation in faith.

Matthew 5:6 NKJV

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Though He has compassion on us and showers blessing on the just and the unjust person, God is not moved by our need (Psalm 78.38, Matthew 5.45). What does draw the attention and hand of God is the heart who trusts Him in faith (2 Chronicles 16.9).

Unfortunately, so many people—even Christians—have little or no expectation that God will move. They have become satisfied with the works of the flesh and natural things that they are not hungry (i.e. don’t desire) to see the works of God to the point that they pursue and press in.

As a result, they experience deferred hope.

When we stir up our spiritual hunger and cultivate an expectation of faith based on the goodness of God then we will receive the reward of faith and see God move in power (cf. Hebrews 11.6).

Dare to Believe God

When I was a relative new Christian I did not know that God healed people today. I had probably read of and heard stories from the Bible that God did miracles of healing but I didn’t know that this same promise and power was accessible and available to me, today. And as a result, my default posture when it came to sickness was to look to doctors of human wisdom.

Often it is because we don’t know any better that we look everywhere other than God. Sometimes we have not been taught well or understood that God wants to be a part of our whole life and His power isn’t limited to our salvation only.

I’ve also seen that sometimes we look away from God and His word because we have been disappointed or because He didn’t meet our expectations. He didn’t move fast enough. He didn’t do what we wanted Him to do. So we start looking everywhere else for a solution to our problems and pain. Everything from substances to numb the pain or to avoid reality, to taking shortcuts and compromising in order to gain power, to turning to sex or relationship in order to feel significant.

The problem with all these things is that they fall short of God’s glory (cf. Romans 3.23). And we discover that it not by our strength or ability that we overcome but through the grace an power of God (Zechariah 4.6). So then we turn to Him in desperation as a last resort.

There is hope and power in Jesus. We need to dare to believe God and His word.

Faith works by love and it is through faith that we receive everything God has promised (Galatians 5.6). We have access to the grace of God and the kingdom of God through faith (Romans 5.2).

Our heavenly Father responds to those who lovingly trust Him. This kind of faith pleases Him (Hebrews 11.6).

Living by Faith

Hebrews 10:38 NKJV

Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”

Taking the posture of faith and daring to believe in the person and promises of God is well-pleasing to Him. This characteristic should be the hallmark of the Christian life.

In the story of the lame man’s healing we are going to look at three important aspects of living by faith so that we can please God and receive all that He has for us.

Give God Your Attention

Acts 3:1–5 NKJV

1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Before the man could receive anything he had to turn his attention to the apostles.

When it comes to the issues and needs in your life, what are you looking at? Where is your attention going.

Put another way, what are you feeding your soul on?

Proverbs 27:7 NKJV

A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Illustration: Being stuffed on dinner leaves no room for dessert. But starving will cause you to look in the dumpster for food…and you’ll like it if you are hungry enough.

If you want to receive from God, you have to turn your attention to Him and His word (Romans 10.17). The arm of the flesh won’t save. Entertainment or substances may promise escape but all they do is make the reality all the more difficult.

Turn to God. Focus your attention on Him. Set your heart on His word. This is how we stir up faith and position ourselves for a miracle.

Expect to Receive Something (Good)

Acts 3:4–5 NKJV

4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

It wasn’t enough that the man was looking in the right direction. He had to expect to receive something. He had to believe that when Peter told him to look at them, that Peter wanted to give him something.

We need to set our expectations based on who God is and what He has said. God is good (Mark 10.18, Psalm 143.10). What God does is good (Mark 7.36-37). All of the gifts that God gives are good (James 1.17).

Illustration: When Jesus talked about the Father giving the Holy Spirit He compared the gifts of natural fathers who are evil compared to God (Luke 11.11-13).

Set your expectation on God. He is faithful and good. He doesn’t lie. He gives good gifts. His word is true.

If you set your expectation on God and His word then you can expect to receive something good.

If it’s not good, it’s not God. (cf. Romans 8.28)

Act According to Faith

Acts 3:6–8 NKJV

6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.

Many times the last step is where things fall apart for us. It is the action of faith.

In order for the man to receive the miracle and promise of God he had to act in accordance to faith. He had to do the work of faith, which is obedience to the word of God (cf. James 2.17).

Illustration: Runner who ran race but started celebrating before crossing the line. They saw the first place trophy. They were rejoicing in completing the race victoriously. Only, while they were celebrating someone else ran past them to receive the prize.

We need to turn our attention to God and His promise for our lives and we need to expect that when we do He has good things awaiting us. But it is all for naught if we don’t continue until we receive the fullness of the promise.

We have to wait in faith. We have to continue in faith. We have to act in faith.

If God tells you to stand up, then you have to stand up.

If He tells you to sow in order to reap, then you need to sow believing that you will reap (Galatians 6.9).

Whatever God tells you, do it and you will see the power of God (John 2.5).

Conclusion

Dare to believe God.

Give God your attention. Seek Him and His word.

Expect to receive something good. God is good and He is always working for our good and His glory.

Act according to faith. You have to take the step. You have to respond as if you believe that what God has said will happen.

As you do these things you will see God move, step by step from faith to faith (Romans 1.17).

You might start sitting…stand up.

You might start standing…start walking.

You might be walking…start leaping.

You might be leaping…start praising.

When your faith is complete it will always end with the praise and glory of God. It will testify to His goodness and others will take note and turn to Him.

Dare to believe and you will not only experience God’s presence and power, but your faith will be strengthened, and ultimately you will be found well-pleasing to God who loved you and gave Himself for you (Galatians 2.20).