Distractions in daily life.
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Will you allow distractions?
Will you allow distractions?
We are always busy busy busy,
Buiser that a one arm paper hanger
Buiser than a one legged man in a kicking contest.
Now if you have ever put up wall paper you know you need at least 5 hands.
Try standing on one leg and kicking something.
Can I watch when you try....
I go to work with so much to get done, I tell eveyone I cant have any distractions today.
No visits, no phone calls. No distractions. no exceptions..
guess how much I got don ethat day, not much at all, there is always things that come up.
There are days when my scheduleis way less demanding andi get no interuptions at all.
But then there are times when I am busy as a bee and things come up and I say i dont have time.
I am preaching this morning, I have to get to church,
How many times are we interupted by the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes the interuptions seem like distractions and only annoy us.
But when we yeild to those interuptions we find that this point in time has been set aside by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
If we keep a schedule so tight, planned out to the miniute, for the entire day where dose God have room to work?
Its ok for us to make plans but its The Lord who shoud direct our steps.
We see this in our text today.
acts 3 gives this.
Now Peter and John are heading up to the Temple to pray.
It was the tradition to pray in the temple at 9,12 and 3 pm. They are headed their.
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
Here we see Peter and John going to pray at the temple, this was a custom, If anyone understood Grace it was John and Peter.
Did they have to go to the temple to pray?
No..
But we see they went, though they were under grace they still went to the Temple to pray.
The prayer times were 9, 12 and 3 pm. It would last about a hour.
Prior to the prayer time they offered sacrifices in the temple,
We never see any of the Apostles attending these because they knew the ultimite sacrifice had been given.
They went to pray, they went to worship and share Jesus!
Now they dont have a lot of time to get there, Prayer starts at 3, its right afer the offerings and we know they didnt attend that part of the service.
And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.
2
Notice this verse.
Lame from birth.
they carried and laid him daily at the temple.
It was at the Gate,
Imagine our main doors that everyone entered and exited through.
You see even the people who didnt beleive in Jesus knew the most caring people arond were at the Church.
They knew the lame man would gettaken care of being postined there.
The lame man would ask people for alms.
When a person needs help, they should always be able to turn to the people of the church.
We have been meeting as a church for about 7 years now, we have seen a lot of people come to the church when they had needs or needed help.
Some had genuine need, and some had a habit.
Some who had real needs. we helped as we could.
Some of these came in and worshipped The Lord.
Yet some only received and went away.
Some who had habits wanted to worship to get.
Some only come to the Church when they have problems. but as soon as the problem passes or gets under control they slip away.
But they usally reappear when the problems resurface again.
It becomes a cycle.
James wrote this,,,, The Lord embraces the humble but rebukes the proud.
Paraphrase..
Peopel come to Jesus wanting there circumstances changed, But Jesus only desires to change their life.
You see, when Jesus touches, their lives are changed all their circumstances change!
Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
This man wasnt just sitting there waiting, he was asking for alms. a giving from mercy.
Man..... Peter and John are busy, they are going to the Temple to pray,this they do everyday.
vers 2 tells us that this man is there daily, this day isnt the first day Peter and John have walked past this man. Surely they have known about him and seen him many times before.
They are headed up to the temple and this man asks they for alms,
They had a schedule to keep, a time to be somewhere.
This was a divine appointed time for this lame man. It was a devine time for Peter and John.
They stopped, they communicated with the lame man. They allowed the Holy Spirit to be in control!
I beleive Peter and John knew this. You see they were allowing the Holy Spirit to work in them, therfore it could work through them.
Now Peter and John could have responded it a lot of different ways, but they responed this way,
And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”
Peter says look at us!
What would the lame man see?
two poor men, two fishermen?
The man would see two men in touch with Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit!
Give me your attention Peter says.
Peter wants this man to see Jesus, but first this man needs to see Jesus in them!
Before you can show someone to Jesus, first they have to see Jesus in you!
This man lay there before the gate Beautiful, and Beautiful it was, it was known for its Beauty, for upholding the law and its releigion, a dead releigion at that.
but could offer nothing or do nothing for this man!
Peter wanted this man to turn from facing religion and worrying about his problems and to focus on his redeemer!
Look at us!!
Can We say this to the ones around us?
Are we such a reflection of Christ that to look on us is to look, as it were Him?
And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.
The man wanting alms will do what you tell him, just as this man did.
He fixed his attention on them.
He was focused, he wasnt watching for someone to come along that looked more promising for his alms, he looked at them.
Alms means mercy, mercy given.
He knew he was about to receive.... the lame man was probably not expecting much from two poor fishermen.
But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
Peters first words must have devestated this mans hopes for any alms,
I have no silver or gold......
I have no silver or gold......
There is a old story about Thomas who visted the Pope and found him counting a large sum of money.
Ah Thomas the Pope said.. The church can no longer say silver and gold have I none.
That is true your holliness said Thomas, but then neither can it no w say Arise and walk either!
When the Church focous on prosperity of the church more than they focus on Jesus they loose its power!
But what I do have I give to you!
Jesus!!!
In The Name of Jesus Christ, rise up.. and walk!!
Wow!!!
I have no money, but what I do have i freely give you....
I have seen people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior
I have also seen people through their hands up and walk off too!
What must have been the thoughts of the lame man when Peter said this to him?
Rise up and walk in the Name of Jesus Christ. The Messiaha.
The Christ…
Peter wanted the lame man to know who Jesus is. The Savior of the world
What Faith it must have been for Peter to have made this statement to this man.
Rise up and walk!!
Power! Power of the Holy Spirit!
And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
Here is the faith in action...
Peter takes this man by the right hand and raised him up.
and
Immediately the mans feet and ankles were made strong!
When Jesus touches a man He never leaves them as He finds them!
Some might say wait.... It says Peter touched the lame man, not Jesus.
Jesus lives in Peter, and in John and lives in you if you have turned from your sin and turned to Him!
The people in the Temple thought that it was Peter and John who had healed the lame man, untill Peter explains.
The man response after standing and knowing his ankles and feet were healed.
vs 8
And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
What did the man do?
He leaped up, he stood and walked!
This man was free from his life long ailment of not being able to move around.
He was free to run about, to run home, to run aronud the town. To go see people. but what did he do?
He went in the temple with Peter and John leaping and praising God!
He went in to praise God with other beleivers, to fellowship and to have prayer with them
This is exactly what you will see when Jesus has touched a mans life!
Dosent matter is they came from a shy charcter of nature or if they came from hells angles.
When Jesus gets ahold of a mans heart its changed for ever!
Note something else here,
the man didnt praise Peter, he praised God!
Now the man who just got healed is with Peter and Johnand they are at the temple, its the hour of prayer, a lot of people are their.
The same people that walk by this lame man everyday.
This is the audience,
The man is leaping and praising God for healing him!
The people are watching this.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God,
And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
9-
The people knew what his life had been like before and are filled with wonder and amazement at what has happened to him.
The world is always amazed at a new life in Christ.
A person comes to Jesus and is made a new creation,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
You have a man or woman whos hangout is at the bar, pool hall, racetrack. then all of the sudden the people their dont see them anymore. They look for them and find them in the Church praising God with other beleivers!
The miracle of salvation is intended to provide amazement!
I have had people who have known me most of my life ask me what happened? How do you know and speak of the things of God?
I tell them its by the Power of the Holy Spirit. I tell them my testimony and a lot of times many mocked me.
But guess what,
Some of those people have come to know Jesus too!
While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.
The prayer meeting is over, everyone is leaving the temple, Peter and John are leaving, they are passing thru the Solomons poarch.
Notice what the healed man is doing,, he is clinging to beleivers! Good for him!
A new beleiver wont go very far if they stray off by them self.
Ronnie and the bible.
When a beleiver is new and they get down, when the get dissappointed or depressed and they find themselves alone they usally reach out to the ones they know the most, usally the people from the old days and they end up going places they later regret.
When a new beleiver or a mature beleiver falls into these same secnerios and they are around other beleivers they get prayed with, prayed for and encourged. Other beleivers will share your pain and burdens.
This makes a mege mega difference.
Remember, when things get hard and tough the devil makes it seem their is only one thing to do, and I promise you thats a lie from the depths of hell!
The evidence of this man walking away from the spot he had been at for so many years was a statement to everyone watching or who knew him.
This man drew a crowd, did he start preaching? No he left that to Peter! Peter was the anointed one to preach!
When you are busy, when you dont have time to be bothered or enterupted please be sensitived to the Holy Spirit.
Peter and John could just as well said we dont have anything, or could have just hurried right past this man and said nothing at all just as they had prior days.
This time they stopped. And The Lord worked.
Can we be interupted when we are busy?
My time with Ronnie in the accident. I missed it the first time, I got it the second time.
Ronnie always said thank you so much for coming into my life.
I always said to Ronnie, thank you so much for coming into my life.
God used each of us to build the other up to grow His Kingdom!
This is what its all about!
Knowing Jesus and making Jesus Known!
Distractions in daily life could be a divine appointment!