Give God the Glory

An excerpt from “The Man God Uses” by Chuck Smith

It must have been a sight to see! The lame man who had been sitting at the gate of the temple begging for alms day after day, literally for decades, was now walking around, leaping into the air, and praising God (Acts 3:8)! Every person in the city had walked by htis man over and over again throughout the years, maybe occasionally dropping a coin or two into his hand. His frail frame was undoubtedly a familiar sight, linked with the whole experience of going into the temple in Jerusalem.

All of a sudden one day, this man is dancing around, yelling at the top of his lungs, hugging Peter and John, and generally creating a major disturbance in the daily routine of hte temple. The news must have spread like wildfire throughout the crowd! Luke factually states in Acts 3:10, “…they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

The story continues in Acts 3:12:
“So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?'”

In other words, Peter was saying to them, “You men are Israelites! Don’t you know the power of your own God? People from foreign countries who aren’t acquainted with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could conceivably be amazed by this event, byt why should you be surprised?”

This is exactly the way we so often behave in the face of miracles, even today. By our own confession, we believe that God created the heavens and hte earth and every living creature in them, but when we hear of a quadriplegic walking out of a hospital, it challenges our credulity. Is it any more difficult for God to heal a cripple than it was for Him to create Adam out of the dust of the earth? Do we really believe what we claim to believe?

< (((><
Join our forums: Eternal Truth Ministry