Latest / The ”More” You’re Looking For / God Still Does Miracles... Through You!
Transcript
- 0:00I'm Steph Dean Senior, and this is The More You're Looking For, where we explore life's
- 0:07deeper meaning through the truth of God's word.
- 0:10Let's dive in.
- 0:14I'm going to open up by reading Acts 3, verses 1 through 16, where Peter heals a crippled
- 0:20beggar.
- 0:21Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service.
- 0:26As they approached the temple, a lame man from birth was being carried in.
- 0:30Each day he was put beside the temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could
- 0:35beg from the people going into the temple.
- 0:38When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
- 0:42Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said,
- 0:45Look at us.
- 0:47The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money, but Peter said,
- 0:52I don't have any silver or gold for you, but I'll give you what I have.
- 0:57In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk.
- 1:02Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up, and as he did, the
- 1:07man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.
- 1:10He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk.
- 1:14Then walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the temple with them.
- 1:20All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.
- 1:23When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate,
- 1:27they were absolutely astounded.
- 1:30They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon's colonnade, where the man was holding tightly
- 1:34to Peter and John.
- 1:36Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.
- 1:39People of Israel, he said, what is so surprising about this?
- 1:44And why stare at us as though we had this man walk by our own power or godliness?
- 1:49For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of all our ancestors, who has
- 1:54brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this.
- 1:59Then down in verse 16, through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed.
- 2:06And you know how very crippled he was before.
- 2:09Faith in Jesus' name has healed him before your very eyes.
- 2:16So a couple of things I want to point out in this scripture.
- 2:20First, Peter is the main apostle in this narrative.
- 2:23If you remember, he's the only apostle who stepped out of the boat and walked on water
- 2:26to Jesus because he had faith that if Jesus commanded him to do it, it would be done.
- 2:32Go read Matthew 14, 22-33 for the full account.
- 2:37When Peter took his eyes off Jesus and saw the storm around him, which had already been
- 2:41there before he even stepped out of the boat, he began to sink.
- 2:46Matthew 14, 31 says Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him.
- 2:51You have so little faith, Jesus said.
- 2:54Why did you doubt me?
- 2:57I mean, Peter was the only one who had enough faith and courageously stepped out, having
- 3:03that faith in Jesus' power, but still he sank.
- 3:07He's also the same one who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed the night
- 3:10Jesus was captured to be crucified.
- 3:12So here's yet again the dynamic of someone having a lot of faith, yet Jesus calls them
- 3:17out as not having enough faith.
- 3:20And what's so incredible is that even though we can have so much faith in what Jesus can
- 3:26do and in God's mighty power, yet we have so little faith and so much doubt in his choice
- 3:36in choosing us.
- 3:39Let that sink in for a minute.
- 3:42We have the faith, we know that God can do it, but then we have this mentality and this
- 3:49posture of like, well, who am I?
- 3:52I can't do it.
- 3:54Because we look at ourselves and our messiness and our brokenness and we disqualify ourselves.
- 4:00We say, who am I?
- 4:01What can I possibly do?
- 4:03Even though Jesus is saying, step out of the boat, but we say, well, yeah, but Jesus can
- 4:08walk on water, but I can't.
- 4:11This is false humility.
- 4:12Yes, we shouldn't rely on our own strength and we should lay down our lives to follow
- 4:17Jesus, but that doesn't mean beating ourselves up, rejecting ourselves, disqualifying ourselves.
- 4:23When God is looking to promote us and raise us up and put us in positions of authority
- 4:28and leadership to pour out anointing on us.
- 4:32Of course, Jesus is divine and we are the branches and apart from him, we can do nothing.
- 4:37But if he calls us to step up, if he calls us to step out of the boat, then we need to
- 4:44trust that he is going to carry us, that he is going to equip us, that he is going to
- 4:50empower us.
- 4:52Don't shrink back from that.
- 4:55Don't diminish that.
- 4:57If he's calling you to something greater, trust his choice in choosing you.
- 5:03Trust he's going to equip you, but you have to rely on him.
- 5:08You have to keep your eyes on him.
- 5:11Peter started to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus, because at first he was like, well,
- 5:17I know Jesus can do it.
- 5:18And so he steps out of the boat and the storm was already there.
- 5:22But the moment he took his eyes off Jesus, he, he all of a sudden went, what am I doing?
- 5:27I can't walk on water and he sank.
- 5:31You see, sometimes that's the thing.
- 5:34That's the difference.
- 5:35That's the shift as we doubt ourselves.
- 5:39But it's not that, like, we know that we can't do it.
- 5:42We know we have to rely on God.
- 5:44But if Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he wouldn't have sank.
- 5:50And so I really feel like that's the point here is that Jesus called him, he said, come
- 5:57and Peter said, okay, if you call me, I will go.
- 6:02And then in the middle of it, he said, I can't do this.
- 6:05And he's saying, how many of us, when we're called to do something, we're like, you know,
- 6:13send me, let's go.
- 6:15And you're so excited and you go and you follow the call that God has, has on you.
- 6:21And he's called you to, and you're going, and then you get into the middle of it and
- 6:25all of a sudden you freak out.
- 6:27I can't do it.
- 6:29Where's the money going to come from?
- 6:31What's next?
- 6:32And all of a sudden you're freaking out because you can't see through this fog and the storm,
- 6:38even though you knew you were already in it and you knew where you were called to step
- 6:41into, but you had so much trust in God.
- 6:44But then in the middle of it somewhere, you let the storm around you distract you instead
- 6:49of keeping your eyes on Jesus.
- 6:51And you started to think about yourself and how small you are and how you can't do it.
- 6:55And you start to sink.
- 6:57And Jesus says, if you just had faith in me and my choice, if I called you to step
- 7:02out onto the water, you have faith that your feet will not sink, that you will stand firm,
- 7:07that you will make it through the storm and the fog.
- 7:10But listen, when we doubt ourselves to be able to do what God has, God has called us
- 7:16to do, we are not trusting him or his judgment.
- 7:22We're saying, no, we know better.
- 7:24We know ourselves and we can't do it.
- 7:26I know myself and I can't do it.
- 7:29Really?
- 7:30You know yourself better than God knows you.
- 7:32If he's called you to do it, don't you think he knows you can?
- 7:35Yeah, Peter can't walk on water.
- 7:39But if God says, yes, you can, I'm going to call you to do it, then you trust that if
- 7:43God's calling you to do it, that he will equip you to do it.
- 7:47And that's the work of the enemy.
- 7:49This false, this false humility, this.
- 7:54You know, sense of like putting yourself down and saying, well, I can't and acting like
- 7:58this is some like Christian humility of like, no, we're just going to let God take my hands
- 8:05off of it.
- 8:06No, like God is calling us to be bold, to step out.
- 8:13How many times did he tell Joshua to be bold and courageous?
- 8:16He didn't just give them the promised land.
- 8:19He didn't just go, oh, and here's your prize.
- 8:22They had to fight for it.
- 8:24But he said, like, we walked all this way.
- 8:27I told you you're going to have this land.
- 8:28So now you're looking at those giants and you're saying you can't.
- 8:31Yeah, you know what?
- 8:34David and Goliath, he's a small boy with a rock against a giant with a spear.
- 8:39Like the odds were not in his favor, but he had someone behind him who said you can do
- 8:44it.
- 8:45And when God calls you to it, he will bring you through it.
- 8:47And that's not just some sign hang on your wall.
- 8:50This is legit.
- 8:52And so don't let the enemy get in your head and tell you you can't when God has already
- 8:58said you can.
- 8:59Ever since the beginning of time, the enemy has been twisting God's word to try to cause
- 9:04us to stumble.
- 9:05He's taken the scripture saying that, you know, children of God are humble and meek
- 9:10and twisted that to make us seem weak and unqualified and incapable.
- 9:17And like, oh, God just got to do it for me.
- 9:20That's not biblical at all.
- 9:24There's instance after instance of God telling us we need to walk in authority.
- 9:31We need to step where he has called us.
- 9:34We need to do the difficult things that we cannot do in our own strength.
- 9:38But when we rely on God, go where he has called us and do the thing that seems impossible.
- 9:44That's when God moves.
- 9:48It's through you and your obedience and your courage in your faith to step into the difficult
- 9:57situation, to step into the unknown, to speak out instead of staying silent.
- 10:04So write this down.
- 10:05Write like seriously, like write this down if you can.
- 10:09Don't let the enemy disqualify you from what God has already called you to.
- 10:15Don't let the enemy disqualify you from what God has called you to.
- 10:20Instead actively grow your faith by getting to know God and developing trust in all he
- 10:24does and all he has called you to do.
- 10:28Trust him.
- 10:29Peter's faith actually grew more once Jesus was gone.
- 10:33Even when, you know, Jesus came back, came back from the dead and then he spent some
- 10:38time with the disciples and then he ascended into heaven and then he sent the Holy Spirit
- 10:43to be with them.
- 10:44And he even said that it would be better for him to leave so then the helper could come.
- 10:48Right.
- 10:49So Peter's faith actually grew more once Jesus was gone and like ascended into heaven.
- 10:54Like after the resurrection, he ascended into heaven and he then he poured out the Holy
- 10:58Spirit upon them and just like let that sink in though for a minute.
- 11:04He had greater faith once Jesus was gone than when he actually saw him with his own two
- 11:07eyes.
- 11:08He could actually see him and touch him.
- 11:10We like to think that we would be more able to believe something that we can see, touch
- 11:18here.
- 11:19But in Hebrews 11, 1 it says faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what
- 11:27we do not see.
- 11:30The New Living Translation translated as evidence of what we cannot see.
- 11:35So Peter's faith went from certainty of Jesus power based on the evidence of what he could
- 11:39see yet a lack of confidence in himself despite being called by Jesus to a faith so strong
- 11:45that he performed miracles by himself through the authority of the name of Jesus and the
- 11:51Holy Spirit, neither of which he could see with his eyes.
- 11:55Jesus was no longer there physically with him.
- 11:58The Holy Spirit was with him, but he can't see the Holy Spirit.
- 12:03But because of his obedience and his faith, everyone's faith grew when they saw the evidence
- 12:07of the power in God when he healed that crippled man.
- 12:11So think about it.
- 12:12We have Peter who stepped out of the boat with Jesus and he could see Jesus with his
- 12:16own two eyes and he started to sink for a lack of faith.
- 12:20When Jesus leaves, he no longer, Jesus is no longer physically with him.
- 12:25Instead, the Holy Spirit is with him, an unseen power on the presence of God living within
- 12:30him.
- 12:31And he is so emboldened hearing the Holy Spirit that he heals this man with so much faith.
- 12:39He was just like, get up and walk in the name of Jesus.
- 12:45And so that brings us to the second point here, keeping in step with the Holy Spirit,
- 12:49being led by the Spirit.
- 12:52Don't rush ahead.
- 12:54Wait on God, but don't stop moving.
- 12:58Waiting doesn't mean stopping.
- 13:01It doesn't mean sitting.
- 13:04When the Israelites were in the wilderness, that was like a period of waiting.
- 13:08That was the already led out of slavery, but not yet into the promise.
- 13:13In that season of waiting, they were moving.
- 13:17They were walking.
- 13:19They were going forward.
- 13:22They didn't just camp out and sit there for 40 years in one spot.
- 13:26I really need you to hear this.
- 13:29Waiting doesn't mean stopping.
- 13:31It means moving forward, trusting in God's timing.
- 13:36That's another lie of the enemy.
- 13:37People are saying, oh, I'm waiting on God's timing.
- 13:39No, you're not.
- 13:40You're standing still.
- 13:41You're not doing anything.
- 13:43That's not waiting.
- 13:45We sit in a waiting room and we are doing nothing.
- 13:47We're just waiting to be called.
- 13:49When we're waiting on God's timing, it's not like that.
- 13:53We're not sitting in a waiting room waiting for him to call us.
- 13:55We've already been called.
- 13:57We need to go.
- 13:59That's like going from the waiting room when you're called to then waiting to be seen.
- 14:04If we're going to use the analogy of the doctor's office and the waiting room, the period of
- 14:09waiting isn't actually the waiting room because you've already been called.
- 14:12When you're waiting on God's timing, he's already called you, but it hasn't yet been
- 14:15fulfilled.
- 14:16So you still need to get from point A to point B. So you still need to move.
- 14:20You still need to get from Egypt to the promised land.
- 14:23You still need to move, even though you're waiting on the fulfillment of the promise.
- 14:27You need to move.
- 14:29Do not say you're waiting on God if you're not moving.
- 14:32If you are waiting on God, then you should have your feet going and going forward.
- 14:39But that doesn't mean rushing ahead.
- 14:41Waiting and moving might seem like opposites, but they're not.
- 14:45God's not standing still.
- 14:47He's constantly moving, but we also can't just like look ahead and say, Oh, well I know
- 14:54where we're going and this is taking so long, so I'm just going to run up ahead and I'll
- 14:59meet you there.
- 15:00Again, if we're going to look at the Israelites, because I mean, I feel like that's, this is
- 15:05the best analogy for waiting and keeping in line with God's timing is, you know, this
- 15:11was like a two week journey, right?
- 15:14So the Israelites left Egypt and they knew they're going to Canaan and it was two weeks.
- 15:20They'd be like, okay, fastest route, boom, just banging out, right?
- 15:26But they didn't.
- 15:27There was a reason for the 40 years and we're going to pack that later.
- 15:30I'm not really going to deep dive into that in this one in particular, but just know that
- 15:35there's a difference between not moving and rushing ahead and you know, going back to
- 15:42that whole wilderness, you know, period in Deuteronomy 31, it says the Lord himself goes
- 15:46before you and will be with you.
- 15:49He will never leave you nor forsake you.
- 15:51Do not be afraid.
- 15:53Do not be discouraged.
- 15:55If we rush ahead before God's timing, then God isn't before us, is he?
- 16:01We have to wait.
- 16:02We have to let him lead.
- 16:04When we rush ahead, we pridefully announce that we know the way and we can get there
- 16:09ourselves.
- 16:10We know, we know a shortcut.
- 16:11We know a better way that your way is taking too long, God.
- 16:15I don't want to spend 40 years.
- 16:17I can do it in two weeks.
- 16:19That's pride.
- 16:21And there's a reason.
- 16:22There's always a reason.
- 16:23We might not know the reason, but God knows the reason.
- 16:27Most of the time, the reason is preparation.
- 16:30If you get there before his timing, those giants will destroy you.
- 16:37It's preparation.
- 16:38The waiting is important and it's preparing, which is why you can't sit still.
- 16:42You need to be moving forward because there is preparation in the waiting.
- 16:48Now I'm from the Northeast US and New Englanders dislike waiting probably more than anyone
- 16:54else in the country, maybe even the world.
- 16:57I'm just going to go out on a limb there.
- 16:58We're fast.
- 16:59We like to do things fast.
- 17:00We like to drive fast.
- 17:02We like to talk fast.
- 17:04We like to just get things done.
- 17:07We look at checkout lines and we go to the grocery store and we make sure we pick a line
- 17:10with a cashier who's not too chatty and moves quickly.
- 17:12If they're standing there like, boop, boop, I like want to jump across the scanner and
- 17:19just start doing it myself.
- 17:20I'm pretty sure that's probably why we have so many self checkouts now is because we're
- 17:25like, we can just do this faster ourselves.
- 17:26Let's just go boop, boop, boop, boop, boop.
- 17:28Okay.
- 17:29Cash out.
- 17:30Done.
- 17:31You know, like we just are always in a hurry up here.
- 17:34I don't know if that's just New England or like mentality, if there's other places in
- 17:38the country where we're like that, but I mean, we see this very consistently from where I'm
- 17:42from and you, we are just like, we've got, you know, places to go and people to see,
- 17:49you know, we're going like 80 on the highway, it's supposed to be like 65 miles per hour.
- 17:54And you know, if somebody is going 75, we're like riding their bumper saying, you're going
- 17:59too slow.
- 18:00They're going like 10 miles per hour of a speed limit.
- 18:02You know, it's just this, this mentality of we, we can't wait for someone else.
- 18:08We just, we need to get to the next thing.
- 18:10We're just constantly in a rush.
- 18:11We just constantly got so much, you know, so many things to do, but you know, it makes
- 18:17sense that we kind of like apply the same rationality to God, even in places who aren't
- 18:22as intense as we are, that we just want, we just don't like God's timing.
- 18:27We don't understand why it's taking so long.
- 18:29So we want to rush ahead and just get it done ourselves.
- 18:31We're like, well, we already know what God told us to do.
- 18:35So I, I'm looking at my options and this is the best way to go about it.
- 18:40And so we just try to like cut corners, you know, look at Ishmael, you know, the Lord
- 18:45told Abraham that he was going to be the father of many nations and here they are, they're
- 18:50like old and you know, his wife, Sarah is old and they're like, there is no way that
- 18:58that's going to happen through Sarah.
- 19:01So she's like, sleep with Hagar.
- 19:05She can give you a child and you know, so she has a son, Ishmael and God's like, yeah,
- 19:12that wasn't the plan.
- 19:14Like you didn't wait for me.
- 19:16And Abraham's like, dude, I'm like almost a hundred.
- 19:19Like how long do you want me to wait?
- 19:21And we're like that.
- 19:23We are like that today.
- 19:24We're like, I don't want kids when I'm a hundred years old.
- 19:27I want them now.
- 19:29I don't want that career when, you know, years down the road, I want the career and the money
- 19:35now so that when I get to that age I can be, I can retire and just live on all that money.
- 19:41And God says, this is not the plan I have for you.
- 19:44It's something better than what you're imagining.
- 19:47You can't see it and you don't understand the timing, but I need you to trust me.
- 19:51I need you to go where I'm telling you to.
- 19:55So that's, you know, the second thing here is don't get ahead of God, trust his timing
- 19:59and let the spirit lead you.
- 20:02And so again, if you read Acts 3 verses 1 and 2, point out that Peter and John went
- 20:08to the temple at 3 p.m. to pray every day.
- 20:14This crippled man was placed by the entrance to beg for money every day.
- 20:19That means Peter walked past this crippled man when?
- 20:24Every day.
- 20:25Acts 3, 9 through 10 reads, all the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.
- 20:30When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the beautiful gate,
- 20:36they were absolutely astounded.
- 20:38So if Peter saw this crippled man many times before and didn't heal him, what made this
- 20:46time different?
- 20:49Look at verse 7, Peter and John looked at him intently.
- 20:56What made them pause and take notice this time?
- 21:00It was the Holy Spirit.
- 21:03They were filled with the Holy Spirit because they remained rooted in God's word, learned
- 21:08to hear God's voice and were sensitive to the nudges of the Holy Spirit.
- 21:11And so this, I can actually, I can actually relate to this because this happened to me
- 21:17recently.
- 21:19One of the leaders at the church had asked me to come to a Christmas outreach that the
- 21:26church does, and he wanted me to be part of the prayer team.
- 21:33Now I mean, I was really just coming out of hiding, stepping out in faith, kind of letting
- 21:40God stretch me and teach me.
- 21:42And so I was going into these, you know, uncomfortable situations out of, you know,
- 21:47obedience because I knew that God was, you know, building me and growing me and stretching
- 21:51me and, and using this to, like, as a learning opportunity.
- 21:57It was, so when I was asked to be part of the prayer team, this was really outside my
- 22:01comfort zone.
- 22:02I had never like prayed for people before, like out loud, like, like actually pray over
- 22:08people and, um, talking with strangers and laying my hands on strangers just seemed really
- 22:16intimidating to me at the time.
- 22:19I still, you know, was just coming out of my cage of anxiety.
- 22:23And so even though I knew God had freed me from anxiety, I still had like that new freedom.
- 22:29It's like, you know, the animals in cage for so long, you're still kind of like hovering
- 22:32near the cage and you're kind of like looking like, I don't know.
- 22:36I don't know.
- 22:37Is it really safe out here?
- 22:39And so I was definitely really uncomfortable with the idea, but I felt that nudge.
- 22:45And I said, yes, even though it was scary and I just knew, I said, I just need to rely
- 22:49on God.
- 22:50I just need to rely on the Holy Spirit through this.
- 22:53Um, and every time that I have relied on him and leaned on him in a situation where I feel
- 22:58completely unqualified, it's just been amazing.
- 23:03And so I was, I came willing and I just kept praying over and over about it.
- 23:08Um, the night before, the morning of just asking the spirit to lead me, um, to put his
- 23:13words in my mouth that, and I was like fully leaning on God.
- 23:17And so I get there and a few hours goes by, nobody comes to the room for prayer.
- 23:22The team leader said to go mingle, look around, see if anyone might, you know, need or want
- 23:26prayer.
- 23:27And so I just really asked the Holy Spirit to let me know and point out anyone who needed
- 23:30prayer.
- 23:31Now, in hindsight, I'm like, wow, this was really bold.
- 23:34Maybe I should have asked him for that.
- 23:37But, um, but it was good.
- 23:39Cause like I wanted, I wanted to help and I didn't want to just be passive and just
- 23:45like pass up an opportunity when, you know, God could really move in someone's life.
- 23:51And so I just was in, in, you know, with a heart posture of wanting to be obedient and
- 23:54helpful, I asked him to point out anyone who needed prayer.
- 24:01And about another hour went by with nothing.
- 24:04And then my eyes landed on this one woman and this foyer was packed.
- 24:12And I mean, crowded, there were a lot of people, uh, families who were relying on the generosity
- 24:17of the church because they couldn't afford much for Christmas.
- 24:20And out of all of these people.
- 24:22And after an hour of just looking at all these people, very clearly the Holy Spirit said
- 24:27her, it was like barely even a glance.
- 24:31She was kind of hiding behind people.
- 24:33And I mean, it was like, there was a spotlight on her and the Holy Spirit went her, like
- 24:37I knew exactly who he was talking about.
- 24:40And I just immediately, I just felt like tingly, like all of my body and immediate, like fear.
- 24:44And I was like, Oh no, like kind of like half expecting him to like not answer, you know,
- 24:49or have someone approach me for prayer.
- 24:52And so when my eyes landed on this woman, he said, it's her, I started making up all
- 24:57sorts of excuses.
- 25:00And I'm like, Oh no.
- 25:01I was like, um, well, how am I going to, how am I going to get over there?
- 25:04Maybe she doesn't really need prayer.
- 25:05I don't know if she's waiting for something.
- 25:06Like, I don't know.
- 25:06I just went through all these things and, but it was clear.
- 25:10I got my instructions.
- 25:11She needs prayer.
- 25:13And so in hindsight, what I should have done is just walked over her and just said, hi,
- 25:20you know, my name is Stephanie.
- 25:23Can I pray for you?
- 25:25But I wasn't so clear headed at the time and I was really intimidated and I tried to
- 25:31like make my way closer thinking of what I was going to say, ask her, Hey, do you want
- 25:35prayer?
- 25:36You know, I don't know.
- 25:37I didn't know what I was going to say.
- 25:39And so I started to kind of get out of this, this peaceful mode of being led by the
- 25:43Holy spirit and started to let my mind take over.
- 25:45It's the equivalent of Peter taking his eyes off Jesus and look at the storm.
- 25:48Like the storm had already been there, had always been there.
- 25:51And I was in this like moment to keep my eyes on Jesus and in peace.
- 25:55And then the moment he said, go, it's like, I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing
- 26:00here?
- 26:00I can't do this.
- 26:01So he totally had that Peter moment where my faith shuck and I eventually did walk up
- 26:10to her because I saw another person that she was with, came up to her and then they
- 26:13turned, she picked up her bags and started to leave.
- 26:15And I was like, if I don't walk over to that woman, I am, I'm going to completely
- 26:20fail.
- 26:21And I didn't want that.
- 26:21And I totally botched it.
- 26:23I started talking to kind of to her, but when I got close, I could see the pain in
- 26:28her eyes.
- 26:29I could see that she had been crying.
- 26:30I couldn't see that from across the room.
- 26:32And man, I feel emotional just thinking about it.
- 26:36It's like, God knew though, God saw her, saw her pain and said, she needs someone.
- 26:43I'm going to send you.
- 26:45But I hesitated.
- 26:47I made excuses.
- 26:48I disqualified myself when I could have been the one to walk up to her in her pain
- 26:56and said, I see you.
- 26:59God sees you.
- 27:02Can I pray for you?
- 27:04And so I really think that in this situation, the beautiful gate with the crippled
- 27:09man, I mean, he even told this man, look at us.
- 27:16Because the man was probably averting his eyes, was crippled.
- 27:20He's resorted to begging because he can't work.
- 27:24He's just known pain and suffering his whole life.
- 27:27And people just keep walking by him, maybe tossing a few coins on his lap.
- 27:32He can't even look people in the eye.
- 27:34And Peter walks by this man every single day.
- 27:38And then one day the Holy Spirit says, look, I see him.
- 27:43I need you to see him.
- 27:45And so Peter stops and he looks at him.
- 27:51And then he tells him, hey, look at us.
- 27:55And the man is just so used to his situation that he goes, you got money?
- 28:00Like kind of like most people just probably were chucking money at him and going, not
- 28:05even talking to him.
- 28:06And now they're saying, look, like, look at us.
- 28:08And he's like, what are you going to give me?
- 28:10Like a brand new car?
- 28:12Like, what is this?
- 28:13And they were like, we don't have money for you, but we have something even better.
- 28:20Get up and walk.
- 28:21And I truly believe it was like that moment that I had with that woman where even though
- 28:27they walk by him every day, it was at one moment the Holy Spirit said, stop.
- 28:32Today's the day.
- 28:35This man is going to get a new life and his life's going to change forever.
- 28:40He's going to get up and walk.
- 28:42And you know what happened is when Peter obeyed God, pulled him to his feet and God
- 28:49healed him, Peter didn't question and said, well, I can't heal this man.
- 28:52I can't do it.
- 28:53Well, he's been here every single day.
- 28:55You know, he didn't make excuses like I did.
- 28:57He just went over.
- 28:58He was obedient.
- 28:59He heard the Holy Spirit's voice.
- 29:01He heard God's voice through the Holy Spirit.
- 29:03And he picked up that man.
- 29:06And you know what that man did?
- 29:08He didn't say, wow, Peter, thank you for healing me.
- 29:10He said, praise God because he knew where the power truly came from, but it came
- 29:19through the obedience of Peter and through him listening to God's voice and obeying
- 29:27him.
- 29:27And then he went praising God.
- 29:29And then Peter used that opportunity to reflect the glory back to God.
- 29:36He went to the temple and he told people, like some people were like, oh my gosh,
- 29:41look, did you see what Peter did?
- 29:42And he's like, guys, it wasn't me.
- 29:45He was like, you know, that man, Jesus, who you sent to the cross, who you didn't
- 29:50believe in, who you spat at his feet and who you, you know, condemned and said
- 29:56crucify that man.
- 29:58It was through his name.
- 30:00It was through faith in him and faith in the name of Jesus that healed this man.
- 30:08Peter was obedient in that moment.
- 30:10He did what the Lord told him to do.
- 30:12And God used that obedience to heal this man and then was able to use Peter again to
- 30:22then spread the glory of God and say, look at what God has done through his son, Jesus.
- 30:31And he was able to turn so many people to believe and into this new life.
- 30:39And see, this is what God wants for us.
- 30:43Like when we're looking, you know, to heal and have these powerful gifts of the Holy
- 30:49Spirit, they're not for our glory.
- 30:52They're for God's glory.
- 30:54But you have to be obedient and listen for the voice and the instruction and then give
- 31:00God your yes.
- 31:02And so just to recap, becoming a miracle worker through the power of the Holy
- 31:07Spirit, one, grow your faith into mountain moving faith.
- 31:12We talked about this in the last episode.
- 31:14Faith is the foundation.
- 31:18Faith is the fuel.
- 31:20Faith is how we function in the kingdom.
- 31:24It's the foundation, the fuel, and how we function.
- 31:27This means to grow your faith like a mustard seed.
- 31:30This does not mean having faith as small as a mustard seed like we talked in the last
- 31:34episode. Go ahead and, you know, listen to that for more on having mountain moving
- 31:39faith. But then wait on God's timing.
- 31:43Let the Spirit lead and equip you.
- 31:47Listen for God's voice.
- 31:50Listen for his instructions and obey without hesitation.
- 31:55And then fourth and finally, like always point to God as the source, not to
- 32:01ourselves. God knows the beginning from the end.
- 32:05So he will know before a single thought enters your mind what will happen if you
- 32:08perform a miracle in his name.
- 32:10And he will only instruct those who listen and obey to perform miracles, to glorify
- 32:15himself and to make his name known.
- 32:17See, God doesn't use people.
- 32:21He instructs his children.
- 32:23This is going to be another another episode for sure.
- 32:27But like a father instructs his child, it's up to us to obey.
- 32:32He's going to he's going to tell you things and it's up to you whether or not you do
- 32:36it. He's not going to just use you like a puppet, use you and abuse you and throw you
- 32:42away. It's always our choice.
- 32:44And so if you want to be, you know, quote, used by God, it's actually I need you to
- 32:51like reframe that to God, what what do you want from me today?
- 32:58How can I serve you today?
- 33:01And then he's going to give you instruction and it's your job to be obedient.
- 33:05That's how he performs miracles.
- 33:07That's how he uses us.
- 33:10If you want to be used by God or this awesome song called Have Your Way, is it
- 33:16Katie Nicole? She says, have your way with me.
- 33:20And I think that's a really great way to phrase it.
- 33:23But it's basically like you need to surrender and say, I'm willing to be obedient.
- 33:28What would you have me do?
- 33:30You know, just like that moment when I was on the prayer team, when I said, Lord, who
- 33:35needs prayer? Show me.
- 33:37And he showed me.
- 33:38And then I was like, ooh, can we can we have a redo?
- 33:42Can you pick someone else?
- 33:43You know what I mean? Like, no, like I asked.
- 33:47He gave me the instructions.
- 33:49I just needed to obey.
- 33:51He wasn't going to just plop that part, have that person just like, you know, as a
- 33:54puppet, like, OK, now pray.
- 33:56You know what I mean? Like he doesn't use us like puppets.
- 34:01He asks his children to be obedient.
- 34:05Will you give him your yes?
- 34:07Will you be obedient? Because that's when miracles happen.
- 34:09When he says, hey, I see this person.
- 34:12I need you to see them.
- 34:13I need you to look at them.
- 34:14This beggar that has been here today is the day that I'm going to make him walk.
- 34:19Will you let me do it?
- 34:21And Peter gave God his yes.
- 34:24He took that man by the hand because he had faith.
- 34:26He said he knew that if God called him to it, that he was going to deliver.
- 34:31So just a closing prayer here.
- 34:34Lord, I pray that you give us a heart of obedience, that you help us to just
- 34:40surrender our prideful ways of thinking, that you help us to see ourselves the way
- 34:45that you see us as your children, loved and cared for by you, that every single
- 34:51direction and step that you give us is for our good and your glory.
- 34:56God, I just pray that you help people to really embrace you and your
- 35:03strength and your power, that they would realize that you will equip us, that you
- 35:09will lead us and guide us if only we will let you.
- 35:14Lord, I pray that for every single person listening, that they will have ears to
- 35:18hear, a heart that's open to receive from you, a willingness to obey and the courage
- 35:26to not hesitate and to keep moving forward.
- 35:30Thank you for all of the ways that you provide for us and thank you for seeing us
- 35:36and our brokenness and calling us to step out in faith and calling us to something
- 35:40greater. God, I thank you for seeing everyone, all the hurting and the broken
- 35:44people, the cripple and the blind, the weak and the broken, that you see each and
- 35:51every one of us and that you just have a heart to heal and to set free every single
- 35:59one of us who are broken and blind and bound.
- 36:03And Lord, I pray that I am a conduit to help others.
- 36:09To be healed, to be set free and to be empowered, to walk in their calling and their
- 36:15purpose for your glory.
- 36:18Jesus name I pray.
- 36:21If this podcast touched your heart, please share and subscribe to get the word out.
- 36:26Just putting this out there is a big leap of faith for me and an act of trust and
- 36:30obedience. So if you feel that nudge from the Holy Spirit in whatever way he's
- 36:34guiding you, please don't ignore that.
- 36:36Don't silence his voice.
- 36:38Be bold and courageous.
- 36:40Thank you and stay blessed.