Experience - Day 17

12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
 
16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.“
I have a friend I have grown up with who has almost always spent his life looking for an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others.  He has almost always believed in the goodness of saving work of Jesus, and has felt called to share Him with others.

And though his heart and motivation is always good, it obviously doesn’t always work.  Not everyone is open to receive, but that doesn’t stop my friend from trying.

One time, as adults in ministry, we were hanging out in downtown Portland in a place surrounded by tattoo parlors.  As we sat outside sharing a meal, my friend thought he saw an opportunity with the man sitting next to us.  

He saw on the man’s leg, among many other tattoos, a tattoo that said how he loved his mother.  Thinking that was his open door, my friend asked the gentlemen, “So, you and your mom are pretty close huh?”. The guy looked at my friend and said something he wasn’t expecting.  He said, “Well, if she was the last person on earth, I wouldn’t kill her, if that’s what you mean.”. It was the first time in our lives, as friends, that I ever saw my friend speechless.

Peter saw his opportunity too, but not to draw more attention to themselves.  It would have been easy for Peter and John to take the credit, but their Rabbi taught them better than that.  He taught them that to gain their life, they had to lose it, and to be first, you had to be last.  He lived a life of servanthood, of putting others first, and His death was the ultimate example.

So following in the footsteps of their Master, Peter and John know who made this miracle happen, and they take this opportunity to introduce the crowd to the giver of life and the restorer of hope.

I believe that the more connected to Jesus we are, the less conceited and arrogant we become.  The more Jesus is the center of our lives, the less we are, and when we truly know and believe in who Jesus is and what He accomplished, we can’t help but share that with others.

JOURNAL 

1. Can you remember who it was that first told you about, or showed you, the love of Christ?
2. Peter and John showed the crowd that there is power in the name of Jesus.  Do you ever claim that name, and claim that power, when you need it?  Why or why not?
3. Have you ever found yourself unable to pray anything else, but the name of Jesus?  Do you think that praying His name can be enough?