Great
Expectations
“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.’
And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately
his feet and ankle bones received strength.” (Acts 3:6-7)
In the 1998 movie Great Expectations based on the Charles Dickens novel,
Ethan Hawke is the hapless painter in New York pursuing his unrequited
and haughty childhood love Gwyneth Paltrow. We may have seen Miracle
on 42nd Street, but miracles were always happening on the dusty streets
of the Bible because people were expecting them to happen. They
were looking for them to happen because they had great expectations.
They were believing God Almighty, not Bruce Almighty, for them to happen.
The people expected God to stretch out His mighty hand and display His
supernatural power in their lives. They opened their hearts to the miracle
working power of God and not Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker, and
miracles happened.
Acts chapter 3 records
the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. He
was carried to the gate of the temple each day, where he begged for
a living. One day, as the apostles Peter and John were approaching the
temple at the hour of prayer, they stopped before him where Peter said,
“Look at us.” The lame beggar looked up expecting to receive
nickles and dimes.
But Peter told him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I
do have, I give you.” With those words, the beggar’s expectancy
instantly changed and he no longer expected money. He expected something
so priceless no MasterCard could buy, the healing power of Jesus. They
commanded him, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up
and walk.” And Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him
up, and the man stood up and began walking and running into the temple,
leaping and praising God.
All of this happened
because he expected to be healed, and he was healed when direct physical
contact was made by Peter. To receive the miracle power of God it is important
for us to be in a state of expectancy like a woman expecting a baby, and
four things happen when we have great expectations. First, we recognize
the miracle when it comes. Second, we use our faith to reach out for the
miracle. Third, we receive it into our heart before it manifests. And
fourth, we make contact with God through prayer and sowing seeds into
the blessed soil of His anointed ministries. Begin now, expect a miracle
to happen, and it will happen, and when it does happen, don't forget to
thank God and give Him all the glory.
Copyright © 2003 Eddy
Ministries.
All rights reserved.
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