Holy Spirit

(The western wall, the only remaining part of the Temple in Jerusalem.)

In Acts chapter 3, we read about the healing of the lame beggar.

Picture the scene with me. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and there were crowds of people arriving at the temple for one of three regular times of Jewish prayer. In they came, through ornate gates, congregating with purpose, greeting friends and family. The temple area also attracted beggars, each one living in hope that religious piety would produce charity.

And so we meet our ‘certain man’, a man lame from birth, who had been brought here early and deposited near the entrance to the temple. Over the years, he had become a fixture at the Temple, part of the furniture, all but invisible to the regulars.

Until today.

Today he catches someone’s eye. When the lame man sees that Peter the Apostle has noticed him, he extends his hands in anticipation of coins. How disappointing it must have been to hear Peter’s words, ‘I have no silver or gold’. Empty pockets mean a wasted trip and a hungry night ahead.

But the Apostle isn’t finished.

‘What I do have, I give to you.’

And in a God-ordained moment, he takes the man’s hand and lifts him to his miracle. Joints and ligaments that had never borne weight are immediately strengthened as trepidatious steps became joyful and abandoned.

Suddenly, this insignificant, invisible life becomes a display of the miraculous, a living testimony that Jesus the Son of God is alive and His Spirit is working.

And all because Peter and John gave what they have.

All because they had something to give.

Let’s not forget that there were a lot of people at the Temple that day. Many, I am sure, were well-meaning, sincere worshippers. Perhaps they dropped a coin or two into needy hands on the way to their religious appointment. Perhaps they quietly prayed for these poor souls and wished them well in their hearts.

Or maybe they had their own personal problems on their minds as they approached this hour of supplication. And who can blame them? We all know how relationship difficulties, financial worries or health problems can preoccupy us, even at church.

But not Peter and John.

Fresh from Pentecost’s power, they are filled up and sold out. God had done something new in their lives, something dynamic and extraordinary. It was fresh and real and recent. In that upper room, God had shown up in power and glory, fulfilling ancient promises with the precious gift of His Holy Spirit. They had witnessed the miraculous and experienced the life-changing presence of God.

And so Peter and John had what this man really needed.

Don’t get me wrong, good advice can be very helpful. Compassion and empathy are beautiful and essential qualities. Taking time to listen is vitally important. But when someone is hurting, broken, sick or lost what really matters is who I believe Jesus to be and what I know He can do.

Today, even in the middle of our mundane, ordinary lives, God wants to do something new. He wants to fulfil promises and answer prayers. He wants to meet us in our waiting and surprise us with His goodness. He wants to do more than we have thought or imagined. He wants to give us an ever-increasing revelation of how good and able and willing He is.

Otherwise, what do we have to give?

Sure, we can dust off stale stories of things God did decades ago in our lives. We can hand out our hollow theories or opinions or ‘something really good I read in a book’. We can post platitudes with hipster fonts or some celebrity preacher’s Sunday soundbite.

Or we can meet the need around us with an introduction to the living, powerful God we know.

We can have testimonies to share that are hot off the press and daily bread that is fresh out of the oven. We can offer real faith in a real God. We can give out to others from the overflow of our own personal walk with God and all the wonderful things He has done and is doing in our lives.

And He wants to start today.

He wants to do something new. He wants to surprise you. He wants to give you a fresh experience of His love and goodness and transforming power.

So, wherever you are today, whatever you are doing, thank God for every good thing He has done in the past. But covet a new testimony of His goodness as well. Don’t be content with old testimonies. Ask God for a new touch, a Rhema word from the Bible, a miracle of healing or deliverance or provision. Then, in every situation, you can share with others what they really need.

His name is Jesus. And, you know Him.

He is alive and He is powerful and He is working on this planet to change lives.

God is doing something new in you.

Don’t miss it.

Don’t mistake it.

Don’t misunderstand it.

He is working in your life, today, in this season, in this moment. He is doing something new and good and beautiful.

It started when you first met Him and He made you His new creation. It started with a new name and a new destiny as old debts and identities were cancelled.

And what He started in you, He is finishing.

He is bringing His new life to every corner of your old one.

Do you see it?

New things are, by their very nature, tricky to recognize because they are unfamiliar. They are different to what we have experienced before. They seem foreign and easy to misinterpret or overlook or even reject.

Sometimes these good, new things are hidden behind disappointments or imperfect circumstances. Or perhaps they are disguised as setbacks or u-turns or closed doors.

Sometimes they just feel too painful to be good.

In Isaiah, God pleads with His children, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.’ Isaiah 43.18-19

God was doing something new but His children were in danger of missing it. It didn’t fit within the perimeter of what He had done in the past. It was almost unrecognizable, even strange but it was good and it was God.

And so it is with us.

God is making a way. He is carving out a path. It may twist and turn and appear to be going completely the wrong direction, but don’t fear. It may look unfamiliar, even scary but remember that it is a new way, a way you haven’t gone before. Trust the Good Shepherd to lead you well. Trust His ways because they are perfect.

Don’t expect things to always be the same, to look safe and familiar. We have mountains to climb and the paths are steep. Sometimes the only way forward is straight up.

God is always doing something new, something surprising, something out-of-the-box.

It’s a God thing. He is the creator after all and His ways of working in our lives are countless.

Our God has never run out unique melodies so don’t be surprised when He gives you a new song to sing.

His mercies are new every morning, so keep your eyes open. There are fresh revelations in His Word and new places to discover in prayer. There are areas of your life that are broken that Jesus wants to touch and heal. There are long-standing circumstances He is ready to change and old prayers He is ready to answer.

Look. See what He is doing. It is new and fresh and alive. Don’t miss it by facing the wrong way. Don’t let yesterday’s discouragement close your eyes to a miracle today. Remember the wonderful things God has done in the past but don’t expect future blessings to look the same. God is so much bigger than that.

Let Him be big.

Let Him work newness into your life. He has already started. There are green shoots poking up through the cold soil. Don’t miss them. Open your eyes, your heart and your hands. Say yes to God, even before you see the whole picture. Trust His goodness and His leading and He will make a way, a new way, a good way.

And then expect every single day of your Christian life to be utterly unpredictable and altogether miraculous, for the glory of His name.