Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Rise up and walk

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Luke 24:30-32
When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

Acts 3:3-7
When the crippled man saw Peter and John he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!"

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping, and praising God.

Jesus opens things up. Possibilities previously unseen or deemed hopeless suddenly come alive. Hope does not spring eternal in the human breast, but in the presence of Jesus hope has no end. What sweet life comes to the men on their walk to Emmaus.

Jesus promised Peter and John and all his disciples that he would not leave them alone. That kind of promise might be mere emotionalism between men and women, because someone eventually dies. Not so with Jesus. He sends the Holy Spirit, the "paraclete," God who walks beside me into everything and changes me just like Jesus.

The disciples were filled up with the Spirit, speaking languages they never knew, knowing assurance and suddenly certain of things unseen. It was as if Jesus was everywhere at once, within them and beside them and all around.

The crippled guy didn't know about any of this. He sat the same place every day. He settled for handouts his whole life and didn't expect anything more. His horizons were dim, his doors were closed. Then Peter and John, full of this new thing from God, did for him just what Jesus and the Holy Spirit had done for them.

In a second God healed a lifetime of pain. Resignation was replaced with laughing and leaping and praising God. Peter and John didn't know what to expect next. They just opened their mouths and God spoke. Jesus said, "I only do what I see my Father doing." With their new eyes and new ears, Jesus' followers begin to do the same.

More, Holy Spirit.

Devotions Archive

Rise up and walk

Wednesday, March 30, 2005