Bishop, W. F. Houston, Jr.
9/27/2023
Acts 3:9 (CSB)
"All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded!"
In this Scripture from the Book of Acts, we witness a miraculous transformation. A lame beggar, once bound to the ground, now finds himself lifted—not just physically, but spiritually, emotionally, and existentially. His faith unlocks a realm of endless possibilities, leaving a community in utter awe.
Faith isn’t merely a theoretical concept; it’s an active, transformative power. The lame man who sat begging at the Beautiful Gate had little to expect but the clinking of coins in his bowl. Yet, when Peter and John, imbued with the Spirit, declared healing in the name of Jesus Christ, this man’s life changed irreversibly. 🌟
People who knew him couldn't reconcile the image of the joyful walker with the figure they had often bypassed. That's because they were accustomed to the world as they knew it—a place of limitations, a theater of predictable outcomes. The miraculous healing, however, forced them to challenge these assumptions, to recognize the existence of a divine realm where the extraordinary becomes the new normal.
The astounded faces in the crowd are mirrors reflecting our own incredulity when we encounter the inexplicable. We often put God in a box, reducing Him to the dimensions of our human understanding. The act of God breaking through human expectations serves as a profound reminder that our faith should not be confined but should be an expansive lens through which we view the possibilities of life. 😇
"Faith is not a dormant state but an active force that makes the impossible possible." - Bishop, W. F. Houston, Jr., Inspirationalist
Let Us Go Into the Throne Room of Grace and Mercy:
Heavenly Father, you are the God of miracles, ever surprising us with Your infinite capabilities. Enlarge our faith, that we may not merely believe in the theoretical but experience the transformational. May we, like the lame beggar, astonish the world with the story of Your glory manifest in our lives. To God Be the Glory. 🙌