Leaping for Joy

Lame by birth. His name, unknown. He was helpless.

Everyday, this man was carried to the temple called, Beautiful, to ask for alms. He took donations and charity from the people who came to the temple. One day, as he was laying there, Peter and John came along and saw him. 

Peter says, “Look at us.” 

The man, thinking that they were like everyone else who gave him silver and gold, looks up at them. In Acts 3:6-9, the man receives so much more than he expected.

“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.

so he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them- walking and leaping, and praising God.”

And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”

God healed this man! It was a miracle that everyone marveled at! If you read more in this chapter, you will see that this healing opened the door for Peter and John to minister and preach to all who saw that man walk again.

The Bible does not give us much detail about this man, or the situation he was in, but we do know that The Great Physician healed him. As soon as he was healed, he went walking, leaping, and praising God!

God gave this man a gift, the gift of healing. The lame man was so happy to receive this gift, that he was, in fact, leaping for joy! Because of the joy in his heart, and the way he was praising God, he was a witness to all those people. This was quite a testimony!

So, how can we relate to the lame man?

We are sinners, and because of sin, we are lame and broken. But love would not let this be where it all ends. God sent His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to take away the sins of the world. God gives us sinners a avenue. We are given the gift of love, and the choice to let Jesus bear our sins. When we accept this gift of love and forgiveness, we are healed. 

When we realize what great love this is, our hearts will be bursting with the joy of the lame man. Leaping joy! It is my hope that our joy will seep through to those around us, so we can share this gift that is open to the hearts and minds of everyone!

What does the gift of love mean? It means…

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;

does not behave rudely, does not seek it’s own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 

does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are 

tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” 

No matter how many times I read these words, I am blown away!  This is God’s definition for love! God’s gift is the love in 1 Corinthians, a love that never fails. Once we wrap our minds around such an amazing gift, we will want to leap for joy! 

Romans 8:38,39

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our 

 Lord.”