Expect God To!!!!

Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 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. Acts 3:2-7

When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:9-10

When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? Acts 3:12

I would like to begin by directing your attention to what immediately jumped out at me as I read this passage:

· First, because the man in our scripture was crippled he relied on others to carry him where he needed to go.

· Secondly, because he could not see beyond what he needed at that moment, he was unable to see that he really needed much more than he was asking for.

With that being said, how many of us understand that spiritual crippleness is real? It is possible for us to allow our circumstances to cripple us to the point that we are unable to get from one point to the other in our life walk ; and often times we depend on others to do for us what we would be able to do for ourselves if we didn’t allow life’s curve balls to immobilize us!!! Thus we end up relying on others to carry us!

It is in times of spiritual crippleness we are also most likely to pray for what we see as the "quick fix" to our problems-- that which will relieve the pressure or satisfy us in that moment. It is in our spiritual crippleness that we will pray asking for the least of what we need.

Look at the man our text.... the least of what he needed in his life was alms (money). Did he need money? Sure! But more than money he needed to be healed, so instead of granting his request (through Peter and John) for money, God gave him what he needed most!!!!

And so it is with us, we sometimes don’t have enough wisdom to address anything other than our "need of the moment", so God will forgo answering our request only to give us what we need most!

The last point I would like to make is, when this man asked, he EXPECTED to receive. It's one thing for us to say we believe God can.. BUT, when we expect God to, we enter into a new dimension of faith. You see, praying believing God can is the equivalent of a seed being planted (if you have the faith of a mustard seed….matt 17:20) But expecting God to- is where we reap our harvest - that's the dimension in which mountains are moved, bodies are healed,circumstances are changed and marriages are saved!!!

But not only did the man expect to receive when he asked, Peter also expected to receive when he asked. When Peter saw that the people were surprised and astonished by the healing that God had performed; the way verse 12 translates in my mind, Peter says to them, I could understand your surprise had this miracle come from me, but it came form God, what did you expect?

As Christians we should never be surprised by God’s miracles or His answers to our needs… we should expect them!!!!

So I will end by asking you to answer these questions;
1. Are you tired of being a spiritual cripple, depending on others to carry you?
2. What need do you have that is greater than what you’ve been asking God for?
3. Do you Expect God to?

Prayer:
Father I Praise You in Your Sovereignty! Father I trust You to always bring what is best for me to live the WHOLE life you would have me live, nothing broken - nothing missing. In the Name of Jesus, AMEN!