Belief in Action

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

BELIEF IN ACTION

Acts 9:32-35

32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. 34 "Aeneas," Peter said to him, "Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and take care of your mat." Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

NIV

What is it about those disciples, or was it just the Apostles who were so filled with the Spirit of the Lord that people were healed from such things as being a paralytic? Peter did not do anything special, conduct a fervent prayer meeting, or recite some scripture or anything for that matter other than simply telling the man that Jesus Christ heals you. We just do not see that kind of faith today. Why is that? What holds us back from believing Jesus Christ heals today as he did in those days? Maybe he doesn’t, maybe that was just for then and it is not for today. Maybe the people needed that kind of miraculous sign in order to believe and we don’t because we have greater faith then they did. But that is not true either, because God has given to every man a measure of faith and if, which he does not favor any one person, or show favoritism, then he would not give one man a greater measure of faith then another. So then we can have the same measure of faith that Peter had, in fact, we are supposed to have that same measure. Now it may be true that Peter used his faith to the fullest extent and we simply have allowed our faith to wither away unused. Faith is a lot like muscles, if we do not exercise it, our faith will become loose and flabby and pretty much out of shape and useless. So why don’t we use our faith like Peter did? Are we afraid it will not work? Jesus Christ is the same as he was in the days of Peter, and if Jesus healed then he heals today. Have we become too dependent on man’s wisdom in the medical profession to believe Jesus would heal miraculously? Or do we now think that is the way Jesus heals, through doctors? Would we be wrong to expect Jesus to heal the way he did when Peter spoke? But Peter spoke with absolute confidence in the power of the name of Jesus, and perhaps we just do not have that kind of confidence. Perhaps that is what we lack. We have the same amount of faith, but we lack the confidence to use it. Is lacking confidence the same thing as doubting? Isn’t doubting the same thing as disbelief which is in fact sin? So then we should repent of our disbelief, our doubt and believe Jesus Christ heals today just as he did when Peter spoke his name, and put our belief into action.