Butterflies - 4

Acts 3:1 1Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

Acts 3:4 4And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

Acts 3:11 11And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

What now? Isn’t that a question to all believers? Now that God has saved me, now that I am standing, walking, leaping, and praising God, What Now? The Lord Jesus trained twelve men to serve him after he was gone. Over three years he told them all about the kingdom, all about the father, all about future events, and so much more, that John writes in his Gospel account, that the world would not be big enough to contain all the books that could be written about him. But it seems that, over and over, they were left scratching their heads. Now you can’t say Peter didn’t try, and try as he might, he seemed to always put his foot into his mouth. Peter, and the other disciples leave me hope. Sometimes I feel I just will never get it. Just when I think I got it all figured out, something, or someone comes along and proves me all wrong.

I am saved, I love God, I worship, I study the bible, and I give to the Lord’s work. But really, what now? After our Lord died on the cross, and it was told the disciples, that he had risen from the grave, they saw the Lord alive. He let them touch him, and see and feel the nail prints in his hands, and the hole in his side from the soldiers sword. He then told them what he wanted them to do. Then we read in John 21:3 :” Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.” It hadn’t been very long since he showed himself to them, and in the delay between meetings, they didn’t know what to do, so off they go a fishing. The amazing thing in that story, was that these professional fishermen, spent all night, and caught nothing. It was then in the morning hours, that the Lord stood on the shore, and asked them the question, Children, have ye any meat? I mean, what were they doing out there anyway, was it for the fun, or was it to get food? Then the Lord said, “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” And they got a net full of fish. It wasn’t for the fish, or the money that could be made from selling them, that the Lord did this. It was to change their perception of life. To take what he had taught them, and put the truth into action. For three years they heard the teachings from him, saw the miracles, saw the dead raised, and the blind to see. Was there anything that he could not do? Have we realized that he can do anything, that he is able. It is in this passage that Peter is brought into fellowship with the Lord again, and here he is given direction and purpose. He was to feed people spiritually. That could mean, to preach the gospel to the lost, teach the saved, encourage the weak, and yes, to help people change their perspective on life, or, simply to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see them going to the temple at the hour of prayer. It may be that they were looking forward to a time of corporate prayer. Maybe they had expectations of an opportunity to preach the gospel, maybe it was to just be available for the next person that God loved as much as he loved you and me. Have you ever asked God to lead you to someone that needs Christ? Remember our last study, we concluded that not only is God able to do above all we can even imagine to ask, but will do so, when we ask. It may be that we don’t ask, because we know he will answer.

We see both Peter and John mentioned together in this story three times. One thing I glean from that is though we serve God ourselves, as we allow him to lead us individually, we are never really alone, we have others in his church that will stand with us in the work. This story with both Peter and John reminds me of when a brother and I would go out to the mall, or park, or door to door to share the gospel. He would talk most of the time, but I prayed. I would ask God to hinder Satan and his demons from clouding the mind of the person we were talking to. I would ask God to open his or her mind. I would ask God to give my brother wisdom to speak his word and message. That is what I see in John, he was the one that wanted to know more about the Lord, he didn’t want to miss one word spoken by him, and John wanted to be as close as he could. But Peter, always wanted to be right in the middle of the action. This is the way I see this miracle, They both fastened their eyes on this man, they both knew he needed to be turned toward the Lord. But there was an obstacle, he was lame. They both knew that this was possible with God, and John prayed, and Peter acted. Wow, can you imagine yourself telling someone born lame, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk”? And then yanking him to his feet, right there in public? That’s not only faith, but pure purpose. They knew what God wanted them to do, and he wants us to do the same, To go into all the world and preach the gospel, to turn people to God, help them change their perspective on life, and come to know real life in Christ Jesus. Maybe yanking someone to their feet is not the method God wants to use, but he does want us to be sold out to the gospel. He wants us to have the same perspective that the Apostles had, knowing that God is able to do above all that we think or ask, and knowing that he is able to use us to bring hope into other people’s lives.

One more thing we see in this story, is Peter and John, open to fellowship and discipleship. This man is beside himself with Joy, and the wonder of new life. We see him holding both of them. When someone is brought into the family, we need to care for them, and let them hold on to us until they learn they can hold on to God. All they know is that we know God, and they are desperate to know him now, they become hungry for his word, they have questions, and each new truth, is like a child tasting sugar for the first time. Never be the Christian, to shrug off a new or old believer that clings to you, and wants to know more. Feed them, Feed my sheep, that is what the Lord told Peter.

I go a fishing... Is it for men?