Acts 4:10-12, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

I love the book of Acts for many reasons. But tonight I appreciate the way Peter takes the time to provide history – a reminder of what was done, and by whom.

He reminds the people of the direness of their present circumstances, and offers them the solution. Jesus is always the solution – he is the answer!

Sometimes, you just have to let people know the truth of where they are. And show them there is hope. We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We find ourselves in tough or hard situations. A lot of times. We have been in these challenging times that it is hard to remember a time of ease and joy.

It does not matter how long you may have been in your present situation. There is hope – and it is in Jesus.

Many times we get so use to being beneath. We learn to navigate the turbulent waters, and find a way to survive. We deceive ourselves into calling this low level of living “normal” because it is all we ever knew.

But God wants more for us.

He died to give us better. He arose again with all power in his hands to ensure that we have access to better. But we must choose his better over what we thought was our normal!

Sometimes, you just have to let people know (or provide a reminder):

– Jesus came to give us life abundantly!

– Jesus called us to be the head, and not the tail. To be above only, and not beneath!

So Peter, when he and John saw the man at the beautiful gate begging – he had to let him know. There is better for you – look on us and receive.

This daily begging at the beautiful gate was normal to the man. He was well know by the people because he was faithfully at the gate. He was so consistent that he had made arrangements with friends and family to get him there each day.

Many of us are the same way. We are faithfully consistent in navigating our brokenness that we do not see it for what it is. We have been tricked into believing it is normal and refuse to seek better.

But for those of us who have experienced the blessed liberty of Christ – we know better. We are so blessed by God daily. It is our duty to share what we have, freely.

We don’t ambush people. We don’t badger people. We don’t judge people. We don’t negate what they know.

But we do move in love as the Spirit of God leads.

When God opens the door, we just have to let people know. This same Jesus – he is our help, and theirs too!

Yes, I do love the book of Acts. If you have not yet taken the time to read it much, I encourage you to do so. You just might find yourself letting people know too!

Have a blessed day!