Acts 3:16b (NIV)
… It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
1. There is power in Jesus’ name
2. I have to believe in it
It is only when my faith is tied to the power of His name that I am completely healed – of whatever ails me.
James 5:15-16 (NIV)
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Acts 3:19 (NIV)
19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
Acts 3:19 (The Message)
19–23 “Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you,
How The Message version puts the word ‘repent’ only reiterates to me that every choice we make, everything we do or say or think or feel, every direction we go, is only ‘on’ or ‘off’, north or south, yes or no. There are no grey areas in God-speak as it relates to our relationship with Him. We are either moving toward Him or we are moving away from Him. There is no 3rd option. We cannot simply “stay the same” or “not move” or “stand still” as it relates to our relationship with him. Our path of travel is either directly at God or directly away from God. That is a sobering thought.
How many of the old testament passages have “do not turn to the right or to the left” in them? I wonder if that’s because THERE IS NO RIGHT OR LEFT. There is only forward and backward!
The picture I see when I read this passage in The Message is this:
Have you ever tried to wipe the face of a toddler who is really just beginning to walk/run pretty well? You know how they eat Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches… bite after bite straight through the middle of the sandwich. Of course, this gets the sticky, gooey, wonderfully delicious mess all over their chubby little cheeks.
Now remember (or picture – if you don’t have children) trying to wipe their face after they have gotten down off the chair and they are all hyped up on the sugar in the jelly. They want to be zooming all over the place, but they’ve got sticky gooey all over them!
I remember when my children were toddlers. In particular, when my first born was at the stage of feeding herself. For whatever reason, she couldn’t stand to have stuff on her hands. She would begin eating (as most toddlers do) mushing stuff all over and occasionally into her mouth. Then she would realize how messy her hands were. She’d raise her arms in the air and look for one of us and cry out “Oooh hands! Oooh hands!” waiting until we would wipe them clean. Then she would commence to eating (if you could call it eating) again until she realized her hands were dirty. The process would start all over and continue all they way through her meal. I was always amazed that she didn’t seem to care about how messy her face was, just her hands. I wonder if it was because she couldn’t see her face while she was eating. Regardless, after her meal, we would get her down and begin the cleaning process of getting all the food bits and goo out of her hair, off her nose and cheeks, out of her nostrils and ears, (you get the picture) – she had it everywhere! But after the cleaning, she always got kisses from Mommy or Daddy all over her chubby little cheeks.
I think Papa is waiting for us to cry out “Oooh hands! Oooh hands!” or more likely he wants us to cry out “Oooh Heart! Oooh Heart!” When we do, can’t you just see him stooping down and wiping all the crap and dirt and junk from our faces – out of our hearts – and then just kissing us all over the cheeks like a good and loving Father? I can. I relish those kisses.
Look back at Acts 3:19… “… that times of refreshing may come…”. How awesome is that? God refreshes us Father has to clean us up and clean us out in order that he can refresh us – so he can re-fresh us and make us fresh again.
Father,
Help me to always be moving toward you so that my face is always before you so you can clean my face and refresh me. I always want to be moving forward and in your direction; never away from you. I thank you for times of refreshing. Help me to look for and notice all the kisses on the cheek that you give. I love you.
Running After Papa…