by J.O Adenuga 08/08/2006
Acts 3:1-7
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle received strength.
2 And a certain man LAME from his mother’s womb WAS CARRIED, whom they laid DAILY at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered the temple…
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; 3 Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle received strength.
2 And a certain man LAME from his mother’s womb WAS CARRIED, whom they laid DAILY at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered the temple…

…LAME
This man was in a circumstance – he was lame. Same as most of us, we are lame. Ours may not be physical lameness, but we are incapacitated in one way or the other. We are lame in our minds, our vision is 'lame', and we don't seem to be making progress. Many are lame financially and cannot satisfy themselves due to financial disability. We are all like this man in a way. It may not even be our fault that we are lame, it may be an inherited predicament like this man, it could be as a result of our background, our parents, our environment might have made us lame.
…WAS CARRIED
Most times there is little we can do when we are lame, we are at the mercy of people. If you are lame financially, you wouldn’t have a choice as to how much people will give you; even if it’s your wage – in other words you are carried. Some may have been carried by the moral decadence in the society due to their lameness in making up their minds; some may have been carried by the storms of doubt and fear due to their ignorance of the promises of God for their lives.
…DAILY
This passage reveals to us that this carrying is done daily. I can understand if I were carried once maybe twice but daily! No way! He is so helpless that he has to be carried daily; the carrying of just one day can’t solve his problem so he needs it daily. Sounds to me like addiction. How many times have we thought and wished in our hearts that this would be the last ‘carrying’ in our lives only to discover we would still need to be carried the day after and the next? We have longed so much to walk on our own but, we find ourselves in a terrible situation that would require a daily ‘carrying’. It also sound to me like salary. The 'carrying' of one month salary can't just be enough for the financially disabled - you need financial freedom!
If you ask me, I would tell you it is good to be carried, it only depends on who is carrying you. This verse indicated that people carried this man to anywhere he is located. Many times you discover some inadequacies in your life, some levels of disability, whom do you run to? Who do you seek comfort from? Who do you seek advise from? The best that men can do for us is what people did for this man in this scripture – they laid him at the gate called beautiful.
This man was in a circumstance – he was lame. Same as most of us, we are lame. Ours may not be physical lameness, but we are incapacitated in one way or the other. We are lame in our minds, our vision is 'lame', and we don't seem to be making progress. Many are lame financially and cannot satisfy themselves due to financial disability. We are all like this man in a way. It may not even be our fault that we are lame, it may be an inherited predicament like this man, it could be as a result of our background, our parents, our environment might have made us lame.
…WAS CARRIED
Most times there is little we can do when we are lame, we are at the mercy of people. If you are lame financially, you wouldn’t have a choice as to how much people will give you; even if it’s your wage – in other words you are carried. Some may have been carried by the moral decadence in the society due to their lameness in making up their minds; some may have been carried by the storms of doubt and fear due to their ignorance of the promises of God for their lives.
…DAILY
This passage reveals to us that this carrying is done daily. I can understand if I were carried once maybe twice but daily! No way! He is so helpless that he has to be carried daily; the carrying of just one day can’t solve his problem so he needs it daily. Sounds to me like addiction. How many times have we thought and wished in our hearts that this would be the last ‘carrying’ in our lives only to discover we would still need to be carried the day after and the next? We have longed so much to walk on our own but, we find ourselves in a terrible situation that would require a daily ‘carrying’. It also sound to me like salary. The 'carrying' of one month salary can't just be enough for the financially disabled - you need financial freedom!
If you ask me, I would tell you it is good to be carried, it only depends on who is carrying you. This verse indicated that people carried this man to anywhere he is located. Many times you discover some inadequacies in your life, some levels of disability, whom do you run to? Who do you seek comfort from? Who do you seek advise from? The best that men can do for us is what people did for this man in this scripture – they laid him at the gate called beautiful.
Men don’t have answers to your problems, men don’t have the blueprint of your life, the best they can do is carrying you and lay you down to beg. To be fair on these men that carried him, they did what seem best to them. In their minds carrying him to a place where he would be able to get some thing of his own was a great idea and helpful one too. The unfortunate thing is that this solution for the man won’t last long. You would have to come another day and another just like this man. He was laid daily. No matter the amount of money he received in a day, he would still have to be carried the next day.
How long will you be carried? How long will you have to go home happy only to still be helpless the following day? The truth is that many of us are carried away by what we get at the beautiful gate. Let me tell you, what you get at the beautiful gate is a speck compared to what God has for you. Besides, note this that any help from man does not terminate your need for help; it only brings you to a point where you will need multiple of help – like the beautiful gate. Each time we get to the beautiful gate, we thank them for taking us thus far to ‘achieve’ yet another volatile and nascent achievement in life. Whereas ignorantly we are there to seek greater amount of help from people – begging for alms.
How long will you be carried? How long will you have to go home happy only to still be helpless the following day? The truth is that many of us are carried away by what we get at the beautiful gate. Let me tell you, what you get at the beautiful gate is a speck compared to what God has for you. Besides, note this that any help from man does not terminate your need for help; it only brings you to a point where you will need multiple of help – like the beautiful gate. Each time we get to the beautiful gate, we thank them for taking us thus far to ‘achieve’ yet another volatile and nascent achievement in life. Whereas ignorantly we are there to seek greater amount of help from people – begging for alms.
For you the solution to your problem may be the last days of the month when you collect your salary (alms) at the 'beautiful gate'. But then you will still have to look out for another month; this is because you are only being carried and laid down at the beautiful gate.
God has a better plan dear, an end has to come to your being carried, and you would have to start walking to your God designed destiny. I see you fulfilling just that in Jesus name.
3 Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an ALMS. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, look on us. 5 And he GAVE heed unto them, EXPECTING to RECEIVE SOMETHING of them.
Asking for help, support and all sort is what he has adapted to. But then it is a big surprise to know that this man gave something. This is someone whose way of life is hinged around receiving and we now see him giving something. Isn’t it surprising to hear that someone who is carried daily, who can’t do anything without the support of someone, who has no other business but seek assistance, gave something?
3 Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an ALMS. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, look on us. 5 And he GAVE heed unto them, EXPECTING to RECEIVE SOMETHING of them.
Asking for help, support and all sort is what he has adapted to. But then it is a big surprise to know that this man gave something. This is someone whose way of life is hinged around receiving and we now see him giving something. Isn’t it surprising to hear that someone who is carried daily, who can’t do anything without the support of someone, who has no other business but seek assistance, gave something?
If the story had ended in the fact he gave then it would have been a plus to him; better still if the bible had not mentioned his motive for giving. The bible tells us that he gave expecting to receive something. He has become so use to receiving that even when he gives he is expecting to receive. Definitely he would be offended or hurt whenever he gives and does not receive anything especially when he does not receive what he is expecting – alms.
This looks like the picture of many Christians today in church, they are simply giving expecting to receive. They wouldn’t have any problem with expectation if their expectation were in line with God’s will. But their expectation is just as that of the lame man – alms.
This looks like the picture of many Christians today in church, they are simply giving expecting to receive. They wouldn’t have any problem with expectation if their expectation were in line with God’s will. But their expectation is just as that of the lame man – alms.
Sometimes our lameness begins to define our expectation. We might have been in that disability struggle, poverty, immorality, luke warmness, strife and all sorts of lameness so much and for a long time that our expectation has been redefine by our circumstances. We no longer see the problem as solvable, we no longer see our feet walking, we no longer see our life getting better and all we look out for is just the survival of today. How can God fulfill is glorious plan in our lives and make us whole when all we do is giving with the expectation of receiving alms?
Peter in accordance to God’s will didn’t give this man what he expected, instead, they gave the questions of his life answers, weakness in his body strength, ashes in his life beauty.
…and immediately his feet and ankle received strength. Act 3:7.
You might miss the answer to your prayer if you expect Him to work how you want Him to. I see God moving pass our circumstance-defined expectation and giving answers to our questions, healing our minds, mending our relationships, giving us back our vision and restoring us back to where we belong.
You will get there on your feet.
Peter in accordance to God’s will didn’t give this man what he expected, instead, they gave the questions of his life answers, weakness in his body strength, ashes in his life beauty.
…and immediately his feet and ankle received strength. Act 3:7.
You might miss the answer to your prayer if you expect Him to work how you want Him to. I see God moving pass our circumstance-defined expectation and giving answers to our questions, healing our minds, mending our relationships, giving us back our vision and restoring us back to where we belong.
You will get there on your feet.
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