"Stand Up Straight on Your Feet!" - Acts 14:8-16
"Stand Up Straight on Your Feet!" - Acts 14:8-16
LaDonna 0:00
Welcome to Healing Waters – The Podcasts!
I am LaDonna Sanders, here to remind you that God wants you well in your mind, body, soul, and spirit!
III John 1:2 says, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
Join me as we check out what good news our creator has to say in today's Healing Waters Devotional!
LaDonna 00:00:27.9
Healing Waters - Day 56
Acts 14:8-16 - And in Lystra, a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking, Paul observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, saith with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked. Now when the people saw what Paul and Barnabas had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran out in among the multitude, crying out and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them. Who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
Our story today takes place in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey. Paul, with Barnabas, is on his first missionary journey. He is preaching in the ancient village of Lycaonia. The area is populated with an aristocracy of Roman soldiers—commanders of the army and the educated and well-to-do intellectuals and Idol worshippers. As Paul is preaching, his attention is drawn to a disabled man. The scripture says the man was born disabled. Paul sees the man listening to the good news of Jesus Christ and perceives that the man has faith to be healed. In the middle of his message, he tells the man with a loud voice to "Stand up straight on your feet," the cripple man who has never walked leaps to his feet and starts walking. Wow!
This miracle has caused an uproar; the people are excited and shouting. They thought Paul and Barnabas to be gods, naming them Zeus and Hermes, and the priest of Zeus began preparing sacrifices of oxen and garland to worship the two men. Paul and Barnabas start tearing their clothes and shouting to the crowd, stop it, explaining to the people in the village that they are mere men and not gods. Telling the group that the living God, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who has provided rain from heaven and given them a fruitful harvest, wants them to turn from their own ways, stop the idol worship, and serve Him!
It's a wonderful thing when we or someone we know receives a miracle, God's power is on full display, and He alone is worthy of all the praise. There are three things I want to highlight in this devotional. First, to the individual in need of healing, in need of a creative miracle, our text tells you that God, the creator of heaven and earth, can enable you to "Stand up straight on your feet!" Our Lord sees you, have faith in Him, He is a Healer, and He wants you well in your mind, body, soul, and spirit. Embrace Him, believe His words and let Him change your state in life. This devotional text also shows us that God is the miracle worker, and he uses mere men to promote His agenda and proclaim His love. Now, while it is indeed a privilege to be used by God, we must never forget that all the glory and worship should be directed towards God, and God alone! Finally, God graciously gives us a choice; each day, we are granted an opportunity to choose whom we will worship, to choose whom we will serve. The people of Lystra were idol worships, like many of us choosing each day to walk in their own ways, but God, my friends, wants us ALL to turn away from these useless things, to turn from our own way, to turn from idolatry and worship and serve Him, and Him alone!
Romans 6:12 –13; 16 says, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves, slaves, to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Let's Pray
Lord, we thank you for your great grace and mercy towards us. We thank you for your patient love, and we thank you that see us! Father, forgive us of our sins, deliver us from idolatry. Work your miracles in and through us today! Help, O God, to stand up straight on our feet in life. Heal our minds, bodies, soul, and spirits, and help us to worship and serve you and you alone! In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen!
LaDonna 00:07:20.5
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