Crippled from Birth

February 9

(Acts 3:2 NIV) "Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts."

(Psalms 51:5 NIV) "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."

(Job 15:14 NIV) "What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous?"

(Isaiah 53:6 NIV) "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Imagine being totally dependent upon others for survival. This needy man, “crippled from birth”, had to be carried to the Temple gate so that he could beg for survival. In a way, this helpless beggar represents us all, for we have all been “crippled from birth” by sin. Sin takes our legs out from under us, and we join those begging at the gate of God, unable to enter on our own. We end up looking to people, instead of God, for our sustenance. We spend our lives in spiritual squalor, sitting in our sin, pleading for the crumbs that the world occasionally gives us. We desperately need the Lord, but continually beg others to give us what we think we need. We plead for handouts instead of healing. We become focused on survival instead of seeking salvation. But we can be changed. We can be born again if we trust the Great Physician. Why beg another day? Take God’s hand and rise up. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day   

A Praying Church

February 8

(Acts 3:1 NIV) "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer -- at three in the afternoon."

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV) "Be joyful always; {17} pray continually; {18} give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

(Hebrews 13:15-16 NIV) "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. {16} And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

Peter and John were going to a prayer meeting at three o’clock in the afternoon. The desire of the early church was to be God-dependent, not self-sufficient. They prayed continually. Today’s culture worships at the altar of self-sufficiency. This hinders our desire to pray continually. We can obtain much of what we need without asking God for it -- no need for “daily bread” prayers. The majority of our prayers express a desire for personal blessing, rather than the desire to bring glory to God. Trusting God for all things, and in all things, is what set the early Christians apart. When they prayed, they prayed big and wide. They prayed for God to be glorified in their lives, even if it meant persecution. They just wanted more of God. When we begin to pray for God to be glorified in our lives, God will involve us in the miraculous, and give us opportunities to amaze the world, just like He did with the early church. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

A Growing Church

February 7

(Acts 2:47b NIV) “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

(Matthew 13:18-23 NIV)  ""Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: {19} When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. {20} The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. {21} But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. {22} The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. {23} But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.""

The church grows when people answer God’s call to repent and surrender their lives to the Lordship of Christ. When people stop running from God and turn to Him in repentance, the church grows. In the early church, people didn’t get saved weekly -- they got saved daily. That is what happens in a church devoted to God’s word, to community, and to prayer. That is what happens in a body of believers who concentrate on praise and expressions of devotion and worship. That is what happens when the people of God have a positive attitude about their church and live out their faith in love on a daily basis. That is what happens when the Spirit of God pervades the atmosphere of a church. This is still the kind of church Jesus calls us to be. This is the church that multiplies as the Lord adds daily to their number, producing a crop “a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day   

Positive Christianity

February 6

(Acts 2:46-47 NIV) "They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, {47} praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”

(Romans 15:13 NIV) "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

(Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV) "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children {2} and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

The new believers were positive people. They were “Praise the Lord!” kind of Christians. They had good things to say about each other and about their neighbors. They were short on gossip and long on encouragement. They built one another up instead of tearing one another down. They loved each other with the love they had received from the Lord. And it was noticed. Scripture says they enjoyed the favor of those around them, and the church grew. Positive people draw crowds. Positive people inspire us. We like to be around positive people. It’s easy to be a negative critic. It takes spiritual maturity to be a positive witness in the face of a negative world. But God can help. Maybe it’s time to change your attitude and become the kind of Christian who draws people to the Lord, instead of fulfilling all the negative stereotypes the world has about the church. It’s a matter of the will. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day