Let Christ Work Through You

[Darris McNeely] There's an old saying that, "If you don't care who gets the credit, anything can get done." Very true. There's a story from the Book of Acts where Peter and John were going into the temple to pray at the ninth hour. It's told in Acts 3. There was a lame man there who had been lame from birth, he was looking for some alms, for some money. Peter looked at him and said, "I don't have any silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And the man rose up and walked and ran into the temple with Peter and John. It was a remarkable story, an event that drew attention to the church, the gospel, the power of God.

Here's what Peter said as he began to explain to the crowds who gathered as they watched this miraculous event. In Acts 3:12, "When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, at the healing? Or why look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness, we have made this man walk?" Peter deflected the attention off of himself. He was the one who had said to the man who put out his hand, "Take my hand, rise up and walk," but he knew that it wasn't his power, it wasn't his godliness, his righteousness, it was the power of Jesus Christ, it was the power of the Father, it was the power of God's Spirit working, and it was the name of Jesus Christ that he uttered there. That man walked. A great deed was done, but also a great witness for the gospel was done that day.

When we do that, when we are able to take our mind off of ourself, to understand our own limitations, where they end, and within where God can pick for us, what we can do, what can be accomplished, there's no end to it. What God can work through us, there is no end to it. God picked Peter up and carried him forward. You know, by this time, Peter had learned a big lesson, not to put the spotlight on himself. He put the focus on God. When we get our eyes off of ourselves, what we think we can do, our own power, and we let Christ work through us, that work can be amazing, that work can be miraculous too, in our own relative situation today, and we can be effective instruments in God's hands. Put the focus on God, not on ourselves.

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