Acts 3:1-20
1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.
9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!
16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.
17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

Let me ask you a question:
As we’ve talked about consuming and contributing, have you had moments where you’ve wanted to contribute, to do something great for God, but you’ve struggled with the fear that either you don’t have it in you to be a contributor, or else that what you do have just isn’t enough?

We’ve talked about moments encountering people at Walmart, or encouraging others in the foyer, or being a blessing at your job, but when you see yourself in that moment, do you instantly feel inadequate?

What would you have done if a beggar at the entrance to a store begged you for money? I remember when I was at my first year of college at Lamar University and dad let me know he had to be in Beaumont the next morning and wondered if I wanted to have breakfast with him. I said of course, and we decided to meet at Shoney's. Sad thing that there isn't a Shoney’s. I always adored the idea of a never-ending supply of bacon for breakfast in the morning. But as we were walking into the restaurant, there is a homeless man standing there at the front door. He was old, filthy, his face and head were red from being constantly in the sun. He was crying and I will never forget the sound of his voice as he cried out, "Feed me. Please feed me. Feed me." It was one of those moments that mark you, and it did me.

I watched as dad walked over to the man and said, "Come on with us."
When we got inside, the manager didn't want to let the guy in, but I remember dad not being forceful with the manager, but he worked out some arrangement where the homeless man could sit at some booth in the corner and they would bring food to him.

I don't remember what happened after that other than dad and I ate probably more bacon than we should have, but I'll never forget the sound of that man's voice, broken, and how my dad responded.
What would you have done?

Perhaps that scenario is a much simpler one to navigate, but whenever you sit down at your desk and you look over and see your coworker, and their face clearly tells you they are broken, what do you do? When you're grabbing that gallon of milk on the way home and as soon as you close the door in the cold section, you see someone and instantly you hear a voice in your head that tells you to do something, what do you do?

We've talked about contributing, but when you get in a moment where God wants you to contribute, what do you do? So many people get in a moment like that and they are paralyzed by what they don't have, by their inadequacy, perceived or actual, or by fear.

If you don't hear anything else today, I want you to understand at least one thing:
There are some scenarios in your life where what you need to contribute will come from within you, and there are some scenarios in life where what you need to contribute will come through you.

I referenced this last week when I talked about Paul, how he would first go to the synagogues, and then he would go to the agora. That was his normal routine. He would talk with the people there, debate with them, engage with them. This was not some kind of divine inspirational thing. The desire to do those things was already inside of him. He was just acting upon what was inside of him already. But then there were moments where Paul was clearly being divinely inspired to contribute.

You are no different. I am no different.
In some moments, I'm going to need divine inspiration. But in some moments, God is clearly expecting me to tap into what he put inside of me to contribute.

What's inside of you?
What are some things inside of you that he wants you to tap into those moments where he wants you to contribute?

In Genesis 1:11 God called the land to "sprout with every sort of seed bearing vegetation.” The capability of the land to produce vegetation was already inside of the land. It just had to be acted upon.

And the same is true in you. God has already put some things inside of you and in order to effectively contribute, you simply need to act upon it.

This is precisely what Peter did in that moment at the Beautiful gate. There was something already inside of Peter that he acted upon in that moment,
and what is beautiful is that the moment he acted upon that thing inside of him already, it combined with divine inspiration and the healing power of God to produce a miracle in the lame man.

It is possible that we are not effectively contributing because we've made up our minds that it's either all us or all God, not understanding that God has called you to partner with him in his redemptive work, and that there is an expectation that as we step out on what's inside of us by faith, that God meets us in that step with his miraculous power to see lives change forever.

Look back at the story. Acts 3:4-6
4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

There were two things that really strike me in that simple passage.
First, when Peter said, "Look at us," it was about humanizing this poor man. It was acknowledgment, validating him as a person, a simple act that said, "I see you. You aren't worthless.” This is a big deal if you think about it because so many times, we dehumanize not just people but situations and whenever you dehumanize something it makes it easier to disengage from it. This is why when we walk past a homeless person somewhere we tend to look the other way. If we can't see the suffering, we can't have compassion for the suffering and we can't contribute to the relief. And I realize there is a fine line between helping someone and casting pearls before swine. I get it, but don't miss the point. And it might be really easy to understand this point in the context of helping somebody who's down, but what about that person you need to forgive? Have you dehumanized them, seen them as a monster, and it's made it easier for you to consume your frustration and hate towards them rather than contribute towards restoration and forgiveness? Ok I’ll move on, but Peter humanized the man, and that is something that was already within Peter’s ability to do.

But second, Peter identified what he didn't have.
The man wanted money, but Peter didn't have any money. He didn’t have it, but that didn’t stop him from stepping out. Thank God Peter didn't let what he didn't have stop him. You know it's wild is that the man really did need money just like we all need money to live, but there was something the man needed more and Peter instinctively knew it. How? Because Peter had a moment in Acts 2:4 when the Holy Spirit filled him and the result was that even though Peter was inadequate to fulfill the tangible need the man was voicing, the Holy Spirit revealed to Peter a greater need that was supernatural.

So the moment Peter decided to turn and intently look at the man, to call out to him, to humanize him, all of these things which Peter already had the ability to do, the Holy Spirit took what was already inside of Peter and combined it with divine inspiration and revelation, and the result was a miracle.

What's in you and how can what's in you mix with the divine inspiration and revelation of the Holy Spirit to produce a miracle? That's what contributing is. It is not something solely relying on you, but it is asking you to take a step. And it's not just sitting back and expecting the Holy Spirit to do everything, but it is asking you to believe. The result when the two mix, when you step and when the Holy Spirit speaks, miracles happen.

What's amazing is that while this man's life was changed forever because of the miracle that occurred, I'm not convinced that the man's healing wasn’t the actual reason for the miracle. As soon as the man was healed, it created a ruckus!

Acts 3:9-11
9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.

It is amazing to me how many times we're playing checkers and God is playing chess. Shoot, God's playing eight dimensional chess and I'm over here playing Go Fish.

If I can give you a spiritual life hack right now that's gonna change you forever. It's this:
So often in your relationship with God, you are going to discover that what's actually happening right now in your life is simply a symptom or a byproduct of what God is really trying to do.
- That stress at work might be God trying to kill something inside of you that needs to die.
- That anxiety you feel might be God using what the enemy has meant to hurt you in order to show you that you aren't really trusting God and you need to.
- That struggle you are going through with that person really has nothing to do with the issue at hand, but God is trying to work salvation in that person's heart and Satan knows that you are the conduit and so he's trying to do everything he can to stop it.

God is always after restoration and he wants us to contribute to that restoration, but we can get so caught up in what we don't have or in the chaos of the scenario we are facing that we fail to see what God is actually trying to do through us not just to us.

Think about your life right now, the struggles you are having, the scenarios that you are facing, even the internal feelings you're having, is there possibly another layer that God is trying to get you to, maybe another level, maybe a deeper understanding of what the actual issue is that he's trying to correct? When Peter walked into the Temple mount that day, there is no way he could've known that he would be used by God to bring healing to a beggar. He had no clue that he was going to have an opportunity to address the people of Israel that day. He was just going to church at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. That's it. He was doing what he did. It was his everyday normal life. Yet God knew on that specific day that he was going to take what was already inside of Peter and he was going to combine it with his divine power and revelation, and that not only would one be healed, but thousands of people would have the opportunity to be restored to God. In Acts 2, Peter preached a sermon in the same spot where 3000 people were saved by believing in Jesus. The result of the happenings in Acts 3 resulted in an additional 2000 being addd to the Kingdom. We see this in Acts 4:4.

God is waiting on your yes. God is waiting on you to say yes to acting upon what he's already put inside of you so he can combine his divine power and revelation to it to see you contribute miraculously.

If this is going to be accomplished, then you have to have two things:

1. You have to believe there’s something inside of you.
I know there are so many ministry leaders out there that talk about God's sovereignty and his power and his might and they feel peoples heads full of thoughts like we are worthless and depraved, and add no value to God or his Kingdom.

Let me be super clear: Anybody that preaches that evil message are not an alignment with what God says.
- He says we are beautifully and wonderfully made.
- He says where the apple of his eye.
- He says that we're his beloved children.
- He says we are precious and honored in His sight
- He says we are his masterpiece.
- He says we are chosen, redeemed, and called by name.
These are Bible verses! Promises to his kids!

And yes, it is true that when it comes to our salvation, there's nothing we could do to earn that, and if I'm honest, I don't know that my game of Go Fish would even in the slightest impress God who is playing 8D chess,
But I do know there's something in you and there's something in me that God loved enough to die for, that he loved enough to move heaven and earth to restore.

And I do know that when my God promises something, he stands by it, so when he tells us things like he knows the plans that he has for us, that we were created to do good works, that he filled us with spiritual gifts and talent and ability, that he's put eternity in our hearts, it means that there is something inside of us that he crafted it in us while he was forming us in our mother's womb that he not only wants us to, but fully expects us to, act upon.

God put something beautiful inside of you and you've had it since before the foundation of the world, and if you are going to contribute effectively, God expects you to act upon it.

So let me ask again: what's in you that God can use?
Once you identify it, act upon it.

2. You have to believe that God will work through you.
This is where fear steps in, and even if we have the courage to act upon what's in us, we can let this fear that God won't intervene keep us from fully exercising the faith we need to see it happen. Peter tells the beggar, "look at me. Silver and gold have I none.” Isn't it amazing how fear will put a period where God wants a comma. Peter's words didn't stop with none. But Peter's ability did. Peter acted upon what was inside of him right up to the moment of the comma. After that comma, it was all divine.

In fact, we can see Peter step in faith in real time in the passage.
Did you notice that the man didn’t stand up until Peter reached out to help him up? You can say it, you can pray it, but do you have the faith to believe God will do it? If you don’t have that faith, you’ve put a period where God wants a comma.

Where have you been putting a period where God has been putting a comma?

Ephesians 3:16-21
16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 21 Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

Do you really believe that? All of it?
The more you believe it, the less fear you’ll have of what’s after the comma.

If you are struggling to believe, then let me encourage you to pray the same prayer the father prayed in Mark 9:23-24
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

So, what's in you?
Make a note on your phone today and write five things that you know are inside of you that God wants you to act upon.

What's keeping you from believing God?
In that same note, maybe you should jot down some things that are keeping you from putting a comma where you've put a period.

Listen, God doesn't need your efforts because he's incapable of doing it alone. He needs your efforts because he doesn't want to do it alone. He wants you involved, engaged, actively working in the Kingdom.

He wants you serving, not just sitting on a pew. He wants you giving, not just within the four walls. He wants you speaking life, and not just when you're put on the spot. He wants you engaged in Kingdom work in every sphere of your life. But if you've convinced yourself that you have nothing to offer, and you've convinced yourself that God just won't do something miraculous, then you'll never contribute.

But if you humbly acknowledge that God did make an investment into you, and you faithfully believe that God will do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or think, not only will you be the most effective contributor, you’ll be at a loss for words at how satisfying it is.

What decision do you need to make today?

Maybe it is yes to Jesus to begin with. Perhaps you aren’t Peter and you aren’t the beggar, but you are just a person standing in Solomon’s Colonnade listening to the Gospel that Jesus died on the cross for you sins and that if you confess him as Lord you’ll be saved.

Maybe you doubt what’s in you and you need to first ask forgiveness for not believing in what’s in you, but second ask the Holy Spirit to help you act upon what’s in you.

Maybe you’ve had a hard time believing in the miraculous power of God and you need to make the decision today that you won’t let unbelief keep you from contributing.

Whatever it is, let’s do what the Holy Spirit asks us to do.