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      #7Penniless,
            But Powerful

"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.
"
                             Acts 3:6
     PETER was "broke" but happy; Peter was "broke" but on his way to prayer meeting; he did not stay away from service just because he had nothing to put in the collection; Peter was "broke," yet he was exceedingly rich in the Lord Jesus. The lame man at the Gate Beautiful was asking for alms, but he received something ten thousand times better than alms: he was restored to health so that he would no longer have to ask for alms. "In the name of Jesus walk" is much better then "Here is a ten dollar bill."
   Peter and John were going to prayer meeting, and that in itself was very commendable. It is the prayer meeting crowd that is usually looking for something to do for the Lord. And Peter and John were going to be "on time" for prayer service. That was very striking. Most people who go to prayer meeting are usually late in arriving, but not so with these two men. And if they had been late and in a hurry to get on into the temple, they would have probably thought they had not time to talk to the poor lame man at the entrance of the gate. As Peter and John started by, the lame man probably held out his hat or little tin cup and said, "Give me something; I can't walk to make a living, and I don't have any money. I'm hungry, will you please give me something?" "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee."
   Money, many times, is very important, but only the Lord Jesus could do for the poor lame man the thing that needed to be done most. He had not been able to walk since he was born. He was lame from birth and had to be carried daily to the Gate Beautiful in order to ask alms of the ones passing by. Peter saw the man's greatest need, and in the Name of the Great Physician that need was entirely fufilled. Then the man began to walk and leap and sing praises to God. Many times a lost soul may be crying out for reformation, or for education and culture, or for relief in different ways, but the greatest need for that soul is regeneration, the New Birth, a new Creation. The Lord is the Author of regeneration, the Holy Spirit is the One by Whom we are born again. We become new Creations in Christ Jesus. That is worth more than all the wealth of the world. Neither silver nor gold, but Jesus, Who is "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."

<><><> #8 - Finished Transaction <><><> #6 - God's Why <><><>
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Evangelist and Pastor, Dr. Marvin Lewis