Walk in the Holy SpiritSample

There was a man who was born lame from his mother's womb. He was carried to the temple and lay daily at the gate to beg for money (Acts 3:1-26). This lame man had legs which came at birth, but these legs didn’t walk. He was born with legs, but he lived his life crawling and being carried. 

You know, when we became believers, when we were born again, God gave us the Holy Spirit as a gift. It’s like having legs. But walking in the Holy Spirit doesn’t come automatically with spiritual birth. Just as with physical birth, we are not born walking. We had to learn to walk. Some took longer to walk than others. The first few times it was hard. We fell. We cried. We relied on adults who were good at walking to train us and to be patient with us. Today, walking comes naturally. All the Christians have the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t have all Christians. All the believers receive the Holy Spirit at salvation, but the filling of the Holy Spirit comes into the believer only at the time of surrender. 

This lame person had legs, but his legs didn’t carry him. It speaks of a believer who has the Spirit, but the Holy Spirit doesn’t do anything in his life. His life is summarized by his ability to operate in the natural. There is very little supernatural in his life—all his work is the result of hard effort. He doesn’t deny the Spirit, but he lives without relying on Him. Results are minimal. Life is hard and at times exhausting. We as believers weren’t meant to carry the weight of life nor its heavy responsibilities alone. The Spirit is given to help us with prayer, with life, and with ministry. He is able to take the burden off the load. If we don’t walk in the Spirit, we will walk in the flesh. We will toil in the flesh. We will run and grow tired. We will walk and grow weary. We will become sour and exhausted. If we don’t learn how to walk in the Holy Spirit, life becomes a heavy yoke and ministry becomes a difficult burden.

This lame man was sitting instead of leaping and begging and instead of praising. In fact, what he asked for was alms, but what he needed was to walk. Peter and John did not give him money, but they lifted him up through the power of God, and he started to walk. But even when he started to walk, his financial situation was still the same. In fact, his outside circumstances didn’t change, yet he started to rejoice, praise God and enter the temple. This miracle led many to faith in Christ. 

Maybe you are sitting at the gate of your temple right now, really seeking the power of God. I would like you to switch your focus from the power of God to the presence of the Holy Spirit. You already have Him. Now you need to walk in the Spirit. That walk will change your life and ministry. Just as John and Peter lent a hand to a lame person, today in this reading plan, God will use me to lend you a hand to help you walk in the Spirit as well. 

Peter and John didn’t give the lame man legs; they just activated something he already had. I can’t give you the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit, but God can use the next few days to quicken a relationship, to whet your appetite for fellowship, and to deepen your hunger for the person of the Holy Spirit. Alms is what you might think you need, but what you really need is to walk. That’s the greatest gift---to know the Holy Spirit and to have a relationship with Him. 

Prayer: 

Father, teach me how to walk and live with my Mentor, my Companion, my Helper, my Comforter, my Friend the Holy Spirit.