Look At Me

Acts 3:9

3One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man who was lame 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. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

In our daily struggles to get by and by it’s a common occurrence to look at so many prospects that present themselves with the propensity to facilitate the fulfillment of our dreams, goals, visions, desires, and assignment.

However if you can honestly agree with me, most of the things that we have looked to and look on to facilitate our dreams, goals, visions, desires, and assignment have many times than not fallen short of our expectations.

 And hence leaving us wounded and disappointment and what will I say about disappointment.

Disappointment is only but an illusion-it’s the negative response against expectations unmet.

Disappointment can be overcome and conquered not by managing your expectations but by actually scanning new opportunities in the very place where your expectations have not been fulfilled.

For instance when you enter into a restaurant that claims to offer the most delicious Italian pizza around town and it turns out after testing the pizza that the restaurant’s claim is far from the truth.

What do you do? Instead of storming out of the restaurant all in regret, see an opportunity of actually opening up your own restaurant that offers the real Italian pizza test.

Sometimes moments of disappointment can actually be an opportunity for us to make areal-time impact and a difference in your life and the life of some one else.

In the portion of the scripture above, “There is a man sited at the Beautiful Gate annexed to the entrance of the Temple of the living God-my dear friends the temple of the living God in  this very regard is symbolic to the presence of God.

This man was born crippled in fact he is carried and placed at the gate to beg alms.

He is crippled because he can’t make progress in life except by the help of someone else.

He needs some one else to carry him to a place where people can give him alms so that he can survive for a day and another.

The focus of his life is to survive today and tomorrow and he understands,” I can only look at men and look up to their alms I will survive”.

And the problem that has almost eluded his attention is that no amount of alms can be able to allow him to walk into his dreams, to walk in his visions and to walk towards his goals, and to be able to accomplish the same.

This is important for every one of you who has a dream, a vision, a goal, and an assignment that is logically crazy and ridiculous.

And men of ordinary stature keep on saying, “How in this world can that be and come to pass, seeing that you have no money to facilitate your big dreams?

  

Some times you do not respond even though you feel like you should but because you have no words to explain what you feel, because what you feel is a divine persuasion in forming you that somehow and some day the dream of your life will come to pass.

 And when it comes to pass, your dream will change the course of history, and how things will be done in the future.

 So you wake up early in the morning having mustered a little strength for the life of you and you begin moving and walking towards your dreams, your goals, your vision, and the assignment of your life.

Some shallow people around you call you crazy, insane, and ridiculous; some have even stopped you in your trucks and asked you the question,

”Do not you have some thing better to do with your life? Why do not you go become a lawyer, a taxi driver, an entrepreneur, a real estate agent, a distributor of trading merchandise, or an accountant?

Some times you have an answer for them, and sometimes you have no answer for the people who think your dream is not worth pursuing.

Deep down your heart you have an answer but you do not even know how to articulate it for them because they won’t even understand that ,”one thing has  your heart desired and that is to dwell in the house of the presence of God/ the temple of God, so as to behold of his beauty and wondrous works.

The lame/crippled man had a desire, he had a dream he had an assignment, and he had a vision, and his vision was in the house of God but not out of the house of God.

His longing was to dwell in the presence of God; I know this because the moment he was lifted up from his state of non-progress and from the state of cripple-ness, he went into the temple with peter, and John jumping and praising God.

His desire was not in the market place, not in the streets but in the house of God, and if it was not in the house of God then after the moment of his miracle he would have gone somewhere else other than the temple.

His desire was always in the temple but the problem was that he was always looking at the wrong people to help him into his desire, dream, aspiration, goals and in the place of his assignment.

And because he was looking at the wrong people to facilitate him in the course of fulfilling his dreams and assignments, he eventually found himself stuck-up, being unable to make no progress in his daily endeavors, and in the fulfillment of his personal goals, and desires.

He was getting money but he needed something more than money to shift him from his dilemma to the place of his joy and total fulfillment.

Whether you understand it or not-Joy and total fulfillment are expressed when you can come to a place 

where you can jump up on your feet, and start walking around and praising God.

He was looking at men for gold and silver for alms so that he can fill his stomach.

It’s a different thing to be able to fill your stomach with food to being able to fill your heart with joy and fulfillment.

Pure and total joy as much as total fulfillment comes when you are walking in your dreams, goals, and assignment.

Not in eating, and drinking….I remember the last day of the Battle of Gifted Tongues 2010-by the time I was done with everything that had to be done on that last day.

I WENT BACK HOME WITH NO MONEY IN MY POCKETS NOT EVEN TO AFFORD  a decent, and sensible meal but I was full of joy and fulfillment because I was finally walking, and operating with impact, and making a different within the context of my dream, and in the vision that God has laid upon my heart.

People can help you as far as surviving today and tomorrow but when you look at God for help, and survival he will sustain you for a life time.

Look at God even when things seem hopeless, look at God even when times are hard, look at God even when things are falling apart, look at God even when the threat of failure and disappointment is staring you in the face without blinking an eye.

Look at God and soon or later he will speak a word of strength into your spirit aligning with your soul and eventually your flesh.

And while you still looking at God, his word of strength and power will begin to shift everything that has been hindering your progress in the fulfillment of your dreams, visions, aspirations, vision.

Look at God and men will look up to you to direct their sight and faith unto the things of God.

As they desire what God is doing in your life to be done in their lives.

In looking to Peter, and John, the man at the beautiful Gate was not merely looking at ordinary men but at the anointing of God and God himself.

When you look at God his anointing which is indicative of his power and strength will transcend into your life.

So as to shift you from the place of stagnation to the place where things will work for you and move in your favor because it’s the strength of God that can facilitate your dream, vision, goals, and assignment.