PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Acts 9:32–43 (NIV)
As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”
Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
CONSIDER THIS
This is what we might call an apostolic field day.
Peter heals a paralyzed man, bedridden for eight years. Notice his technique:
“Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up.
Sound familiar? Reminds us of a certain paralytic by the pool of Siloam.
Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. (John 5:8–9)
The word gets out to nearby Joppa. They send messengers to plead with Peter to come to Joppa. Beloved Dorcas (aka Tabitha) had died. She’s already dead. Don’t bother the apostle, right?
Does this sound familiar?
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” (Mark 5:35)
Dorcas was already prepped for burial, as in way dead. This is Lazarus-like. It is a scene of wailing grief.
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet.
Does this sound familiar?
He [Jesus] did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. (Mark 5:37–38)
Aren’t we glad Jesus gave Peter a front row seat in his Healing the Sick and Raising the Dead 101 class? (By the way, we also have front row seats in the same course.)
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. (Mark 5:40–42)
Does this sound familiar?
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)
This is how Jesus builds his church. Did you catch what happened in both Lydda and Sharon and Joppa?
All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.
So have you signed up for Jesus’s Healing the Sick and Raising the Dead 101 course? I’ll say more about it in the after-party in today’s Wake-Up Call podcast recording. Also see the P.S. today about a similar course upcoming from Seedbed.
THE PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION
Lord Jesus, I am your witness.
I receive your righteousness and release my sinfulness.
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your peace and release my anxiety.
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your healing and release my sickness.
I receive your love and release my selfishness.
Come Holy Spirit transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength so that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.
THE QUESTION
Does this comparison of the way Jesus worked on Earth pre-ascension with the way Jesus worked on Earth post-ascension through his apostles help you? Does it inspire you to become more familiar with the way Jesus works?
THE HYMN
Every day we sing a hymn together on the Wake-Up Call audio edition/podcast. Get your Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise at the Seedbed Store today.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
P.S. FOLLOW THE HEALER. Don’t miss this.
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One Response
The book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus which means “friend of God.” True Christians are such friends of God that they carry Christ in them. They are Christ-carriers. Peter demonstrates the power of being a Christ-carrier who is courageously led by God’s Spirit.
I woke up this morning with this poem about being a Christ-carrier developing in my heart and posted it on Facebook before I came to Wake-Up Call:
People who are
Christ-carriers
Let their body
Be a temple
Where God’s Spirit
Lives, loves, and leads.
Contemporary Christianity is too often a demonstration of the doctrine of cessationism–the belief that God has stopped actively working in and thru ordinary people so now we have to depend on religious programming and control. However, the truth is: “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever,” and “Christ in you the hope of glory.”