Be the shadow that brings healing to others
Published 8:00 am Saturday, June 22, 2019
I have been leading an online Bible study on the book of Acts. Over 180 members participate in a chapter a day format of reading and sharing. Members, male and female, hail from Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, Minnesota and South Africa. It has been an exciting adventure in growing together as the body of Christ. I have learned so much and I have been challenged to dig deep into the word of God for wisdom and revelation.
One of my favorite stories is found in the early chapters of Acts and concerns the ministry of Peter. Acts 5:14-16 (NKJV) “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also, a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.”
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The city of Jerusalem was alive with the newly-empowered disciples and miracles were happening moment by moment. This passage gives us a peak into the desperate needs of the people for healing and deliverance. They were willing to bring their loved ones on their sick beds into the streets in hopes that Peter would walk by and his spirit-filled shadow would fall upon them. The people believed in the Savior who had captured Peter’s life and that the overflow would bring hope and healing to theirs.
As I read this passage I was convicted about my walk with the Lord. Was there enough of the power and love of God in my life to affect change and healing in the lives I encounter? Was there an overflow from my spiritual storehouse that could impact transformation in others? Was Peter the only one who could experience this ability to impart redemption to others?
I thought back to the Old Testament about a miracle associated with the prophet Elijah. I Kings 17:17-24 New King James Version (NKJV) “Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So, she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So, he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?” And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”
The power of God flowed from Elijah to the child and brought healing and life where there was death. A supernatural overflow had brought redemption! This act also brought honor to the Lord and established Elijah as a mouthpiece for the truth of God.
I came away from this period of study and contemplation with a simple desire; #BeTheShadow
I want to be like Peter and Elijah, so full of love and the power of God that as people walk near me they are changed. How about you?