Such As I Have: Use What God Put In You
Adapted from the sermon “Sent With Power,” preached by Pastor Donald Gray on .
Peter had no silver or gold at the Beautiful gate, but he had something better. What you already carry is more than enough for what God is asking.
Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.
There was a moment in that service where I could not stay calm about this, and I am not going to apologise for it. Some of you are carrying something you have never once opened.
What did Peter actually have?
Not what the man was asking for.
Remember Peter and John at the Beautiful gate. A lame man asks them for money, and Peter says, "Silver and gold I do not have, but such as I have I give you."
Say that with me — such as I have.
Peter did not have the thing that was requested. He had something else entirely, and instead of walking past the man apologising for the gap, he gave what was actually in his hand. The man got up.
What do you have?
I am asking you directly. What do you have?
You have greater things on the inside of you. You have power the world does not know about. You have power to do what God called you to do. You can change lives with the power that is inside of you.
I have watched a man laid out, and somebody put a hand on his chest and said, "In the name of Jesus, live" — and the bleeding stopped, and he was breathing properly. Because he used what he got.
That is the whole difference. Not extra power. Used power.
So why are we not using it?
Because we are afraid, and fear looks a lot like humility.
Stop being afraid and use the power that God has given you.
We tell ourselves we are waiting to be ready. What we are actually doing is keeping something valuable in a drawer while people in front of us need it. Peter did not have more than you have. He had a moment and he did not flinch in it.
You are going to walk past somebody this week who needs whatever it is you have been holding. You are not going to have silver and gold for them either. Give them what you do have.
Questions from this reading
- What happened at the Beautiful gate in Acts 3?
- Peter and John met a lame man asking for money. Peter said silver and gold he did not have, but such as he had he would give — and the man was healed. Peter used what he actually carried instead of apologising for what he lacked.
- What does it mean that I have power inside me?
- You have greater things on the inside of you than the world knows about. You have power to do what God called you to do. The issue for most believers is not that the power is absent, it is that it goes unused.
- Why do we not use the power we have?
- Fear. We wait until we feel more qualified, more prepared, or more certain. Peter did not have more resources than you, he simply gave what he had when the moment came.
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