BY PASTOR T. O. BANSO
The story is in Acts 3:1-10 is very significant. It was the first details of a healing miracle performed by the disciples of Jesus Christ after His ascension even though Acts 2:43 had earlier recorded that many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. I find the story very instructive because the story speaks to the lives of many people. The man healed by the hand of Peter (and John) represents many people.
Verse 2 describes the man as âa certain man lame from his mother’s wombâ (NKJV). The man was crippled from birth. He was born with a physical disability, and, therefore, was born with a liability! That one is lame or crippled means one is unable to walk well because of an injury or impairment. Thus, to be born a cripple is to be sentenced, permanently, to inability to walk unless there is a miracle or a medical help to improve the condition. Being crippled is a great physical disability that can confine the affected person to a wheel chair.
Such a person may be hindered in some respects though he has great abilities. It takes extra effort for such people to make appreciable impact in some societies.
This man in Acts 3:1-10 was lame or crippled from the womb just as the man in John 9 who was born blind from his motherâs womb. The crippled man became permanently dependent on others for his mobility and survival. He couldnât go out and come in at will and never ate unless he begged.
However, he was more fortunate than the sick man in John 5, who had been sick for thirty-eight years and lay at the pool of Bethesda, abandoned there by family members and friends until Jesus came to heal him. When Jesus asked him if he would like to be healed, his reply was âI have no man.â The man didnât drop from the sky! What he meant was that he had been abandoned by family members. Thirty-eight years on the same illness! That was enough time for him to lose all relations!
You need divine solution, not human consolation
When youâre in problem, people can tell you that theyâre with you. âItâs our problem,â they will say to console you. But if you stay too long in your problem, theyâll abandon you. Donât be deceived. Your problem is your problem! What you need is divine solution, not human consolation.
This man was lame from his motherâs womb but was still fortunate that he had some people carrying him to where he could beg for money! He was fortunate that he was not yet abandoned, like the man at the pool of Bethesda. However, he was not as fortunate as the paralytic in Mark 2 â four men forced their way through the roof where Jesus was ministering and lowered him down Jesus to heal him. They looked for his healing; they did not drop him by the roadside to be begging for alms. And Jesus healed the man.
The people, who were assisting the man in Acts 3 daily to the Beautiful Gate, did not offer him the solution to his problem. The solution was for him to be healed of his paralysis. Rather, he was begging for alms when he could have been an employer of labour or giving others money if he was not a cripple. Who knows whether those carrying him there were actually using him to make money for themselves! It is a possibility. After all, in Acts 16, the masters of a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination, were using her profit-making. When they saw that there hope of making profit was gone, they dragged Paul and Silas to the authorities. They were eventually jailed before being released later.
Human beings know how to make fortunes out of peopleâs misfortunes. If thatâs the case with the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, it explains why they didnât abandon him.
Notice that the man was laid daily at the gate of the temple called Beautiful. What an irony! This manâs life was ugly, but the gate was beautiful! What a contrast! âNow the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. âWe have a problem, my lord,â they told him. âThis town is located in beautiful natural surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductiveââ (2 Kings 2:19 NLT). That was the contrast between Jerichoâs physical look and the reality â a pleasant look but a barren ground
Human wickedness
Many are like this man, who was lame from his motherâs womb. The deficit they are battling with predates their birth. The disability and liability, which are limiting their progress and advancement, came into their lives before they were born. And I am not talking, essentially, in terms of physical disability. Many who are supposed to be running were born crippled. Their destinies have the ability to dance but they are crippled. Have you seen a cripple dance before? Demonic forces started fighting the destinies of many from the womb. They were born into warfare â against poverty, sickness, failure, stagnation, disfavor, etc. They depend on others for almost everything. Other people determine for them where they go and when they go. Some powers are in control of their lives. They have been confined to the wheelchair of life beside the beautiful gate â beside opportunities, which they cannot take advantage of, watching others live out Godâs purposes for their lives while they look unto them for handout.
There are demonic forces in different families, engineering and supervising the adversities and misfortunes in peopleâs lives. These forces have ruined the lives of many and killed them prematurely. Those that are still alive, they ensure that they live miserable lives. Their human agents could even appear friendly carrying their captives to beg for alms instead of taking them for healing! Some even take them for prayers, but they are behind the reason their captives have not received answers to their prayers. They may even be showing concern that is not in any way helpful. But within their hearts, they donât want their captives to be free.âThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?â (Jer  17:9 NKJV)
This man born lame had never walked in his life. His fate was decided by the forces greater than him â he would never walk in life. There are people like this man who have never enjoyed for one day in their lives. Life has been full of endless struggles. They have never done anything successfully in life, even though they have the potentials. They have never recorded any significant progress in life. It is not their fault â they were born crippled. And only the power of God can reverse the situation. Only God can free these captives from their captors. They are the prey of the mighty, the captives of the mighty, and the victims of ancestral powers. âWho can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior? Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go? But the LORD says, âThe captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved. For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children. I will feed your enemies with their own flesh. They will be drunk with rivers of their own blood. All the world will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israelââ (Isaiah 49:24-26 NLT).
Receive your miracle
This man, lame from birth, was already used to his problem. He was not expecting healing but alms. He was as used to his lameness as the Shunammite woman was used to her bareness. The Shunammite woman had waited long to have a child but was no longer expecting. She had given up. She even called Prophet Elisha a liar when he prophesied she would have a child. Hear their conversation: ââNext year at about this time you will be holding a son in your arms!â âNo, my lord!â she protested. âPlease don’t lie to me like that, O man of Godâ (2 Kings 4:16 NLT). But the word of Godâs servant was fulfilled. She soon became pregnant and had a son the following year as said by the prophet.
The man at the Beautiful Gate was not expecting healing; he was used to begging for money! The healer wanted to heal the man by the pool of Bethesda, but the manâs eyes were only on the pool and human help. When the healer comes to you, he doesnât respect tradition. He bypasses every method and protocol in operation. He can even heal you first then you will decide whether to follow him or not!
Peter shocked the man when he said they didnât have money to give him. The man must have been disappointed, wondering if they knew that it was because of money that he was there. If they didnât have money, they had better go, so that he could beg for money from others entering the temple for the 3 pm prayer service. But the Bible says, âAnd fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, âLook at usâ So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, âSilver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walkââ (Acts 3:4-6 NKJV).
What you and I need is the power of God. We donât need pity or sympathy. We donât need consolation or palliatives. For how long would you continue on the same spot? For how long shall you be confined to the wheelchair of adversity? For how long would you be spending your hard-earned money on hospital bills? For how long shall you continue to live as a squatter? For how long would you have to wait for fellow human beings transfer their used clothes to you before you have second-hand clothes to wear? Just for how long would you allow the demonic powers that decided your fate before you were born to continue to rule and dominate your life? The problems that have caged some people, which theyâve been battling with, are most likely not due to their fault. Some peopleâs lives, and destinies, could have been crippled from their motherâs womb. But they donât have to die a cripple. Such people shall be delivered in the mighty name of Jesus. The fetters shall be broken to pieces and the captive shall be set free.
Instant Testimony!
Donât let the same forces that made you lame pretend to mean well by laying you by the Beautiful Gate. Iâm not saying that was what happened to this man. However, Godâs original intention for you is not that you should become a liability in life or become stagnant. Godâs plan is that you will walk; and, not only walk, but run. Your destiny must rise, walk and run. Your business, your marriage, your career, your ministry, your entire God-ordained endeavors should not be crippled. You shall rise, walk and run in Jesusâ name!
I donât know if you are sick and tired of living a life of lameness â stagnation, failure, unfruitfulness, littleness.
Jesus said, to the man at the pool of Bethesda, âRise, take up your bed and walkâ (John 5:8). The Bible says the man was made well immediately, took up his bed, and walked. Your own rising shall be immediate; your destiny manifestation shall no longer be delayed in Jesusâ name; your testimony shall be instant. Nothing shall hold you in bondage again.
A similar command was given by Jesus to the paralytic brought to him for healing. He told the man, âArise, take up your bed, and go to your houseâ (Mark 2:11; Matt 9:6; Luke 5:24 NKJV). The man arose immediately, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of everybody. They were so surprised. They glorified God, saying they had never seen anything like that. The Lord shall visit you with a miracle that will amaze everybody.
Jesus told the paralytic: âArise, take up your bed, and go to your house.â I say to you, by the Spirit of the Lord, rise from your lameness and walk in Jesusâ name. I command your destiny to arise and begin to run in Jesusâ name. I prophesy to your business and every life endeavor that has been stagnated to begin to walk and run now in Jesusâ name. From every wheelchair of life, you are in now, arise and walk and run in Jesusâ name. You shall arise from your sick bed, your stagnation, your failure, your depression, etc.; and you shall never return to the same condition again in Jesusâ name.
God will shame the enemies of your miracle
The man lame from birth was lifted up by Peter, after commanding him to rise up and walk. His feet and anklebones received strength; he began to leap; he stood, walked, and entered the temple walking, leaping and praising God! The man had not been praising God on a wheelchair, but healing brought praise to God from him. Nevertheless, some people were not happy that the man could walk, and praise God. Peter and John were arrested and questioned over what power or name they had used to heal the man (Acts 4:7). Can you see how wicked human beings could be? Human beings could be wicked. Rather than joining this man to rejoice over this miracle, they were investigating the source of his miraculous healing. Religious spirit!
In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus healed a woman, who had been a cripple for Eighteen years. The condition of this woman was so pathetic. For eighteen years, she was  bent over and could, in no way, raise herself. Please imitate that posture for just five minutes and see how comfortable it is! But that woman was in that condition for eighteen years. Her destiny had been grounded. Instead of the religious people to celebrate this awesome deliverance, they queried Jesus for healing her on the Sabbath day! Wickedness in the high places! I can tell you, some people are happy about your current adversity, lack of progress in life, chains of failure or cycle of misfortune. You should not fold your arms and allow demonic forces to destroy your family, your marriage, your business, your ministry, etc.
Eighteen yearsâ affliction was destroyed, and all they could say was, âThere are six days on which men ought to work; therefore, come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath dayâ (verse 14 NKJV). But the other people present were happy about the wonderful things Jesus was doing. Jesus called these religious people, who were criticizing this womanâs healing, hypocrites. I donât know for how many years you have been living a crippled life, the power of God will set you free, and you will be able to fulfill your destiny.
Conclusion: You need to set time apart to pray violent prayers for your deliverance and victory over these forces that want to tie you down on the same spot. If you must pray and add fasting, you should. Your captors wonât want you go easily. Take advantage of the anointing on Godâs servant you believe can pray for you to destroy this yoke you have been carrying about for years. Your father, mother, brothers or sisters may have died under this yoke, but you donât have to. âIn that day, the LORD will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shouldersâ (Isaiah 10:27 NLT). Mathew 11:5, 15:31, 21:14 and Luke 7:22 all tell us it is possible for the cripple to be healed. The power of Jesus can heal both physical and spiritual lameness. To your crippled destiny, business, career, finances, etc., say, ârise up and walk!â Your place is not the wheelchair; your place is the track for destiny runners.
You must join the list of those who have overcome the negative circumstances of their birth and have fulfilled or are fulfilling the purposes of God for their lives. If youâre not born again, your salvation is the first step towards receiving your deliverance.
TAKE ACTION!
If youâre not born again, I urge you to take the following steps:*Admit youâre a sinner and you canât save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life â your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start to attend a Bible-believing, Bible -teaching church. There you will be taught how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent and confess my sins. I confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and surrender my life to him today. I invite Jesus into my heart today. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church in your area where you will be taught how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. Iâll be glad to hear from you. May the Lord be with you.
Prayer Points
- In the name of Jesus, I prophesy to my life and my destiny to rise up and walk in Jesusâ name. Every power holding me down in life, I destroy you in Jesusâ name.
- Every demonic conspiracy preventing my life, business, my family, etc. from moving forward, I scatter you in Jesusâ name.
T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org
  
  
  
  
