A woman in a wheelchair sat ringing her bell.
A blur of humanity passed before her eyes.
Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the temple with them.
All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. (Acts 3:1-9)
Two thousand years later, I was standing before a crippled woman sitting at the gate asking for money.
A handful of coins plinked in her bucket.
The bell rang again.
At the end of my work day I breezed through the store and quickly found a roasted chicken and a bag of coffee.
The woman who ground my coffee asked, "Are you ready for Christmas?" I told her I still had shopping to do.
I made small talk with the woman at the check out counter. People came and went in a hurry. But the lady ringing the bell was on my mind.
Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the temple with them.
All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. (Acts 3:1-9)
Two thousand years later, I was standing before a crippled woman sitting at the gate asking for money.
I took her hand and asked her name, then asked why she was in the wheelchair. She smiled and told me about the problems with her hip. She had an injury that couldn't be repaired surgically and it was too painful for her to stand so she accepted the wheelchair as her fate.
More people came and went from the store. Children dropped their coins in her bucket.
She rang the bell and smiled.
I told her about the woman I'd seen healed of a back injury earlier in the day. I asked if she wanted to be the next one healed.
She smiled and said yes.
I placed my hand on her hip and commanded pain to leave. Then I commanded the ligaments, muscles and tendons to be healed. She felt tingling in her hip. I prayed a second time then a third.
I asked how she felt.
"I can't feel any pain."
"Why don't you stand up and see how it feels?"
She got up from the wheelchair and shifted her weight from side to side, trying to make the pain come back, but it wouldn't return. She was healed. With a smile of gratitude she hugged me.
I spent some time telling her what to expect in the coming days. I encouraged her not to use the wheelchair again and warned her that the pain might return. "Rebuke the pain and command it to leave. Don't take it back." I shared with her about the nature of spiritual warfare and that the enemy may try to convince her she wasn't healed. "Stand on your healing and never stop believing you are healed."
I gave her a card to this website and encouraged her to contact me if she had any questions in the future. I gave her a big hug.
And dropped the largest bill I had in her kettle.
She smiled and rang her bell.
Have a happy and joyous Christmas.
The MIPU
