It became known all over and many believed in the Lord.

Acts 9:26-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹ So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

³² Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. ³⁵ And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

³⁶ Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. ³⁷ And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. ³⁸ Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹ So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the ^[j]tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰ But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. ⁴² It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ And Peter stayed many days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

In Mark 16:15-20 it says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. Thesesigns will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by thesigns that followed.  The accounts of miracles that we see in Acts are the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus commandment to His disciples. In today’s text it says:  The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Now as Peter was traveling through all those regions, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed.” Immediately he got up. And all who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha; this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 

Just as Jesus did, the disciples continued to do, in His Name. They healed the sick, the caused the lame to walk; they opened blind eyes; they raised the dead back to life. Jesus worked with them to confirm the words of the gospel, so that the world would believe. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”   Jesus words; His promises and His commandments are eternal. There is no expiration date. What He said then is still valid today. In John 14:15, after saying we would do the works that He did, Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  Much of the focus in the church today is on the personal relationship that we have with the Father and with Jesus and the benefits of that relationship. Certainly, the relationship and fellowship that we have is vital to our faith. Jesus died so that we could be restored to that relationship; so that sin would no longer separate us from the presence of God.  Our faith though, is not to remain personal. If we love the Father and Jesus, then we will keep their commandments, including the commandment to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”  To: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20)  To: “Be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)  If we would want to see the power of God change the situations and circumstances of the world, we must make our faith more than personal; if we love the Father and Jesus, we must keep their commandments.

In Luke 7:20-23 it says:  “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’”At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”   That will be the same evidence of our message, if we will be faithful to preach the gospel; to proclaim the coming of the Expected One. Too often we fear that we will offend others so we remain silent and keep our faith to ourselves.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You that because You first loved me, I can truly and fully love You. I have been redeemed from sin and restored to the relationship that You desired from the beginning. Because of what You did, I cannot continue to keep our relationship personal. I must tell others what You did. May Your signs and wonders and the power of the Holy Spirit follow me to confirm Your word. May the accounts of Acts not be the end of the displays of Your power, but just the beginning. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, in and through my life.  Amen.