Needy expecting physical needs from the followers of Jesus Christ.

Acts 3:1-3

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“Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. Acts 3:1-3

The “ninth hour” is about 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon. This was the hour of prayer when Peter and John went to the temple. Today, we are the house of prayer because our body is the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, as quoted, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19

There was a lame man from birth, who laid at the gate of the temple, but was not carried into the temple. This symbolizes those who have not yet said “Yes” to Jesus Christ and are not living in the presence of the Holy Spirit. These are people who are “crippled” in their walk with Jesus Christ but seek donations from those who are living as the temple of the Holy Spirit and walking with Jesus. The crippled man was carried to the gate of the temple by others for the sole purpose of collecting contributions from those entering the temple.

In today’s culture, many people, including the homeless, see Christians as a money machine. They think by pushing the right emotional buttons they can persuade us to give them cash or other material needs. There are also those who will use the difficulties of others to solicit money and other worldly stuff from “well-meaning” individuals. They are not walking with Jesus Christ and have no relationship with the Holy Spirit. They see the followers of Jesus Christ as an easy target, someone they can have their way with, and would even ask for the shirt off your back if they felt they could. These are people who when you offer them a hot meal, the next thing they need is money, a place to stay “for one night”, then wants the keys to your car, then to overtake your home. While we want to help those in need, we also want to beware of wolves who are predators seeking to pounce on the sheep. We are to be harmless as doves but as wise as serpents.

Around where I live, a majority of the stores and gas stations have an option to donate to a Christian organization called “St. Jude’s Children Hospital”. This is for everyone who is paying with a credit card! Cash paying customers are not asked to donate. The cashiers are quite sweet when they ask for donations to St. Jude but when I mention my faith in Jesus Christ the sweetness flees and they become much less friendly. I figure there are plenty of people I see every day that I can help in some way, but most of the time they reject any type of help that I am willing to offer. That’s weird!

I saw a homeless man [in the age of 30’s] in a wheelchair that didn’t seem to be eating nor drinking through the day [I could see him every day from my window]. I bought him a breakfast every day for a while and even gave him a Bible. He didn’t want to talk sincerely about Jesus Christ but wanted to keep me around for the benefits by talking about the Bible. Then, one day he told me he receives Social Security benefits [which he had been receiving over the years], and they are deposited on his card every month [probably more than I receive]. From that day, he didn’t want my assistance anymore. He left the area, and I have never seen him since.

There was another homeless man [in the age of early 20’s], sleeping in the same vicinity in very cold weather. I gave him a sleeping bag that was very warm and designed for frigid weather of 30 below zero. He always kept his face hidden under some blankets, so I vocally told him what I was doing and dropped the sleeping bag off and received an “OK” voice reply from him. I also dropped off some tuna packets and crackers from time to time, with his same response of keeping his head covered and the usual reply of, “OK”. A couple weeks later, he was arrested by police officers, placed in handcuffs. and put in the back of the police cruiser. I saw this happen from my window as three police cruisers pulled up, required him to show his face, was made to stand up, arrested and hauled off. He must not have had any I.D. because he didn’t show any and that’s the first thing police officers ask for. We live in dangerous and lawless times when even helping a “crippled” person could become a risky endeavor.

There was another homeless man [age of 30’s or early 40’s], in the same vicinity, and the weather was becoming chilly, but he didn’t have a jacket. I spoke to him [wearing my Jesus shirt], seemed like a sensible man, and I asked him if there was anything that I could do to help, he firmly replied “NO!”. Even then, I returned to my apartment, grabbed a blanket and gave it to him, which he received gratefully. The next day he no longer had the blanket! I haven’t seen him since.

I try to help the less fortunate when I can, but not to the point when I see the wolf trying to “con” the sheep out of his wool. The work of the Holy Spirit is to lift up the name of Jesus and to share His Gospel, not to be a social service agency, and definitely not to be someone’s personal ATM machine. In the next section, Peter brings healing to the crippled man, he begins to walk in the name of Jesus and enters the temple of God.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1