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Get Up and Walk

April 8, 2018 Maggie Getz
acts 5 get up and walk

Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon. And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help. Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us.” So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them — walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him. — Acts 3:1-10

Faith in the name of Jesus changes lives.

As I read Acts 3 this week, I was struck by this passage about a man who’s healed. He’s not only healed, but he becomes strong. He has spent his entire life disabled, begging at the gates of the temple. That’s when Peter and John come across him. It’s after the resurrection of Jesus, and they’re traveling around Jerusalem to preach the Good News.

They find this man, and he turns to them—expecting money, food, or something material. But he receives a gift beyond a small token. He receives complete healing. This man is restored!

I don’t know about you, but when I read that, I get chills. 

Peter tells this man, in the name of Jesus, to get up and walk. And there’s an exclamation point at the end of the sentence. This isn’t some passive suggestion that the man stretch out his legs and try taking a gentle stroll. No. This is a command to rise up and boldly walk in full strength. 

I know this man’s story firsthand because it’s like my story. I am in the best place mentally, emotionally, and physically than I have been in a long time. Actually, ever. I praise God for that. While, yes, I’ve been in counseling, and I’ve prioritized my health, these are not the reasons for my recovery from my eating disorder. Recovery without Christ is empty. He’s the one who has brought healing into my life. 

He’s making me more like Him with each passing day. My biggest prayer as of late is that I would know Him more. That I would love Him more and walk out the calling He’s given me.

Because, as believers in Jesus, we are free, even if we don’t experience the fullness of that freedom on this side of heaven. We get to experience sanctification—being refined and becoming more and more like Jesus with each passing day. We might not have perfect health or happiness here on earth, but we can trust that God is restoring us until we meet Him in heaven. 

While I’m in the best place recovery-wise that I’ve ever been, I’ve also been experiencing a lot of digestive stress and discomfort the past few months. I’m working with doctors to find some relief, and it is getting better. The more I shift focus off of myself, the better I actually feel. Intense nausea, acid reflux, bloating, stomach pain—these symptoms all serve as reminders that I cannot control everything, as much as I may try.

Surely you know someone in your life who was diagnosed with an illness out of the blue. It makes no sense. We can’t understand the why. And sometimes we’re not going to. The thing is: God is still faithful. He is still good. God can heal and does heal every single day. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). No matter how much we manipulate, plan, and hyper-organize our lives, we are not in control.

What we are in control of is our response to God’s call.

He has true power and might. He is sovereign. He sees our pain, our suffering, and our frustrations. Guess what? He knows what all of that feels like. 

Charles and I been talking a lot lately about how Jesus is both fully God and fully man. We've been reading the books of Mark and John, where Jesus walked on Earth leading up to His death and resurrection. We’re struck by Jesus' utter humanness. He was perfect. He was without sin. He was and IS God. 

But He also went through intense pain, hurt, and suffering. He experienced deep loneliness. He was separated from God the Father, and He was abandoned by many of the people He came to save here on earth. They put Him to death, a death He knew was coming. Yet He still loved the and still showed them his might power and grace.

In John 6, Jesus feeds the five thousand. You know the story: He miraculously makes five loaves of bread and two fish enough food to feed five thousand people, plus leftovers!

“‘I am the bread of life,’ Jesus told them. ‘No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe.’”
— John 6:35-36

He asks us to believe. Our belief informs our faith. We take His word as true. Jesus extends great hope and eternal life to His disciples, yet many desert Him:

“From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘You don’t want to go away too, do you?’”
— John 6:67

That "do you" coming from Jesus reminds me He felt the same things we do when we are lonely and afraid. He understands that pain. He was tempted in every way as we are—yet He is perfect. He emphasizes with us and our weaknesses in a way  no one else can. No matter how alone we feel, we are never alone with Jesus. No matter how much pain or suffering you experience, you’re never out of God’s grasp. 

He can heal any illness—mental, physical, emotional, spiritual—in an instant. We need to believe it.

Even if we don’t find full healing right here, right now, we can trust in His full restoration in His kingdom. He’s the bread of life, providing everything we need and then some. He’s given us a holy calling to live out regardless of circumstance. He’s given us strength and courage. 

He commands us to get up and walk! Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, sharing our testimonies about Jesus to others. Testimony means “do it again.” I want to trust in Jesus to do what He did in Acts 5 and John 6 again and again and again. He’s so much greater than we can comprehend, and His will will be done.

In faith Tags acts, john, healing, restoration
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God Is Up To Something

November 29, 2016 Maggie Getz

Guys. It feels like forever since I’ve written. In reality, it’s been twenty-four days—and in blog terms, that’s an eternity. My goal for 2017 is to write to you weekly. This blog has been a blessing and helped me connect with so many of you who I otherwise would not have. I love hearing your stories, answering your questions, and hopefully giving you some encouragement as you continue about your life exactly where you are. This space is part of my ministry, one I pray God grows and uses in the days, weeks, and months to come. His plan is bigger than I can comprehend, and I’m excited to be even a small part of it.

I am bursting with stories to tell you and lessons to share. I’ve let the blog take a back seat throughout November, instead focusing on being present in my new job, new church, and new home. I’ve focused on relationships here, and I’ve focused on my relationship with the Lord. In doing so, 

He keeps putting the word “restore” on my heart.

Restore (v.) — to give back or return. To put or bring back into existence or use. To repair or renovate so as to return to its original condition. Synonyms: recreate, refresh, revitalize, revive, renew.

I have been hearing “restore” over and over again. It started as a whisper and then this week grew louder and louder. I took that as a signal that it was time to write y’all a new blog post.

I’m in a season of restoration, and God is sweetly showing me what this looks like in various areas of my life.

As many of you already know, I’m a big proponent of counseling. I met with a Christian counselor regularly in New York City for the past three years and really believe everyone could benefit from a good counselor. Saying goodbye to my counselor when I moved brought me to tears. She had been with me through so much: moves, job changes, love, heartache. She counseled me as I decided to publicly affirm my faith in Christ through baptism. She watched and supported as I launched this blog. She’s been there through every up and down; my relationship with the Lord and my character as a woman of God grew under her. He had His hand on our counseling relationship, blessing it from the very start. I experienced tremendous healing from my eating disorder, anxiety, depression. And I became a true woman of the Lord.

As soon as I accepted the call to Nashville, I started looking for a counselor in the area. Through praying and consulting with those who know my story, I felt that a nutrition counselor was the best route to go. Finding one was at first an arduous process. It seemed as though I kept hitting dead ends. I actually broke down in tears one day over it.

My doubt and frustration was short-lived, though. A friend recommended her nutritionist here, and the rest is history. We’ve met twice so far; I know she’s part of the reason God has me here in Tennessee. She’s a nutritionist, a counselor, and a Christian. She knows what’s up. She just gets it. And she believes she can help guide me to full freedom, healing, and restoration from any remaining chains of the eating disorder that almost killed me eight years ago.

She used the word “restoration” on day one. That’s her goal for me. Restoration to the full woman of God I was created to be. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Knit together before birth with a name written in the stars. It’s a restoration both physical and spiritual. It’s a process I am excited about and believe God is equipping me to walk through.

In Acts 3, Peter heals a lame beggar. He speaks to all who watch him do so, reminding them this is possible through faith in Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead. He goes on,

“And now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets—that His Messiah would suffer—He has fulfilled in this way. Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. Heaven must welcome Him until the times of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about by the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning."

The Bible tells us we can expect a restoration of all things. Over and over again, we see that God is making all things new! This doesn't only apply to our physical bodies; it applies to our entire lives. He will create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind (Isaiah 65:17). I began researching this theme in the Word and found such hope in the fact that He is renewing everything. Truly everything.

I was thinking a lot about the idea of restoration, and the next thing I know, I find out my church is doing a Christmas series called All Things New. Yes, really.

Shortly after that, a different friend of mine mentions Isaiah 43:19 during a completely unrelated conversation.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
— Isaiah 43:19

I never told her “restore” was on my heart, yet here she was talking to me about a passage on renewing, reviving, and restoring.

God is up to something.

I want to tell you: Wherever you are in this very moment, know that God is doing a new thing. If you are reading this with a broken and lonely heart because the one you love doesn’t reciprocate, take comfort in the fact that God is doing a new thing. If you are wondering how you’ll make it through the holidays this year, remember that He is making a way in the wilderness. If you are questioning whether God will give you some relief from your chronic illness, know that He is bringing about the restoration of all things.  

I’m not sure when or how He will restore. I do think it’s something He’s actively doing and will fulfill in the ultimate sense when we reach His kingdom.

Yet on this Earth, He will not leave us hanging. He who made you will not forget you. Do not be afraid.

Restoration is coming, and it is beautiful beyond our wildest dreams.


If you want to talk more about Jesus Christ and faith and what-the-heck-is-all-this-stuff, shoot me a message. I love meeting new people, whether virtually or in person, and gabbing about life. 

And if you'd like to know more of my story, you can read my testimony here.

Truly, He makes beautiful things.

In faith Tags restore, restoration, a new thing, healing, comfort, isaiah, acts, hope
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