“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

                                                                                                Acts 10:38

You want to know what’s scary? After all we know and read about Jesus and what He did during His time here on earth, some of his last words to His disciples (and us) was that we are going to do even greater works than He did. And how? Because He was going to the Father and was going to send the Holy Spirit to be with and work through us.

That’s a little overwhelming. Sure, we may go around doing a little good once in a while. Something that seems small and innocuous, routine and no big deal. But what we seem to forget is that the Holy Spirit might be ready and waiting to do something extraordinary through us. After all, Jesus went on to say that as long as we did things in His name, then anything we asked for He would do.

When it comes to what we expect God to do, many times we think too small. We limit God and ourselves. Fred Craddock (former Distinguished Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta) once told the story about a pastor who made a hospital visit to a lady whose life seemed to be ebbing away quickly. After some small talk, when he was ready to leave, the pastor took the congregant’s hand and bowed his head.

“Oh Loooord,” he said, talking like lots of folks expect preachers to talk, “We pray that Thou wouldst raise our beloved sister up from her bed of affliction and restore her again to Thy faithful service, through Christ Jesus our Lord we humbly pray and beseech Thee, AMEN.”

And suddenly, to the preacher’s astonishment, the woman sprang to life, swung her legs out of bed, stood up, and walked around the room. She was healed!

When the dust finally settled, the pastor went out to his car, pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his head, leaned on the roof of the car and looked up to heaven and whispered, “Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

The old adage, “be careful what you ask for” comes to mind. The measure of our good deeds may not always rise to the level of a miracle . . . but the grace of God will always be extended to those who are the recipients of a good deed, large or small. And to the ones who do the work in His name.

Do a good deed today in Jesus’ name, and watch someone’s world – and yours - change for the better.

“Father, Help us to be Your hands and heart and voice and feet with every good deed we do. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”