Acts 3:20 (ESV)

that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

Bible Commentary

Acts 3:20 is a Bible verse from the New Testament where Peter is addressing the people who had witnessed the healing of the lame man who sat at the Beautiful Gate.

After Peter healed the man who lay at the Gate Beautiful, all the people saw him walking and praising God (Acts 3:8), and they recognized it was the beggar who sat at the temple every day. Acts 3:10 says they were filled with wonder and amazement because of what happened to him.

This event drew quite a crowd, as you can imagine. Peter addressed these people, asking them why they were so astonished. It wasn’t like he and John had healed the man of their own power. He told them it was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, who had glorified His Son Jesus, whom they had delivered up to be crucified. (Acts 3:13)

Instead of bowing to the wishes of Pilate and letting Jesus go, they insisted he release Barabbas, who was a convicted murderer. They had killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead. (Acts 3:14-15)

Peter told them that it was through faith in the name of Jesus Christ that made the lame man strong and well (Acts 3:16). He went on to tell them what they did was in ignorance, and that it was God’s will for Christ to suffer and fulfill the prophecies, but that they should repent and be converted, so their sins would be blotted out (Acts 17-19).

He was imploring them to acknowledge their sins and turn away from them. We can’t accept forgiveness until we recognize that we need it.

Unlocking the Truth – Times of Refreshing

The healing of the lame man stirred up the truth of the power of Jesus’ Name, revealing that He was in fact the Prince of Peace and the Son of God. The shock of seeing the lame man healed shook their blindness loose, where they had been stuck, and helped them see the truth of what they had done.

God does that in our own lives. Something happens that shocks or surprises us, which loosens up the prison walls of blindness to something that happened in our past, or to something we’ve been completely ignorant or unaware of in our hearts.

It is shocking because we had no idea. We were completely steadfast in our belief about something, and bam! Come-to-find-out, we were wrong…really wrong.

This can be a hard pill to swallow, but the truth is what sets us free from the prison walls, the torture of guilt and fear that we didn’t even realize was clinging to us. This is what Acts 3:20 is all about:

that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

After the initial shock when we acknowledge the truth of what the Lord has revealed in our hearts or from our past, we can repent (turn back) from that sin.

God’s Healing Peace

Again, we cannot receive forgiveness until we recognize our need for it. When we repent and allow God into that place in our hearts, His healing peace comes in and settles there. These are the times of refreshing from the Presence of the Lord. We need His Presence and His touch in every part of our lives, hearts and souls.

He won’t force His way in. He’ll show us the truth, but then it’s up to us. Let’s not cover it up again out of fear someone will see it. God already knows it’s there—He is the One Who shined His light into that dark crevice. And He promises us in Psalm 34:5,

They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.

His purpose for showing us the truth is to heal us not to shame us.

When we accept responsibility for the junk we were hiding in our heart (or our past) and turn to Him in repentance, He eagerly comes in, cleans us up and settles His Peace and healing into the place that was dirty before.

That is the true meaning of refreshing from Acts 3:20. How amazing it is to be clean on the inside from something that actually made us dirty. In the place where we felt cheap and worthless before, we now feel valued and treasured. Oh, the amazing mercies of Jesus Christ!

May we no longer cling to, or hide those things that He reveals to us. May we repent and turn back so that our sins are blotted out, and times of refreshing may come from the Presence of the Lord, that He may send the Christ appointed for us, Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20).

Study the Bible verse of Acts 3:20, and be refreshed in every part of your heart and life by the Presence of the Lord.