The Book of Acts records in Acts 14 that while in the city of Lystra with Barnabas, Paul healed a man who had been unable to walk since birth.
Acts 14:9,10:
The same [the man] heard Paul speak: who [Paul] stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith [believing] to be healed,
Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
When the people of this area, who worshiped many gods, saw this miracle, they thought that their gods, Jupiter and Mercury, had come down to them in the form of Paul and Barnabas. The people wanted to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:11-13), but Paul and Barnabas quickly corrected them.
Acts 14:14,15:
Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein.
Paul and Barnabas exhorted them to turn to the living God. Our God is living, not lifeless.
I Timothy 4:10:
…we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
Our God is a living God, not lifeless like an idol. Our God is the living God Who ever shines the light of life and causes growth and vitality for all living things. Acts 17:28 states, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being….” Because He is the living God, He is real, responsive, able to deliver and to provide for those who trust in Him.
When we call upon Him, the living God responds and delivers us. The Old Testament records how the Prophet Daniel was thrown into a den of lions by evil men who wanted to destroy him. Daniel trusted that the living God would deliver him. God did deliver Daniel, and the king of that country saw firsthand the delivering power of the living God.
Daniel 6:26,27:
I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
This is the living God Whom we have the privilege to trust in and rely on. He is living, He hears us, and He responds with powerful deliverance when we claim His faithful promises to us.
I Samuel records a victory in battle because a young man named David trusted in the living God. The Israelites, God’s people, were at war with the Philistines. The Philistine champion, a giant named Goliath, had defied and cursed the Israelite army. The army became paralyzed with fear. But David knew Goliath was no match for the living God.
I Samuel 17:26:
And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
With wholehearted trust in the living God, David faced Goliath in battle. With the living God backing him up, he brought deliverance to God’s people by soundly defeating their enemy. The living God heard and responded to Daniel and David, and He delivered them.
The living God responds to and provides for those who trust in Him.
I Timothy 6:17:
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
Timothy was to exhort the rich to not trust in uncertain riches but to trust in the living God, Who is able and willing to give us all the things His Word promises. The living God gives these things to us richly, not sparingly, to enjoy. He desires a life of quality and abundance for His children.
Our God is the living God. He is real, responsive, able to deliver and to provide for those who trust in Him. As He responded to those who trusted in Him then, even so He will now, because He is ever living. Today, we have the privilege to know, to love, and to serve the living God!