April 13, 2024
Read Numbers 33, Psalm 119:41-80, Acts 3-4
What would you do if you had a little more boldness? Would you do something crazy like sky dive or ride a motorcycle for the first time? Maybe you would take more chances in business or in life? One of the traits we see in the book of Acts is the boldness of the disciples as they are impowered by the Holy Spirit to share the good news of the resurrection. What made them have this boldness? I believe it came from their experience of seeing the resurrected Jesus and the power from the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 4 is an example of this boldness. The Jewish leaders had Peter and John rounded up and began to question them “’By what power or what name did you do this?’ 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed’” vv. 7b-10. The Holy Spirit is probably the most forgotten and minimized part of the trinity, at least in my experience. But equally as much God as the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is vital for God’s work in our lives. Peter’s boldness was not just a softball tossed at him to easily hit a homerun, Peter and John were standing before the most powerful people in Israel who had the power to jail or shut them up. Acts 4:12 is probably the most exclusive statement in the New Testament about how we attain salvation. “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” v. 12. Peter was clear, it was not the law that saved, it was Jesus. The response from the religious leaders tells it all. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” v. 13. The good news is that you don’t have to be trained or educated or have money or status to be bold. It can come from the Holy Spirit and from our personal experience of witnessing the power of God in our lives.
What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.
DId God Really Say... 