Daily Devotions – Bold discipleship

Daily Devotions – Bold discipleship

 

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

Acts 4:13, 23-31 (NIV)

13 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.

The Believers Pray

23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band  together against the Lord and against his anointed one. 27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Peter denied Jesus before the crucifixion, but after the resurrection he was quite bold! Why? Because he knew how much Jesus loved him and that his Lord had the power to defeat death! Peter and John were not bold in their abilities, but bold in the ability of Jesus. They were not experts in the Jewish law but they had witnessed and experienced something so amazing that they had to share it with their friends and neighbors. So they started boldly telling people about Jesus. They prayed that God would give them boldness to proclaim His word while God did the heavy lifting! As we seek to be disciples of Jesus may our prayer be that we have greater faith in God’s power to bring transformation in our lives and the world and that we would be given boldness to speak His word through the power of the Holy Spirit.