After such a beautiful miracle of the healing of the lame man at the door of the Temple - THEY GOT THROWN INTO PRISON!!! Can you believe it? You would have thought that they would have been worshiped or something like that after such a miracle. BUT it was the preaching of the Word after the miracle that threw the "religious" people into a fit of rage and they had them arrested and put in prison. Wow - you just have to believe God had it all under control (vs 28) "But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will."
What really stood out to me today was the rest of the prayer that the believers prayed when they heard that Peter and John were put in prison.
1. They asked for MORE BOLDNESS FOR PREACHING THE WORD. They didn't just ask for the release of Peter and John, or for God to please protect them while they were in prison - no - they were not wanting FEAR to come on them so they would shrink back from preaching just as boldly as Peter and John had done.
2. Then they asked for HEALING POWER and MIRACULOUS SIGNS AND WONDERS BE DONE THROUGH THE NAME OF JESUS. Now that would include just about everything that is needed to set the prisoners free and anything else you could think of that needed to be done!!!
After they prayed this way, Vs 31 "...the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the Word of God with boldness." The Holy Spirit took all fear from them and gave them the boldness they had asked for to do the work that needed to be done.
We are in the days of Acts. And our battle is similar in the fact that we have the tendency to not get involved and to just blend into society instead of standing out with boldness. It is just a lot of work to Pray every day, Read the Word, Preach to our neighbors, get involved in people's lives - messy lives - that's when they need Jesus! We just want to stay at home and watch TV and live in our own little world. THE WORLD NEEDS JESUS and He is starting to SHAKE His Church so we will WAKE UP and begin praying for BOLDNESS and MIRACLES!!!!
I love this book - it always shakes my world!
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“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
We are ordinary women . . . vessels . . . cracked pots (flawed) at best . . . valuable and precious women whom God has washed with the blood of Jesus and filled with His Holy Spirit. He uses us . . . ordinary women, in the world’s eyes.
Do people see me as someone who has been with Jesus? It’s not because of training or ability but because of relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Thank you, Father, for choosing the ordinary people of this world . . . for filling our cracked pots with the presence of your Holy Spirit . . . with the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. Draw us close to you so when people see us, they will see you . . . that they will recognize that we have been in your presence. Use each of us to touch one other person’s life today…and every day. Amen.
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