Bold Devotion

Acts 5

33 When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. 34 But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while. 35 Then he said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! 36 Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. 37 After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered. 38 “So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”

40 The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.

41 The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. 42 And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”

I LOVE this passage! The Apostles are preaching Jesus, get arrested, the Jewish “religious leaders” have a debate and decide to leave the Apostles alone after a good flogging, ordering them never to preach Jesus again. The Apostles’ reaction? Rejoicing at being counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus, and daily meeting in the most public of places preaching the message, “Jesus is the Messiah.” Yeah, baby, yeah! That is the kind of devotion and boldness for Jesus I want to exhibit in my daily life!

Driving Force

Acts 4:13

13 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 with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

Two traits recognized within these men, are traits I want to be known by: 1)boldness, 2)been with Christ. Now, I cannot physically be with Christ like Peter, John, and company, but I can be with Christ by being in His Word daily. My special training in Scripture comes from daily study, and allowing God to speak to me freely through His Word. My desire to be bold for Jesus comes from a deep abiding love for my Lord and Master. That is what drove the apostles of the 1st century, and I want that to be my driving force each day, too!

Discretion

Proverbs 16

22 Discretion is a life-giving fountain to those who possess it,


but discipline is wasted on fools.

Discretion is something I am learning more and more as I grow older and wiser. Foolhardiness filled my lifestyle before I became a Christian, and even afterwards as I was in my infancy in Christ. I still make my share of goofball mistakes, but I am getting somewhat better. It is because I spend more time in the Word, and try really hard to apply the Word to my everyday life. Again, I make my share of mistakes. But, through the grace of God, I am getting better day-by-day.

Daily Song of Praise

2 Samuel 22

26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful;


to those with integrity you show integrity.


27 To the pure you show yourself pure,


but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.


28 You rescue the humble,


but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.


29 O Lord, you are my lamp.


The Lord lights up my darkness.


30 In your strength I can crush an army;


with my God I can scale any wall.”

David’s song of praise to God is one that I need to have in my heart and on my lips every day! Thank You, God for delivering me. Thank You for saving me. Thank You for being with me through the daily battles of this life, with the promise of eternal life through Jesus, Your Son!

Get Our Heads Out Of The Clouds

Acts 1

11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

I love this verse. An angel of the Lord tells the followers of Jesus to get their heads out of the clouds! There is work to be done before Jesus returns. Too often, those of us who claim to follow Christ want to keep our heads in the clouds, or at least NOT have our heads in the task of seeking and saving the lost for the sake of Jesus! Separating ourselves from the lost is a sin. Keeping only to ourselves is like keeping our heads in the clouds. There’s work to be done for the sake of the Kingdom of Christ. Let’s get to it!

Icing on the Cake

John 21

24 This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate.

25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

It is amazing to think that this eyewitness account of the life of Jesus ends with the statement that Jesus did many other things...so many in fact that all the books in the world could not contain the information about those acts. Jesus has done, is doing and will do more than I can fathom. I must learn to be content in the knowledge that Jesus saved me from my sins. Anything else I learn about Jesus is icing on the cake, my friends.

Continue to Believe

John 20

30 The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

As this Gospel account ends, John makes no bones about the purpose of his writing: “so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah...” May the words contained in the Holy Scriptures be an encouragement to all who read them so that they will continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah!