Mon.’s Devo - The Boldness of the Disciples

Read: Acts 3:1-5:42
Peter and John were just going about their normal schedule when they saw a man they had seen every time they came to the temple, but this time they saw him differently. This time, the Holy Spirit prompted them to see the man’s potential instead of his infirmity. They boldly told him to walk in the name of Jesus then took him by the hand and stood him to his feet. As they were standing him up the man’s feeling came into his feet and he was healed. This took such boldness to act on faith. The man who was healed caused a scene as he jumped and leaped and praised God in the Temple. As the crowd grew, Peter saw his opportunity and started preaching about Jesus. He began with Samuel and went through every prophecy about Jesus explaining how Jesus fulfilled them and how he was raised from the dead. The priests and the captain of the Temple guard and some of the Sadducees were very upset that he was preaching that Jesus rose from the dead especially since the Sadducees didn’t even believe in resurrection. They arrested Peter and John but not before about 2,000 more people came to believe in Jesus.
What the religious people thought they had stopped with Jesus’ death had now multiplied into an even greater threat. Now ordinary men were doing miracles and preaching from the Torah! They had Peter and John brought before the Sanhedrin and Peter was able to preach to them the power of Jesus’ name. When they told Peter and John to stop preaching, they refused saying they had to obey God…not them. They had no option but to let them go because of the people.
The disciples continued to preach and do miracles in Jesus name making the religious leaders even more jealous and angry. They finally put them in jail and had them flogged. This only made the disciples more dangerous because they were honored to be persecuted for Jesus.
This is the power that we are to be walking in. The devil and his political threats are just a smoke screen. All we have to do is open our spiritual eyes and walk in the spirit and not what our natural eyes are telling us. The spiritual realm is much more real and exciting. It is the place God works and moves in.
Lord, open our spiritual eyes and give us boldness to move in the Holy Spirit and not in fear.