The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 4:27-30,
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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"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. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
After being threatened by the chief priests and elders of Israel, Peter and John went back to the disciples after their release. They reported all that had happened to them in being jailed and threatened for healing a cripple and teaching the people about Jesus at the temple. The above few verses are the last part of the disciple's prayer to God upon hearing the news from Peter and John. It is not difficult to hear the appreciation and gratitude in this prayer: the appreciation and gratitude of folks who have had their sins paid for and freely given acceptance with the Creator of "heaven and earth and the sea, and everything in them", verse 24.
As I read this prayer, I ask myself this morning if I have the same sense of appreciation and gratitude for God as these believers did... After all, have I not also received from our wonderful God all these folks had received? The same God has done the same things for me as he did for these believers in the early church. I note in the context of threat, these believers wanted God to bring on even more opportunities for sharing their faith.
How much greater should my appreciation and gratitude for our wonderful God be expressed by my own eagerness to pursue opportunities to share my faith in the absence of the kind of threat they faced?
I am greatly moved by Peter and John's statement, "As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Verse 20.
After being threatened by the chief priests and elders of Israel, Peter and John went back to the disciples after their release. They reported all that had happened to them in being jailed and threatened for healing a cripple and teaching the people about Jesus at the temple. The above few verses are the last part of the disciple's prayer to God upon hearing the news from Peter and John. It is not difficult to hear the appreciation and gratitude in this prayer: the appreciation and gratitude of folks who have had their sins paid for and freely given acceptance with the Creator of "heaven and earth and the sea, and everything in them", verse 24.
As I read this prayer, I ask myself this morning if I have the same sense of appreciation and gratitude for God as these believers did... After all, have I not also received from our wonderful God all these folks had received? The same God has done the same things for me as he did for these believers in the early church. I note in the context of threat, these believers wanted God to bring on even more opportunities for sharing their faith.
How much greater should my appreciation and gratitude for our wonderful God be expressed by my own eagerness to pursue opportunities to share my faith in the absence of the kind of threat they faced?
I am greatly moved by Peter and John's statement, "As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Verse 20.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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