
Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Peter and John had already been blessed with the Holy Spirit, which gave them all of the courage they needed to move forward with boldness. I am seeing their "boldness" as a combination of courage and confidence. And for me, the message here is in the first part of the verse: "unschooled, ordinary men". I am afraid I sometimes equate education and schooling with wisdom, and this cuts me off from the wisdom of many whose faith is strong simply due to their love for God and their efforts to seek Him.
Holy Lord, help me to continue to learn from others whose faith is strong. Amen
Becky, transforming
Acts 4:13
I went to a very small church once, and the Pastor was a lay person – he had some training but was never going to be ordained due to age. Some people left because they couldn’t imagine being taught by someone not ordained. What I learned from this, was that it was not about ordination, but about the love for God’s word and helping us apply it to our daily lives. He made a difference to the people of that small church.
Prayer: gracious God, remind me that my words can be as bold as Peter and John if I am true to the words of Jesus. Amen
Monday
Acts 4:13
Acts 4:13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
How to explain to people who are nonbelievers that they could go directly to Jesus if they wanted to, but often times they just won’t. In fact they may just reject us because of our willingness to talk about God/Jesus. he truth is there are no requirements about our education and prominence among all of us. The only Jesus they will see is what shines through us. You and I must work to make the fact that we have been with Jesus as obvious i…
Acts 4:13
As believers, we look at Peter and John as giants of the faith, international evangelists, founding members of Christ’s church. At the time of their ministry they were looked down upon as blue-collar working stiffs. What business had they, with no formal rabbinical training, to be teaching about the kingdom of God? When faced by the sneers of the religious elite, Peter and John boldly carried out their ministries with the confidence instilled in them by the Holy Spirit. In our time, the elite movers and shakers are anything but religious, but they maintain the elitist tendency of sneering at what they deem beneath them, backwards or ignorant. Christianity, for example. The same courage we see in Peter…