Thursday
Reading: Acts 4
SOAP: Acts 4:19-20
But Peter and John replied, “Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
After Peter and John healed the lame man in the temple, 5,000 people came to faith in Christ. Can you imagine the impact of this event on your city if 5,000 people came to faith in Christ?
Because their lives and hearts had been so drastically changed by Jesus Christ, Peter and John found it impossible not to proclaim His goodness. Peter and John were empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the message of Christ. They were convinced of the gospel and convinced of its power, and nothing, not even threats and orders from the governing authorities, could stop them from proclaiming the truth.
We have the same Holy Spirit living in us today. The Holy Spirit empowers us to proclaim the truth of God’s Word, the truth of who Christ is, and the truth of what He has done. Peter and John were “uneducated and ordinary men” (Ac 4:13), but they still proclaimed the gospel. May their example encourage us to continually proclaim Christ no matter our circumstance.
Lord Jesus, I praise You for providing a way of salvation to the world. Help me believe the Holy Spirit empowers me the same way it empowered the early believers. Help me proclaim the truth of the gospel to everyone around me, through my words and my actions. Amen.