Category: Devotions

Sovereign Acts 4: 24

“When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.”

They receive their first persecution, they have been arrested and held in Jail and then released, they go back to the Church and they begin to pray:

Not for help, not for peace, Not for deliverance from those who are against them, not for a better life. No they align their earth with God’s outlook of His earth. Often our prayers are negative, save me, deliver me etc but this is not that.

They addressed the Lord as Sovereign. God is more than the sum total of the things that we or others are conscious about. He is a beyond and behind God. He is above and absolute God. He is the owner and omnipotent God. He is master and mighty God. He is ruler and righteous God. He is creator and controller God. And the Sovereign Lord is in control of you.

There are times when in prayer we need to remind ourselves with who God is before we begin to talk of our needs.

Why not pray today by beginning with ‘Sovereign Lord’?

Rest. Acts 4: 23

“On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.”

Do you have someone to return to?
After your trials and accusations can you go ‘back to your own’?
Who are they?
Peter and John had their church who no doubt were praying for them.
Your own can be your church.
It can be your family or a group of friends.
We all need sometimes to go back to our own.
We go back to give our report. To explain what we have been through. To gain their perspective. Ultimately it is to seek the Lord together.
Go back to Him today. Do what the Psalmist says …
Psalm 116:7 “Return to your rest my soul”
Everyone needs a place of rest.

Genuine Acts 4 : 21

“For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.”

This man was over 40 years of age. That is quite some time. This is not a child cripple or a young man but this is a man who has known only one thing in his life that of being a cripple. He had lived for many years knowing no hope whatsoever of his life changing.
The point is this is an impossibility. There was no chance this was some trick or fake. This was genuine.
And that’s the word I want to hold on to this year.
Genuine friendships.
Genuine commitments to Christ.
Genuine healings.
Genuine claims of the above.
Are you ready for the genuine?
Let’s keep it real.
Happy new year!

Limited. Acts 4: 21

“After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.”

They were threatened further.
But because of what appeared to be a revival and the healed man still healed then the Sanhedrin were limited as to what they can do.
Peter and John were freed.

The enemy of your life can be limited.
Limited because of the power of praise.
Limited because of the power of a changed life.
He may still threaten and slander you. He may still demand and you may feel intimidation.
But when you praise he is silenced.
When you testify of the transforming work of Jesus he becomes less important.
So as you end this year know this: you can limit satans attacks! You can limit them right now.
May it be so.

The last day of 2015.
I want to say thank you to you for reading the daily Bible blogs.
Wordpress tell me that this year they have been read in 63 countries.
I no longer have one local congregation who keep me studying the Bible, but I do have people across the world, people like you. I am encouraged when I know God has used me to encourage you.
I will continue to write each day.
If you like any blog then you could ‘like’ it or ‘share’ it on any of the social media sites listed. This would extend the blog further afield.
I am not sure how we got to reading verse by verse through Acts but that’s where we are.
The next blog will come in 5 minutes time.
Thanks very much.
Kind regards
Paul

Acts 4: 20

“For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

The apostle Paul quoting Isaiah wrote, ‘No eye has seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love him.’
There are some things we cannot see nor hear from God. We sit in the dark whilst He is silent on many things.

But let’s not be concerned with what we don’t know.
Mary Magdalene ran to the disciples and said, “I’ve seen the Lord!”
The disciples told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!”
They couldn’t help themselves but speak out.

Now there’s a strong chance that you reading this blog have never seen nor perhaps heard the audio voice of Jesus. Nevertheless you could have a very strong belief that he is with you. He has changed your life. He has filled you with joy and good things and you cannot keep silent. He has transformed your life and you are bubbling over. There is no way you can stop talking of him. You cannot help yourself. You might not be able to win the theological discussions. But you have experienced Him.
That’s all that matters.

Stubborn is good Acts 4:19

“But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.”

There was no greater council than the Sanhedrin. For the Jew they were not only the last word but they represented the authority of God. They were the final interpretation of the Scriptures.
So for these 2 men (who were not educated and did not possess the knowledge that the Sanhedrin had) to challenge them in this way was unprecedented.
But that is also the evidence of the importance of Jesus to them. When Jesus is everything then even the important isn’t all important. When you know Jesus then you are prepared to risk everything. It is not even a discussion point. There is no alternative.
Man sometimes make themselves look so big that we forget they are only representatives of God. Sometimes people are deceived and they submit as if these important people are God. Enforced blasphemy pursues.
Our eyes must be on Jesus. We must be stubborn in our belief of him. Stubborn in our relationship with him. Stubborn in our obedience to him.

The commands of man: Acts 4: 18

“Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.”

The commands of man can come from a place of pride, ignorance and fear. The commands of man can be orders to separate and distance people from their true callings. The commands of man can often be focusing on what the individual cannot do than what they can do. So the commands of man are sometimes restricting not releasing. The commands of man sometimes are veiled as fair judgments. The individual must agree to follow the command and be pleased no further action will be taken against them. The commands of man can come from dictators taking into no account the individual and their desires, gifts or even their needs. So the commands of man are often not from the shop floor where life is truly experienced but from an office many miles away. The commands of man are thus not incarnated into what is workable or understood but fuel the already growing detachment between them and us.
Next year you will once again hear many commands of man. But let those of us who lead and who command do it from a heart of sacrificial love which has made the journey into servanthood. Let our commands feel more a release for the individual to become all that they can become!

“Ease up a bit” says your enemy: Acts 4: 17

“But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”

Your enemy cannot do anything about the miracles in your life. Your enemy cannot change the transformation that God has done. The Sanhedrin couldn’t make the healed man a cripple again, they couldn’t turn the clock back, he was healed and standing there, well actually probably still leaping! They couldn’t do anything about the fact that people in Jerusalem were not only seeing this crippled man walk but hearing it was done in the name of Jesus. But they could try and stop it happening again.
If the enemy cannot stop you he will try and slow you down.
He will speak thoughts into your mind suggesting it isn’t worth the hassle anymore. No one appreciates what you do. No one values your hard work. The enemy will then warn you to change the course you are on.
“Stop speaking and ministering in this way, we don’t want to hear the name of Jesus anymore”
This is your cue to turn up the volume!
This is the moment not to back down, slow down, turn around, sit down, shut up but this is your confirmation that you have rattled the enemy. Speak louder, do more, let Jesus be known!
Man has always tried to silence Jesus, from the moment he was born into this world to the moment he left. But man has always failed.
There will be failure in your life. The failure from your enemy to silence the name of Jesus in you. Whatever you are doing in life do it unto Jesus. Work for Jesus. Live for Jesus in your home and with friends.
Don’t slow down and don’t shut up!

Exaggerated publicity: Acts 4: 16

“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.”

Happy Boxing Day everyone!

We are setting fires all over the world!
We are taking cities for Christ!
Thousands and thousands came to Jesus through our ministry this year!
The most effective, the biggest church, the best welcome, the church with the largest influence, the anointed musicians. The number one church, pastor, preacher, book, conference blah blah blah. We’ve had it all this year. We read it and hear it every day. It has become so common to us we hardly notice it anymore so those who rely on such claims have to make bigger ones to get our attention.
Of course the world also joins in with this exaggerated self-publicity. On a recent programme of The Apprentice one contender in trying to seek his company boasted he was the leading number 1 company in that field. One of the interviewers then simply asked, “Who said this? Which reward ceremony did you get this title from?” It was priceless as the contender realised he had said it of himself.
Self-publicity is tiring but still many buy into it and that is why it will continue.
However, when it comes from your competitor, now that is something else!
“Everybody in Jerusalem knows” well that is probably stretching it. Was it actually everybody? Maybe, maybe not. It was a saying. An exaggeration.
I wonder if next year we could live our lives and our churches/ministries could conduct themselves in a way that those who don’t hold the same beliefs become the ones who make positive exaggerated claims of us?
Now that is an exaggeration I want to see promoted!