Author: David Short

Acts 5:40-42

And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Personal Challenge

Once again, we see an example of how God’s economy, His way of doing things, is so much different than the ways of the world. Usually when we get beaten down in life, whether deserved or not, we recoil and find a safe place to heal our wounds. Peter and the other apostles were just beaten by the authorities of the synagogue for preaching Christ. Upon their release, they immediately went right back to the temple and starting teaching and preaching about Jesus again. They were operating in God’s economy because they knew that He would take care of them. Do I love my Lord that much? Do I trust Him entirely with my life? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 62:6-7 (61:7-8)

For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall never be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory;
He is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.

Encouraging Words

Who, or what, is my God? He is my Savior. Savior from what? Death and damnation. He is my Protector. Protector from what? Every large or small thing, in this earthly realm that is being thrown at me by the enemy, the accuser. In Him I will never be moved. Moved by what? Every wave from the storms of life that try to drive me away from my destination. He is my glory. What glory? Every aspect of my life that brings me recognition, joy, or comfort is my glory and all comes from Him. He is my help in all of this, and my hope is in Him. Praise be to God!

Acts 5:29

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

Personal Challenge

To whom do we give our obedience? Ourselves? Our employer? Our peers? Our politicians? If we are truly trying to live righteous and Christlike lives, then we can only be choosing to obey God and not men. God is our source of all life and since we appreciate that so much, we choose to give all of our obedience to Him rather than anyone or anything in this world. This is a choice that we must make every moment of life. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Psalms 62:5 (61:6)

However, be submissive to God, O my soul,
For my patient endurance is from Him.

Personal Challenge

The ultimate goal for us in living our life for Christ is total submission to Him and the Father. This is the essential act of humility before the Creator and Sustainer of all. This is also the most difficult thing for us to do because it means yielding our free will to God and embracing His will. But He does not expect us to do this on our own. He fills us with His Holy Spirit and His love and mercy to give us that patient endurance that we need to be obedient and submissive. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 4:19-20

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Personal Challenge

The world we live in is at odds with the living God. It is still fallen and broken. Because of this, if we strive to live our lives for Jesus, speaking up for Him, then those of this world will try to shut us down. We can choose to submit to that or press on, knowing that we cannot help but proclaim the truth that we know. Glory be to God!

Psalms 62:1-2 (61:2-3)

Shall not my soul be submissive to God?
For from Him is my salvation.
For He is my God and my savior,
My protector; I shall be shaken no more.

Encouraging Words

Our God is our salvation from death that is the result of our sin. He is our God, our all, and our provider of all. He is our protector against all that life might throw at us, including the final battle of physical death. All of this is why we choose to submit to Him and receive all that He has in store for us. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Jesus Christ are we living lives full of boldness? We have the almighty God on our side in all that we do. He is there with us. We do not need to be educated or trained in order to be bold for our God. He has promised to give us what we need to speak out for Him. We just need to be willing to trust Him. Glory be to God!

Psalms 61:8 (60:9)

So I will sing praise to Your name unto ages of ages,
That I may pay my vows day to day.

Personal Challenge

Life can be busy. Many times, that busyness is of our own making. Distractions keep our eyes on everything but God. As followers of Christ, we need to develop the discipline to abandon the busyness and distractions and focus on God. By doing this we can learn to sing praise to our God all day long. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!