Changed To Bring Change
Opening Prayer
Loving God, I thank You for the people and the way You used to bring me so lovingly to You.
Read Acts 5:12-16
[12] The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. [13] No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. [14] Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. [15] As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. [16] Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
Reflect
How was God clearly working through the apostles?It’s strange to think that these apostles who performed so many miracles and had such an impact are the same men who only a few weeks earlier had run away at Jesus’ arrest and had been hiding behind locked doors at the time of his resurrection. This Peter, whose very shadow now causes people to be healed, is the same Peter who only a few weeks earlier had denied knowing Jesus. Have you ever denied that you are a Christian? Or simply failed to speak up at work or at school when others were making a joke of Jesus? How did it make you feel? Guilty? Regretful? As if you’d never be any good as a Christian? If so, let today’s passage be an encouragement to you: God can still use those who earlier allowed fear to stop them. The difference in the apostles was that the Holy Spirit had come. God does not expect us to work for him on our own; he fills us with his Spirit so that we have the power to speak and act for him. He can forgive our failures, remove our fears and empower our witness.
Apply
Ask the Lord to forgive your failures and fill you with his strength and power so that he can use you.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, You know my fears and my hesitation to share my faith sometimes. Help me to be bold for You.
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