Been With Jesus
Background Story: In Acts 3, Peter and John were at the temple and saw a man who had been crippled since birth begging. Peter tells the man to look at them and then instructs him in the name of Jesus to walk. This man jumps to his feet in front of the crowd praising God. Everyone was amazed and excited except for those who worked in the temple.
Read Acts 4:1-22
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
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. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Big Idea: Others take note that we have been with Jesus.
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
When we have supernatural peace in the midst of impossible circumstances, people take note that we’ve been with Jesus.
When those addictions and patterns that used to enslave us are broken through the power of the Holy Spirit, people take note that we’ve been with Jesus.
When we step out of our comfort zone in obedience to allow God to use us in the lives of others, people take note that we’ve been with Jesus.
Our common, ordinary selves are a blank canvas for God to display His beauty. And as we live with our hands open to Him, surrendering our circumstances, struggles, and time… He will display Himself in miraculous ways to those looking on from the outside. These doubting priests said to Peter and John, “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.” The same is true with those who doubt today. When God shows up, others take note that you’ve been with Jesus and your life becomes a validation of the truth of the gospel.
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Similar Devotions: An Encounter at the Well, Heard, Blessing or Curse?, The Waiting Room, Unlikely Leading Man, Another in the Fire, Unexpected Mercy, Unexpected Plot Twist, A Warrior in a Winepress, Caused to Question