Day 86: Bold Peter

Acts 2:14-47; Deuteronomy 15-16; Job 11

Peter boldly speaks to the crowd.  Peter, the same man who just days before, denied he knew Jesus three times, stood up and proclaimed loudly about Christ.  He wasn’t afraid.  In the face of ridicule, he approached the scoffers and spoke Truth.  What an awesome example of the transformative power of Jesus Christ.  And what did Peter say?  That Jesus was (and IS) alive, and the he wants to give the Holy Spirit to everyone.  He is as alive today as he was 2000 years ago, and His salvation is for everyone.

Then you have this awesome example of the CHURCH.  They were like family, they ate together, they prayed together, they did miracles, they shared everything they had with one another, and all of this in their own homes while praising God.  One of the things that seems so interesting in this verse is that they are in their homes, it is a small group.  If we look around America today, the “mega-church” is idolized.  The bigger, the better, right?  Not according to this scripture.  That is where the small group thing is so significant.
 
God has blessed us with so much.  We live in abundance.  Many of us, if we look around our house, we see comfortable furniture—it isn’t the fanciest and may have some stains—but it seats lots of people.  We see a refrigerator full of food, coffee pot with coffee, and a pantry with lots more—it may not be gourmet—but we never go hungry.  And even in the midst of my middle class life, we have some luxuries—pillows, candles, coffee creamer, books—we have SO MUCH.  Include the love of a family and friends, spoiled pet, and cars that work (most of the time).  Add to that salvation and love of our Lord and Savior!  May the Lord help us to see life THIS WAY:  the abundance that we truly have, both materially and spiritually, that we may not complain and will instead be generous.

Job’s friends, though not helpful to Job at that time (because they didn’t know or understand his circumstance) do have some wisdom to present.  In this passage, Zophar presents two things that I think are significant.  First, who can understand the ways of the Lord?  I certainly can’t, that is, unless God directly reveals things to me.  God’s wisdom is beyond what I could imagine.  There is no way I could understand him completely—that is what makes him the Creator and me the created.  Secondly, Zophar tells Job that he should surrender his heart to God, with all his sins, obvious and hidden.  This is how we grow confident in our spiritual walk and with God.  Surrender is the posture of worship.  Worship isn’t just singing—it is surrendering to God in any moment of any day.  When we recognize just how awesome and powerful God is, and we trust in him and give up all our personal desires and plans, that is worship.  Then when we do that, we can be “confident and fearless.”