For the past week I've been reading about all the miracles God did through Peter and the other disciples and the sermons they preached to the Jews. Even though I've read it before I am seeing a lot of things I don't remember. Instead of just reading the story, I'm seeing the attitudes and perseverance that I never took notice of until now. I'm seeing some characteristics that I need to adopt in my own life.
The disciples didn't have an easy road to travel being some of the first ones to bring the Gospel to the Jews. (Being the first is never easy.) Just think, the people of Israel probably thought they wouldn't hear no more of Jesus once they crucified him. Now they were hearing his name and seeing the effects of his greatness every where they went. It disturbed the Pharisees and Sadducee's to see all the sick healed and the joy that must have came with it. They were so wrapped up in the law and couldn't let loose of it. But I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the Sadducee's because that's not what got my attention.
The apostles were thrown into prison for all the miracles God was performing and for teaching the Jews about Christ. The Bible then says, "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught." Acts 5: 19-21a) The first thing that came to my mind was, 'Wow, they didn't even take a day off to get over their imprisonment.' They didn't sit around for a day to pray about it and see if they really were in God's will. The Bible doesn't say they questioned the angel or discussed it among themselves. They went into the temple within hours, and taught. They went right back to what they've always been doing because they knew that was what God wanted them to do. They were fully persuaded.
Of course we can always say "If I had seen Jesus after he was raised from the dead, or if I had been filled with the Holy Ghost at Penticost, and if I had been spoken to by an angel . . . I would be fully persuaded too." But we do have the scriptures. We have felt the joy of Christ in our heart and seen the things that God can do through others. We know what God wants us to do because it's written in his Word, yet we often find ourselves doubting if what we are doing is the right thing. It's time that we become fully persuaded.
