-Quick update…We are now in Vietnam. This is one fast paced, money seeking place. It is more than a little stressful at times. You would know what I meant if you tried to cross the street with a zillion mo-peds going in every direction. There are a lot of dark places here, but God is pushing hard and preparing the people for his harvest. It was a rough journey to get here with over 24 hours in buses, 59 hours in airports, and 20 some hours in airplanes..but we made it safely!
Well it has been a few weeks since the post of part one of this blog. That should of been plenty of time for us all to think about, pray about, and ask the Lord what we have to give. So now maybe you have an answer, and you are contemplating if you should take the risk, take the leap of faith, follow the Lord, and give what you have. Now I will tell you the impact Peter and John had on the people when they gave what they had.
Alright, where did we leave off? So lastly we saw in Acts chapter three that Peter and John gave what they had (the Holy Spirit) and with that, they were able to heal a beggar and have a huge impact on the people. So here is what happened after the Holy Spirit healed the man through Peter and John. So Peter, John, and the now healed beggar walk into the central square of the city and begin to spread the good news. The people see that the beggar is now healed and proclaiming the miracle that had just occurred. Everyone is astounded and even though they don’t want to believe this miracle just took place, they cant help believe what their eyes have witnessed. Therefore, hundreds of people begin to believe and they begin to receive the good news of the gospel and believe that Jesus is the savior.
While all of this is going on, the town officials, council, and political figures come forth to see what all of the commotion is about. They see what is going on and of course they do not like it. They do not like seeing “their” people believing in the truth of Jesus Christ. As they are becoming enraged and angry at Peter an John for disrupting the order and making the truth known, Peter and John begin to explain the truth further.
They begin to speak loudly and boldly about the truth of Jesus Christ. They speak out loud, directly to the leaders of the city, but loud enough so that all may hear. The begin to proclaim that Jesus Christ, the one they persecuted and slain upon the cross is still alive in them and that His spirit is still residing on earth and it still has the power to heal and perform miracles. This is so great! They put Jesus on the cross thinking that his “death” would cure the disruption and bring the people back under their order and control; however, the power and might of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father cannot be stopped. They begin to realize that maybe they really did persecute the Savior and they become even more angry at Peter and John.
The officials temporarily place Peter and John in jail while they hold a meeting to decide what to do with them. Since Peter and John did nothing wrong and that now thousands of people in their city were witness to this amazing act and becoming believers, the officials will bring more trouble to themselves if they attempt to keep Peter and John in prison. Therefore, they decide to let them go but with certain stipulations. They state that Peter and John must leave immediately and neither speak of what had happened nor speak in the name of Jesus.
Now Peter and John leave and begin to think about what had happened. As they were released, they went to their friends and reported to them what had occurred and what the elders had said to them about not speaking the name of Jesus again. Next, they did what we all should do in every situation, they went to the Lord in prayer. Seeing the great impact they had at the city and seeing thousands of people begin to praise God, they asked the Lord to allow them to continue to speak of His name boldy and they asked the Lord to continue to allow them to perform such acts and miracles.
And when they prayed, the place and the earth where they were was shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they continued to speak the name of the Lord boldly!
What can we take from this?
– When we give what we have, we have the opportunity to impact the lives of many.
– When we are threatened or placed ina situation of not knowing what to do, we must pray to the Lord and ask of him, and he will be faithful and provide us with what we ask.
– That when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the name of the Lord boldly, the earth will be shaken.
Next up: In part three we will see more affects of being filled with the Holy Spirit and see Christians living in true community.
