Acts 4:13-22 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 4:13-22. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 4:13 (NIV)
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.
On verse 13: Peter and John did not have any formal education, but they had spent three years with the Word, Jesus Christ. You don’t need to have a formal education or spectacular worldly credentials to be used by God. In the end, all you need is to have been with the Word, Jesus Christ. The more you’ve been with the Word, Jesus Christ, who is wisdom personified, the more He gives you wisdom to live, to do relationships well, to pursue God-given dreams and to serve His people with power.
Acts 4:14 (NIV)
14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.
On verse 14: People can try to argue and criticize, but there isn’t much a person can say in response to a life that is changed for the better. The best proof you can give to someone that Jesus is alive is a life transformed for the better because of Jesus.
Acts 4:15-22 (NIV)
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. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it.
17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men 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, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
20 For 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.
On verses 15-22: Despite the religious leaders commanding and threatening Peter and John not to speak about Jesus anymore, Peter and John refused to stop speaking about what they had seen and heard. They knew that they were called to obey a higher authority, Jesus Himself.
Likewise, there may come a point when you need to decide: “am I going to obey God or obey people?” Don’t let the fear of people stop you from doing what God has commanded and called you to do. For as followers of Jesus, we live not to please people but to please God.
Lord Jesus, I pray for all my friends reading this GAME sharing today, that when others see them, others would take note that my friends, just like Peter and John, have been with Jesus. May people see in my friends the courage, the faith, the wisdom, the hope, and the love of Jesus living in them, and be impacted as a result. May we your church never stop proclaiming Jesus despite any threats, fears and opposition we may face. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
