Today’s devotion emphasizes the significance of boldness in proclaiming God’s Word, even when confronted with opposition and threats. When faced with intimidation, we are encouraged to persist in sharing His message. The disciples, including Peter, encountered threats and were told to cease preaching Jesus’ name. Rather than appealing to the authorities, they chose to pray to God for courage to continue speaking out.

Bible reading of the Day

AM – Nehemiah 12-13

PM – Acts 4:23-37

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖚𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖛𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝕲𝖔𝖉

𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟒:𝟐𝟒 𝕶𝕵𝖁

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒔.

Last Friday, during our outreach, we faced some opposition. My son spoke with a man who challenged him, arguing that the Bible is corrupted due to a contradiction. He referenced 𝕸𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖜 𝟐𝟕:𝟑-𝟏𝟎 and claimed it conflicts with Luke, as shown in 𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟏:𝟏𝟖. However, when I examined his claim myself, I found no contradiction.

Both Matthew and Luke record that Judas took his own life. Matthew states that Judas 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 himself, while Luke says that Judas, “…𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕.” The truth is that Judas died. It’s easy to see that when Judas hanged himself, the rope or branch broke, causing him to fall headlong. As a result, he burst asunder in the midst because of the impact of the fall. This is not a contradiction but a complementary account that gives you the full picture of the event.

In our narrative, two early Church figures, Peter and John, are commanded to cease speaking or teaching in Jesus’ name after a miraculous healing and a compelling sermon persuade thousands to believe in Jesus. Christianity consistently encounters opposition from authorities. In Acts chapter 4, two leading figures, Peter and John, are arrested, jailed, and warned of harsh punishments if they continue preaching.

After these leaders were taken into custody, we found that instead of protesting on the Temple steps, the church organized a prayer meeting. This shows that the early church believed praying to God was much more effective than petitioning the government. They understood that their most powerful tool for advancing the work of Christ’s Kingdom was not a formal program, but the prayers they offered.

Fortunately, the Holy Spirit has kept the details of this early church’s prayer meeting intact for us. After examining this account, I concur with a writer who stated, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔.” One preacher once remarked, “𝑨 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒕.” The Greek word for their opening prayer is 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖙𝖊̄𝖘, which means “𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉”—a term from which the English “𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖕𝖔𝖙” is derived. It refers to an absolute ruler.

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉: 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅; 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 –  𝕮𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖆𝖓𝖘 𝟏:𝟏𝟖. Early believers encountered threats because of their faith and devotion to worshipping the true and living God. To silence Peter and John’s messages about Christ, religious leaders could only resort to issuing threats. The Bible says, “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒐 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆.”  –  𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟒:𝟏𝟕.

Despite facing persecution from the Religious leaders, they continued preaching that Jesus died for all and paid the price for our sins. Instead of seeking deliverance from death, they prayed for courage to keep speaking and sharing God’s Holy Word. “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅” – 𝕬𝖈𝖙𝖘 𝟒:𝟐𝟗.

Their boldness comes from their awareness of who truly holds authority in their lives—they answer only to their Lord Jesus, their Saviour. Although we might feel intimidated when undertaking our work and ministry, understanding our sole accountability to Him allows us to confidently seek His guidance. Similarly, if we receive additional commands or instructions and feel unsure, we should revisit the Bible; in doing so, we will find that the Lord will direct us appropriately.