Courage
by pastor Katie Preston
Each of these devotional blogs entries is meant to be read on your own or if you have family or friends you live with, to be read together aloud. A suggestion is to do this after you have dinner around the table together. At the conclusion, please spend time in personal reflection or in sharing with one another your answers to the questions at the end. Be sure to conclude with prayer.
Read Acts 4:1-22
“’Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.’ 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.” Acts 4:12-13
One question that keeps resonating in my heart is, have you been with Jesus? Some of us remember exactly what life was like before we knew Jesus Christ; we remember vividly what Jesus pulled us out of. For others of us, maybe we have forgotten and have allowed our hearts to stray.
Today I am taking this moment to call you back.
Peter and John had every reason to be scared, fearful and question where life was taking them. If you read just a little before these verses you find that they had been taken into custody for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Not only that but they had to stand in front of all the religious leaders and rulers of the community at that time. They were on trial, and the outcome could be very serious, even deadly.
During this pandemic I’m faced with the truth that there is so much fear in our world right now. It is easy to get pulled down by all of the news of the pandemic and the uncertainty of all we will face in the future from this disease. But when we look again to scripture we see the answer. Scripture gives example after example of the trials faced by the disciples. So how did they continue to live for Christ in such uncertainty? They continued to share the good news because they were certain that Jesus Christ was the only way they were going to be saved. The best evangelist is simply someone who is convinced and knows the truth they are sharing.
Often we think we are unprepared. The best way to get prepared is by having an encounter with Jesus. It’s time to be with Jesus and allow the confidence of salvation to fill you back up. Spend time in the Bible, listen to the truth and pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. When we spend time with God, we can be His witness in the world. It’s hard to trust someone you don’t know very well, so get invest the time getting to know more of who God is.
Jesus loves you dearly. He is nearby waiting for you to spend time with Him. Take heart my friends, because He is the best source of Hope. We can have courage in this time because Jesus is walking with us through it all.
Have you been with Jesus?
