Boldness is the hallmark of being with Jesus
One of the most inspiring aspects of Peter and John, two of the most effective and well-known apostles of the early Church, and their world-wide influence on all of humanity for the Kingdom of God is this: they were “illiterate and uneducated”. (Acts 4:13) But isn’t that just like God? His Gospel is left to those of us who feel like we aren’t qualified, or that we would say or do the wrong thing, or that we don’t pray/read the Bible enough. For many, that stops us in our tracks, but it’s a lie of Satan that you can’t change the world – for any reason! In reality, a life submitted to Him is all He needs to upend history and win the lost soul! (1 Corinthians 1:27)
Illiterate and uneducated Peter and John not only went on to write books of the Bible, but traveled the world with the Gospel and performed miracles beyond imagination even as they were scorned by the most educated men of their day. But one thing those critics couldn’t deny? These two men were bold in their faith and it pointed even the worst haters right to Jesus Christ: “When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were illiterate and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” When you stop pointing at yourself and your inadequacies and shortcomings and boldly share your testimony of Christ- even using stilted language or with a shaking voice, our boldness to do so will point every, single person to Christ! Boldness doesn’t mean being loud – it means stepping around the crowd and stepping up in spite of the loudness of everyone else!
When you stop pointing at yourself and your inadequacies and shortcomings and boldly share your testimony of Christ- even using stilted language or with a shaking voice, our boldness to do so will point every, single person to Christ!
Proverbs 28:1 says, “The righteous are bold as a lion,” and it doesn’t give any qualifications for that, so speak up! There will be resistance, but Acts 4 is clear – people will praise God as a result and even if only one person turns to Christ, that’s just as important as the evangelist reaching crowds! Psalm 40:3 says, “He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God; many will see it, and fear, and will trust in the Lord.” The fact is this, even the hateful, spiteful Jewish leaders “recognized that [Peter and John] had been with Jesus.” How? Because of their boldness. They recognized their reasons to give God the glory, they spoke out and it transformed the world!
Thought for today
If you want to something significant with your life, if you want to leave an impact, or do something that will resonate beyond your time on earth- spend time with Jesus- daily. Get into the Word. Worship Him. Commune with Him in prayer. It’s a commitment that will change your life, and then it will change the lives of others as a result. Simply as you walk along your life’s journey, you’ll find yourself at peace. You’ll find yourself empowered. You’ll find yourself strong. You’ll find yourself resilient. You’ll find yourself bold – without even trying to! You don’t “find” time for Jesus, you MAKE time for Jesus. Forget qualifications. Jesus Christ qualifies you! When you have spent time with the Lord, it shows, it’s a testimony and it emboldens you to point to Him, even to the ungodly.
