Acts; Boldness and Filling

July 3

Read: Acts 4:23-31

Acts;

Boldness and Filling

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness… And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” (v.29,31)

Have you ever prayed for “boldness”? Is it something you would even want? Maybe “bold” is what you want your coffee to be… or the “bold new color” of the next iPhone… but what about your life in Christ?

The early Church knew two things for sure: 1.) They were going to face opposition - Jesus did so why wouldn’t they? 2.) They were going to need strength and courage from the Lord to carry on. So how did they respond? They prayed for “boldness”. They anticipated the times where they would experience fear or doubt and want to quit… or would want to sit silent … or want to retreat and run away. So far, their “boldness” had gotten them thrown into jail over night and persecuted by the religious leaders. (See yesterday’s devo) The responded by doing the opposite of what we might expect. When they heard of Peter and John’s trial, they didn’t pray and ask for the adversity to stop… the asked for their BOLDNESS to increase! Let that sink in!

How did God respond to their prayers? He granted them! He granted them “boldness” and they were “filled with the Holy Spirit”. (v. 31) There are a couple things that are important to remember when we read verse 31. First of all, the Holy Spirit is a PERSON of the God-head… not an impersonal power! To be “filled with the Holy Spirit” is to be “filled” with a person… to have your life “filled with” someone in relationship. This is NOT supposed to imply that the followers got some special dose of extra “Holy Spirit Power” that God had been holding out on them… it means that they were experiencing deeper and more meaningful relationship with the Spirit of God as they walked in faith, obedience, and BOLDNESS. The second thing to remember is that “to speak the word of God with boldness” is not simply a matter of the bible / the scriptures. What I mean to say is, when we see “the word” as modern readers… we think of the bible most often. Notice how the examples of “bold speech” we have from Acts so far show us both the scriptures as well as the unique message that God was giving these individuals to speak. In short, to “speak the word of God” means listening to HIM as well as the scriptures and saying what he calls you to say. In this way, you may be speaking the word of God even when you don’t quote a chapter or verse.

Brothers and sisters, would we be so brave as to ask the Lord for more BOLDNESS? How often due to fear, or insecurity do we shy away… run from the activities of the Lord? maybe we have made God so small that we don’t believe he has anything “bold” left to do?! May our prayers be the same as our brothers and sisters before us: “Lord, grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (v.29,30) May our lives be filled with shared experiences, conversations, and working alongside the Holy Spirit - this is how one’s life is “filled” with another person! Grant us courage. May we look upon the “threats” to us and not cower but lovingly, persistently, clearly, and kindly speak the words that God gives us to speak… speak Christ into every situation - remember Christ is the “word of God” as well. (cf. John 1) Love you guys. - JDP