August 1, 2019

August 1

Running with Jesus

Acts 1:15 “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)”

     We meet up with Peter this morning on our run and we had left him in Luke where he had been sifted by Satan, after he had denied Christ.  We know he had returned to fishing and Jesus went and called him to come out of the water and challenged him about his love for Him.  He told Peter if you love me feed my sheep.  Peter was restored that day to his relationship with Jesus and was about to be ready to become one of the greatest leaders in the life of the Church.

     Today Peter stands up among the brethren and begins to speak with wisdom and boldness and talk with authority.  He begins to expound upon prophesy about Judas, whom we will meet in the morning for the last time.

     Pentecost, the day God’s Spirit would return to dwell in men is just a few verses away and power will come upon the disciples and they will be empowered to  fulfill their mission to take the gospel to the world.  Peter will now be different. Before he was bold and arrogant and spoke before he thought and understood the plans God had for his life.  Now he would speak what the Spirit would reveal to him.

     How about you are you different since you came to know Christ?  I remember when God led me to analyze my life.  I was like Peter, had a lot of head knowledge but lacked a teachable spirit.  I had so much I needed to learn personally about Jesus before I could become a teacher.  Peter’s failure taught him to become a listener and how to examine his words before he spoke.  Do you need to sit back and have a one on one about your mouth and what comes out of it?

      I read this the other day in one of Beth Moore’s little booklets: We will always be a Child of God,   but when we cease to be teachable we cease to be a disciple.

Father, help us examine our hearts today and see if there is a character flaw in regard to speaking and not being filled and controlled by Your Spirit.  We desire to be true disciples and teachers of Your Word.  Help us to be teachable so we do not speak on our own authority.  Help us to be humble learners.  We know we don’t want to be wise in our own eyes that will lead us away from You.  Give us a Peter controlled life and fill us up with Your Spirit so we can be a Spirit filled leader.

Judas in the morning, going to be a sad day.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015