“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”
– Acts 4:13
Don’t you want that to be what you are recognized for, that you have been with Jesus? Peter and John are boldly proclaiming the gospel here in Acts 4:13. We’ve talked about and prayed in previous episodes about the power of the Spirit of God in us, and this is the beauty of Jesus with us. The Holy Spirit in us is that we exude, we reflect His character, His life. This is the Christian life. You think about Galatians 2:20, “I’ve been crucified with Christ. I no longer live. Christ lives in me,” and when that is a reality, then it will be evident to others around us.
May the conclusion of those around us be that we have been with Jesus.
It’s like you think about Moses back in Exodus when he would meet with God, and he would come out, and there was a glow on his face. So, we’re seeing like a glow here. Something is different about Peter and John because they’ve been with Jesus because the spirit of Jesus is in them. May that be said of you and me.
Let’s pray for that. God, even right now as we are with you, with your spirit in us, God, we pray that our lives would be so focused on Jesus, communing with Jesus. God, we pray that you would guard our time alone with you in the prayer closet. I think about the time that I spent with Jesus this morning as soon as I got up. That is the most important time in my day.
God, please, please help us to guard that time that it might be evident to everybody we are around. To the people we work with, the people in our home, our spouse, our kids, our friends, roommates, to the people we interact with at restaurants and stores, the people we are talking with who are other believers, other brothers and sisters in Christ, and nonbelievers. God may the life of Christ, the character of Christ, the love of Christ be reflected in us. May the life of Jesus be evident in us. May the conclusion of those around us be this person, these people, have been with Jesus. God, may it be so. In Jesus name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
