February 3rd
February 3rd
Acts 4:13 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.
I love this verse for so many reasons. First, in general it shows that Christ followers can have an astonishing impact on people. It also points out that these disciples, two of the most influential men in history (because of Jesus/Holy Spirit) were unschooled ordinary men. There is no educational or socioeconomic prerequisite for being a Christ follower. The only condition is willingness and faith. We don’t need to be highly educated, wealthy, or worthy. We just need to believe and be willing. These ordinary men astonished people. But I think my favorite part of this verse is the last part: “they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Do people take note that you have been with Jesus? Do they notice that you spend time with Jesus? IS it noticeable? I believe we can’t spend time with Jesus and not be changed, shaken up and empowered. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more noticeable it will be in us and in our lives. Are people noticing a change in us? Is Jesus bubbling over and spilling out of us?
Encounters with Jesus are unmistakable. You can’t rub up against the Holy One and come away without some glowing going on. Let’s not just check a box that we read our few verses each day and said our “Lord’s Prayer.” Let’s spend some time in fellowship with Him. Think about the two men who encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It was after Jesus was resurrected and the verse says that the men were kept from recognizing Jesus at that point. He walked and talked with them revealing the truth from the scriptures to them and they begged Him to stay with them for dinner. (When’s the last time you begged Jesus to eat dinner with you? -you know what I mean.) They were feasting on His words and they didn’t want it to stop. When is the last time you were in that place of not wanting to stop feasting with the Lord? You will find the story in Luke 24:13-35.
Verse 30-32 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
There hearts were burning as He taught them. Have we experienced that feeling…knowing we are encountering the resurrected King? Or are we too busy to take enough time with Jesus to encounter Him in that way? When is the last time you “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said?”
Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Have we chosen the busyness of life over spending quality time leaning in to our encounters with Jesus? As we go about our day will others be able to tell that we “have been with Jesus?”
Jesus, I want to encounter you. I want you to leave your mark on me so that I am changed and so that others notice and want to know you too. Help me to be careful to make time for those kinds of encounters with you. Help me to prioritize my life around you. Help me not to get so busy and distracted that my life is a watered-down version of what it could be. Thank you for your patience with me and help me to know you more.