Transformed – teen devotion – January 26, 2025

One key truth: Our God stands by ready to give exactly what is needed when and where you are afraid to shine for our Savior: not an escape from shining our faith, but a boldness to shine even brighter.

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:23-31

Rejection is Not Proof of Failure

The past few days had been quite eventful for the apostles Peter and John. While they were at the temple in Jerusalem, they met a lame man begging temple-goers for money. And God, through Peter, performs an amazing miracle and heals that man on the spot! Just as Jesus had promised, his chosen apostles were equipped with an incredibly unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit—enabling them to perform amazing signs and miracles. Those miracles were performed not only to confirm their message, but also to draw massive attention to it. And this miracle did! And as a massive crowd gathers around Peter and John, they share the good news of Jesus.

While many who heard [their] message believed in Jesus, not everyone did. Members of the religious elite—the Sadducees—arrive at the scene, and with them the captain of the temple guard. The Sadducees hated the name of “Jesus.” And they would not tolerate anyone proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead on temple grounds. So, they had Peter and John thrown into prison.

The next day, Peter and John stood on trial before the Sanhedrin—the religious ruling council. That should sound familiar. Because that’s the same religious ruling council that oversaw the trial of Jesus—the same council that accused Jesus of blasphemy, condemned him to death, and had him crucified. The Sanhedrin eventually let Peter and John go, but not without a series of serious threats. They were told to never teach anyone about Jesus or talk to anyone about Jesus ever again . . . or else.

How would you react to this news? That you can never talk about or share the good news of Jesus ever again—by threat of capital punishment? Let’s be honest: we’d be afraid. Extremely afraid.

Thankfully, you and I live at time and place where we’re able to worship freely and talk openly about God’s Word and the hope we have in Jesus. And yet, so often we don’t.

You see, we don’t need the help of a Sanhedrin to silence our sharing of Jesus, do we? We care so much about what other people think about us that we’ll willingly silence ourselves. We’ll treat religion as a taboo topic like everyone else. We want a comfortable Christianity. A Christianity that never pushes us outside of our comfort zone. A Christianity that compromises conviction for the sake of fitting in. Fear is one of Satan’s favorite weapons he works against the Church; and his goal is to rob us of courage to the point where the only place we’re comfortable talking about Jesus is here.

But when adversaries of the Church would plot her destruction, the One enthroned in heaven laughs. Nations can rage and people can plot against God’s plan of salvation: it’ll backfire every time! Herod, Pilate, and the Sanhedrin tried to bury Jesus—and it looked like all their plotting had paid off as the Son of God hung on a cross; yet there, in the weakness of the cross God revealed his strength; there, in the foolishness of the cross God revealed his wisdom. There on the cross, God was winning—not for himself, but for you! God was winning you!

In Christ, we find God’s faithfulness to his word as he fulfills centuries of promises to you. Jesus is the greater Passover Lamb who would be sacrificed once and for all for us—so that we would have complete forgiveness before God! Jesus is the Suffering Servant that Isaiah spoke about—the one who willingly endured hell so that we who cling to him in faith would inherit heaven as our home!

That these Christians cry out “Sovereign Lord” invokes a dimension of God’s divinity—his might, his control, and his power over all things. In other words, your God defines himself by promises he’s made and fulfilled for you. That alone gives us boldness, doesn’t it? When this world would rage against Christians everywhere, your God thunders back, “Who again is Lord of heaven and earth?” That’s a gamechanger, isn’t it? That means that, instead of running from confrontation and discomfort, we can run to God for courage and confidence to face it.

Prayer:
Lord God, Heavenly Father, so often we are afraid to give reason for the hope that we have in your Son. So often, we let fear get the better of us and we hide our faith from others. For times like these, we rest in the refuge of your grace and forgiveness. By your Spirit, work within us a confidence to be your witnesses boldly. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.