Nougat 4

Have you ever had ample opportunity to share God’s message of salvation with others and missed it completely due to inattentiveness? Or worse yet, has God given you an assignment and you redirected God, only to recognise long after that it was an assignment? Unfortunately for me, it’s yes to both — several times.

Thankfully, we serve a God of second chances so that we may get the resit, albeit in new contexts. Peter’s resit came after he’d accomplished a great miracle for God. But, by yielding to God’s Spirit, he didn’t miss the new opportunity. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat

Acts 4:9-10 CEVDCI

[9] You are questioning us today about a kind deed in which a man who could not walk was healed. [10] But there is something we must tell you and everyone else in Israel. This man is standing here completely well because of the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth. You put Jesus to death on a cross, but God raised him to life.

Something Else: The Resit

I’ve had several epic fail moments as God’s servant, even since becoming ordained. In one case, despite five or six clear warnings, I opted to ignore God’s instruction and postpone the task assigned to me. Unfortunately, tomorrow never came.

I’ve had moments when I opted for a flesh response instead of yielding to God’s Spirit. I lost my ‘rights’ as the wronged one when Lord demanded that I right my wrong and apologise to those who wronged me.

Oy.

That one hit hard. Especially since I had to publicly apologise, just as I’d publicly put the person in their place. It was totally embarrassing. More so, when I tried to justify my actions and the person saw through my excuse and silenced me. I think I really disappointed God that time.

Self-Check

When we find we have failed God in such moments, what is our default action?

Deeper Dive

Let’s face it.

In real exams, even when we’ve done due diligence and actually studied for a resit, we can’t be too confident going into the examination room. It is equally the case with our spiritual lives. We ought to be humble when we face a resit assignment. Peter’s attitude teaches us that. God’s Spirit not only had an assignment for Peter, but presented him with a resit where he was obliged to share the message of salvation.

Peter had several choices before him. He could simply defend his actions and exit; deal with his detractors (like I had) and face those consequences; or yield to God’s Spirit at work in him. Thankfully, in the resit, Peter-full-of-God’s-Spirit was no longer Peter-full-of-himself. He was a rock, yielded to God’sSpirit, though unmoved by human threat.

The result – Peter’s defence didn’t stop at his and John’s act of mercy. His next words may have surprised the learned, esteemed religious leaders. There is something else we must tell you … Peter added; as he segued into the Gospel message.

Instead of speaking of the man’s miraculous healing as his and John’s accomplishment, Peter attributed it to the name of Y’shua, Jesus Christ. He was speaking to the religious establishment who could make or break this new movement. He knew who they were. And, Y’shua wasn’t someone they understood or liked. But, under the power of God’s Spirit, Peter insisted that the Gospel of Christ superseded the faith which they – as religious leaders – taught! One can’t get much bolder than that.

Caiaphas was a Sadducee, he did not believe in the resurrection. We can assume that those with him had a similar belief. Peter’s ‘something else’ would have upset him. It was unlikely to be a welcome argument. As a Jew, Peter would have known that. It might have resulted in a prison sentence. But, in the face of the ‘addressing officers’ Y’shua’s promise in Mark 13 and Luke 12 was fulfilled; God’s Spirit provided Peter with words of life. God told Peter what to say.

Siblings, that ‘something else’ which God invites us to share about Y’shua is the most important message we could ever share with others. It doesn’t matter if it’s a new task or a resit. Those are words of life, even if they don’t accept them. The words won’t be exactly what Peter used to Caiaphas; but it is likely to challenge assumptions and firm beliefs. In our obedience, we will not have missed a grand opportunity to share Christ’s love with others.

If we know in advance what Y’shua and God’s Spirit will say through us, will we willingly add, ‘… and, there’s something else’ as Peter did?

Point to Ponder

Is there someone to whom we’re being sent to offer something else and we’ve let fear overtake us? Let’s choose to be led by God’s Spirit and not our fleshy selves.

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May all we seek be found in Christ