Tuesday 18, August 2026

Have you had a moment where everything was put to the test, your faith, your life as you know it, just everything? Perchance you had and didn’t recognize it, or you never had that moment at all. When that moment comes, I pray our response is like Peter and the apostles. ‘We obey God.’ Consider Today’s Holy Nougat

Acts 5:29 CEVDCI

[29] Peter and the apostles replied: We don’t obey people. We obey God.

God of Second Chances

At this post-Pentecost point, almost everything done by the apostles was an act of unity. Whether Peter was the only one who preached, they all accepted the credit/blame. Their unity set a tone for the believers, who followed suit. It was the fulfilment of Y’shua’s John 17 High Priestly prayer for unity among those God had given to Him. That unity was tested several times.

Self-Check

If our faithfulness to Christ was tested now, would we be proven ready?

Application

The disciples passed Evangelism 101, but failed the test of unity. That unity was scattered to pieces on the night of Y’shua’s trial. By denying and separating from Jesus at his trial, the disciples opted to place the world before Christ. That’s what it was. But, God’s Spirit prevailed, and they were reunited to commiserate in each other’s grief. As they grieved, God’s grace offered redemption. They recognised the moment and said yes.

It is this no surprise that led by God’s Spirit, when the religious leaders asked what seemed like a simple question, Peter and the apostles (for they were now the sent ones, no longer apprentices or disciples) saw through the question, and recognised it as temptation. They did not yield – they replied emphatically, ‘We don’t obey people. We obey God’.

What a complete turnaround for those former disciples. Remember Peter’s denial, ‘I don’t know the man’? – Thrice he proclaimed it. It was the same, but different Peter declaring that he only answered to God. As with the other apostles, he was now ‘in Christ’. The old was done away, he was a new man, as per 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Siblings, we can probably recall little temptations that truly tested our faith. Being asked to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing, overlook our consciences, offer a portion of what God requires back to God, or scroll on social media instead of attending to God’s media are but a few.

We might justify our actions based on the opportunity cost. Yet, we’re obliged to calculate which cost and whose opportunity. When caught between the devil and the deep Reed Sea, do we cry out to Y’shua, stand back and allow God’s salvation to take effect? Or in despair, do we deny Him thrice? I pray that we yield to God’s Spirit and take refuge in the faith of other believers around us. And if we fail, may we take comfort in the knowledge that as we confess, Y’shua offers second chances.

Point to Ponder

Peter may have given the same response if he was alone. He said pretty much the same thing when it was only John with him. However, knowing that he spoke with and for the others would have added more confidence. There is strength in numbers, let’s safeguard our unity in faith even as we seek to ensure that we obey only God.

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May all we seek be found in Christ