Jesus is not dead. His Spirit lives on in us. We read today of his apostles continuing Jesus’ work. They were spreading the Good News, healing, and performing miracles in Jesus’ name. Their numbers were growing. People were watching and believing, yet some were jealous. Jealousy is not from God, but it was Satan again having his way with these Sadducees. How did they respond? They arrested and imprisoned the apostles.
What happened next? God intervened. The doors of the jail cell would not stop God as his angel released them with a message from God – “Tell.” There were no excuses like, I don’t know enough, or I’m scared. They did what they were told. They had just been thrown into jail for doing that very thing, but they were obedient to God first.
The Sanhedrin was called together. These folks would be the full assembly of elders of Israel, including the high priests and all those officials. What this tells me is that holy people, those who do God’s work, are not immune to Satanic involvement. While they did not seek it out, they were infested by it nonetheless. All but Gamaliel.
When questioned why they had disobeyed, they responded they obeyed God rather than human beings. We’ve seen that before. This time they mention the Holy Spirit as being given to those who obey God. This struck a chord with them for sure. They were considered the “holy” ones leading the people in God’s ways. They, above all, should be obeying God. Their fury ignited as these common folks were telling them the Holy Spirit came to those who obeyed. What Holy Spirit? What were they talking about?
Again, fury is not an attribute God gives. It is evil. It leads to destruction and pain. These leaders were not thinking clearly. I was impressed that Gamaliel was able to bring some sense back to the situation. I loved when he said, “If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Zing! Pow!
This is true for us today. When we try to do things our own way without counseling with God, our plans often fail. Right? Think of a great idea you had that seemed to be the perfect solution. You put all your effort and attention toward it, yet, it failed. On the flipside, when it’s God’s idea, it works and is unstoppable. I’ve seen that time and time again with ministries at church, moves across the country, answered prayers, etc.
God will always reward the faithful. God will always bless his plans for success. There may be casualties along the way in terms of hurt feelings, floggings, and even death, but his plan will succeed. The casualties are Satan’s attempts to stop God’s will. The battle rages on.
We need to ask ourselves, are we warriors on God’s team or are we going to let Satan get us in our weakness? Is it our knee jerk reaction to turn to God first in all decisions? Do we take time to listen for God’s okay or blessing on our ideas? How do we stay connected to the power of God? Think on these things today.
Let’s pray. Father God, I thank you for how your hand was at work in our reading today. I got goosebumps and smiled at how you used your angels and your people. May I always turn to you first. Protect me from evil thoughts and desires. I want to bring your light into the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amen