A Brave Witness Leads To Unexpected Impact
And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. — Acts 6:7
So once some order is reestablished in the church, and the teachers get back to teaching, there is another increase in numbers. But notice what happens — "a great number of priests became obedient to the faith."
So here is the situation. In Israel, during this time, there were a large number of poor priests. Some historians estimate as many as 8,000. And three issues put these poor priests at odds with the high priestly council. The first issue was that poor priests received little financial support from the high priestly leaders during Roman reign. And get this financial support was supposed to trickle down to them as dictated by Hebrew Law. This meant poor priests had to find ways to support themselves, leaving them embittered against the council financially. The second issue was that poor priests lacked influence because of their poverty and had little in common with the wealth and influence of the Sadducean aristocracy on the high priestly council. The third and growing issue was that they disagreed with how the high priestly council was handling present matters related to this growing Christian movement. And so, all this resulted in mass support for the Gospel.
I think sometimes I underestimate what God is doing. This is because all I see is the opposition that lies before me. Therefore I fail to see God's bigger picture and how he is laying the groundwork for a groundswell. And all God wants from me is a brave witness for the truth in the uncertainty that exposes corruption and leads others to see the truth and witness for the truth. And I don't know why I hesitate when the bible is full of stories of men and women of faith who have stood up against the opposition whose brave witness has started a groundswell.
Right now, in our world, I believe there is a quiet movement. Even though we don't see it, God is preparing the groundwork for a groundswell. And what God seeks are brave men and women who will share a brave witness to the truth. But we cannot hesitate! We must take a stand of faith against the corruption of the opposition and trust that God will persuade others to join us in pursuit of the truth. The issue is not what God is doing or what others need to do. The issue is will you be brave with me and witness to the truth regardless of what may come to pass.
ASK THIS: What is holding you back from sharing the Gospel truth?
DO THIS: Overcome your fears by sharing this truth.
PRAY THIS: God, prepare me to be your leader, in your way, and in your time.
PLAY THIS: Victorious — Third Day.
SIGN UP — THE DAILY DEVO
short + biblical + practical
Read through the Bible daily with Vince Miller.
ferrisariato 3
RIFA FABYANA
As we face the trials and witness the corruption of those who are in this current administration, we , the men of God , need to put on the full armor of God and stand firm. We must expose and confront the corruption, but doing so by standing on the Word of God and boldly share our witness.
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God and I will exalt Him. 3 The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name.
Men of God, make no mistake, we are at war. We are in heavy spiritual warfare and now is not the time to be complacent.
Revelation 2:26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
I pray that the Holy Spirit would fill me with the words to share the Gospel truth.
My fears are of being judged and what are my motives. Then I overthink things, hesitate and then the moment or opportunity is gone.
Fear for the most part.
Thanks Pastor Vince! Your passion and resolve to honor Christ encourages me to do the same. God bless you and your service to Him.
Blessings to you as well! 🔥🔥🔥
Pride is holding me back from sharing the truth and receiving Gods blessings.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide me through this challenge,
I pray God will destroy the stronghold of pride and increase his Spirit in you. 🔥🔥🔥
A great place to start is sharing your story of redemption and God’s faithfulness to you. We have to battle through all of the excuses that satan throughs at us…..you aren’t good enough…you haven’t been saved long enough….you aren’t an expert at this…etc. All these excuses have an element of truth in them…you aren’t. But these excuses neglect the one truth that truly matters….if you are redeemed the Holy Spirit can guide you and work through you. The Holy Spirit will never lead you into a situation that you and He together cannot handle. Remember Acts chapter 2 came before Acts chapter 6. It works the same in my life and yours.
That’s right Jack. It takes a long time to learn this lesson. But our fervor was so high when we first believed. Fresh wind and fire blow through us all. 🔥🔥🔥
Such a crazy time we live in. A lot of shifts in my thinking towards my understanding of what scripture says compared to what the culture has framed it to be. The Church culture. On many things. The main one. The Gospel itself. What it is and how it works. The three aspects of it. In its simple form. My first desire is that we get that right. The rest flows from that I think. 😎
Excellent thoughts today W. This is where my heart and mind have been too.
I hesitate to share the truth because of my lack of knowledge of God’s Word.
Walter, I have as well. But don’t. If God can use a man like this, He can use you too!
Thank you sir for your encouragement!
Hi Walter,
Please check out http://www.itsallaboutrelationship.org.