Nehemiah 10-11 Acts 4:1-22

“We want all of you and all the people to know that this man was made well by the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth. You crucified him, but God raised him from the dead. This man was crippled, but he is now well and able to stand here before you because of the power of Jesus.” (Acts 4:10 NCV)

Peter was called to defend his message and his actions by the Jewish leaders. They were in a quandary because everyone had seen this man of more than forty years old after his healing. What was worse to the leaders was that everyone was attributing this healing to the power of Jesus after He rose from the dead. They arrested Peter and John, and then called them to account for their actions. Peter and John didn’t back down. They let the religious leaders know that this man had been healed by Jesus and that even though they had tried to stop Jesus by crucifying Him, God the Father raised Him from the dead. It was the power of Jesus that brought healing.

The two before and after pictures here are amazing: before, you crucified Jesus, after, God raised Him from the dead; before this man was crippled, after he became well by the power of Jesus. In short, the before pictures denote powerlessness, while the after pictures show the overwhelming power of God. Even the power the religious leaders had over life and death was nothing compared to the amazing power of God who could overcome death and overcome a crippling disease. We get so caught up in our routines and in preserving our situations in life that it’s easy to forget about the power of God. We work towards our goals in our ways and expect God to sit on the sidelines cheering our every move. We’re living dead and powerless lives even though, like the religious leaders, we think we’re doing what God desires. It’s so easy to get caught up in this trap that we still see religious leaders frown upon the actions of the Holy Spirit as He moves among God’s people. The old cliché is that we’re supposed to “let go and let God.” We may let go, but only into a fenced in yard because we want to make sure that we keep things under control. We don’t need control. We need God to move. When He does move among us, He’ll probably be reckless and upset our established order. He may call on us to leave our comfort zones and do crazy things. But He will never leave us or forget about us. When we let Him take control, life gets so much better, people will wonder what power or authority allows us to have such joy in our world today. The answer will be the same: the power of Jesus.

Lord, help me to let go of my control. Help me to seek You and Your ways and live obediently each day. Let the power of Jesus overwhelm me and cause others to see the results of Your actions in my life.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Breakthrough as the sun rises