A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day (September 20, 2016)
I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. (3 John 9-10, NLT)
In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple to pray. As they went through the gate to the temple, there was a man who had been crippled from birth and had been taken daily to the gate of the temple to beg for money.When Peter and John were about to enter the temple, the crippled man began to beg for alms. At that point, the Bible says that Peter fixed a gaze on him and said, “Look at us” (v.4). The beggar gave them his attention. He was expecting to get some money, but Peter said to him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (v.6). Then Peter took the man by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were healed. The man started walking, leaping, and praising God — and he leaped, praised, and walked right into the temple. The people and the religious leaders in the temple were astonished at what had happened. They recognized the beggar and knew this was a miracle that had happened. It could not be denied. Needless to say, the beggar wouldn’t let go of Peter and John (v.11), so as the two disciples stood in the porch of the temple with the beggar holding tightly on to both of them, they began to preach about Jesus. In verse 16 they said, “His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
Then in Acts 4, while Peter and John were still speaking to the people about the good news of Jesus, the captain of the temple and the Sadducee’s approached them. They were greatly disturbed and they grabbed John and Peter and physically took them to a holding cell until the next day. When the next day came, the rulers, elders, scribes and many of the high ranking priests and family members who were gathered in Jerusalem questioned Peter and John. They asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” (vs. 7). Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, preached to the religious leaders. Peter told them that the name of Jesus was the name that had healed the lame man. He told them that only through the name of Jesus can anyone be saved. They were amazed at his boldness. They marveled at his speech and realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus. After Peter’s speech, the leaders met and made a decision. They commanded Peter and John to quit teaching about Jesus and to never speak His name again. When Peter and John heard this they said, “You decide whether God wants us to obey you instead of Him! We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we saw Jesus do and heard Him say.” (vv. 19-20, author paraphrase.)
Even though the religious leaders had threatened Peter and John, they had to let them go. They didn’t want a riot.
The point is this. If you have a close personal relationship with Jesus there is going to come a time when He asks you to do something that your religious leaders are not going to understand or agree with. The question is, who are you going to be loyal to, your religion or Jesus? When you truly believe and act in faith, you will see all kinds of miracles. But in so doing, you will upset the religious mind-set. They may even throw you out of your church. Are you ready for that? Believe me, it is always better to follow Jesus!!!
