Day 3

Scripture to Read: Acts 4:9–12

God uses all His children who are full of Him and empty of themselves. As we read in Acts 4:8, God tells us, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…. God had filled Peter with His Holy Spirit because Peter willingly crucified His flesh and submitted Himself fully to our Lord. We know every Christian has the Holy Spirit living in them, but that does not mean every Christian is full of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we can get full of ourselves when we’re unwilling to crucify our fleshly desires (Galatians 5:17). That is why God commands us in Ephesians 4:30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:19 not to grieve or quench the Spirit. Peter was a vessel ready to be used by God because he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, in Acts 4:9–12, God used Peter to proclaim boldly about our Lord Jesus Christ to the religious leaders who had him thrown into prison the night before. Peter had a boldness that comes from God alone. God wants us ready to share Him as He opens opportunities for us to be His witnesses for our Lord Jesus Christ each day. We share Christ because we know, just as Peter had proclaimed in Acts 4:12, “…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Being filled by God’s Holy Spirit, Peter spoke boldly (Ephesians 6:19–20). When we’re filled with the Holy Spirit, God uses us in the same way.

Challenge & Application

• Why was God able to use Peter in such a mighty and miraculous way? • How are you submitting to our Lord daily so that you are filled with Him and not your fleshly desires?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

God has saved us from the penalty and power of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ, not just so we can be with Him in heaven for eternity but also to fulfill His work here on earth. In Acts 3:17–26, God has used Peter and John to share with the crowd what God led Moses and the prophets to say and write about Christ. But when Christ and His resu...

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Day 2

We saw yesterday, through Peter and John’s boldness to proclaim Christ, how they suffered persecution and ended up being imprisoned. We know persecution comes from the spiritual forces of wickedness, but it’s hard to see it that way when we can’t see into the spiritual realm. But we also read how God added to the church and about five thousan...

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Day 3

God uses all His children who are full of Him and empty of themselves. As we read in Acts 4:8, God tells us, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…. God had filled Peter with His Holy Spirit because Peter willingly crucified His flesh and submitted Himself fully to our Lord. We know every Christian has the Holy Spirit living i...

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Day 4

The reason Peter and John had been thrown into prison was that the religious leaders wanted them to stop proclaiming Christ. Peter boldly told the religious leaders that the man who had been healed (see Acts 3) was healed through the power and Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said in Acts 4:10, let it be known to all of you and to all the...

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Day 5

God had used Peter and John, not only to speak into a lame man’s life and see him healed by our Lord Jesus Christ, but God used them mightily to speak His Truth to the religious leaders. Be sure to read Acts 4:15–22, as God shows us how the religious leaders tried to figure out how they could stop Peter and John from proclaiming Jesus as the ...

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Day 6

God loves to give us the details that are important to help us grow in our faith in Him and His Word. We read in Acts 4:22, for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. Many might pass right by this thinking it is just a little more information about the healed man, but God placed it in His Wor...

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Day 7

Peter and John had been released, so they returned to their friends to tell them all that God had done in and through them. Take a moment and reflect on all God did in and through Peter, John, the healed man, his parents, and even the religious leaders. If something like that happened today, people would be posting on social media, calling ne...

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