Lord,
our prayer is that you touch those that are Your chosen so that they rise up
and show love to the world as You say: “Love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
We pray that those that are not
your chosen be rebuked as it says in your Word: “You bore with them for many years,
And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not
give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.”
Acts
3 New
International Version
Peter
Heals a Lame Beggar
One day
Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in
the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the
temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those
going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter
and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”
So the man gave them his
attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter
said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
walk.” Taking
him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and
ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with
them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the same man who used to sit
begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder
and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks
to the Onlookers
While
the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came
running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to
them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this
surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had
made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and
you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a
murderer be released to you. You killed the
author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.
By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see
and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through
him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.
“Now,
fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled
what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would
suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that
your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
and that he may send the Messiah, who has been
appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must
receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised
long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses
said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among
your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut
off from their people.’
“Indeed,
beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these
days. And you
are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He
said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’
When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to
you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Acts
4 New
International Version
Peter and
John Before the Sanhedrin
The
priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter
and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed
because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the
resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and
John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.
But many who heard the message believed; so the number
of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
The
next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was
there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s
family. They had Peter and John brought before
them and began to question them: “By
what power or what name did you do this?”
Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account
today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked
how he was healed, then know this, you and all
the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you
healed. Jesus is “‘the stone you builders
rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to
mankind by which we must be saved.”
When
they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled,
ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been
with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed
standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and
then conferred together. “What are we
going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable
sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this
thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak
no longer to anyone in this name.”
Then
they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in
the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes:
to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help
speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
After
further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them,
because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was
miraculously healed was over forty years old.
The
Believers Pray
On
their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all
that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they
raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you
made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit
through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and
the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.
Indeed
Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this
city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will
had decided beforehand should happen. Now,
Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with
great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal
and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
After
they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
The
Believers Share Their Possessions
All
the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their
possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles
continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was
so powerfully at work in them all that there
were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or
houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to
anyone who had need.
Joseph,
a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of
encouragement”), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at
the apostles’ feet.
Psalm
2 New
International Version (NIV)
Why do
the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
The One
enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I will
proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have
become your father.
Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore,
you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
1. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of
Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Purchased Product License 01/09/2015
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