Speak Bold Be Bolder | Devotional | Acts 4-29-31

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. — Acts 4:29-31 So Peter and John, who were previously arrested, have now been released. And they have returned to their friends and recounted everything that happened. And it appears that all the followers were a little surprised, maybe because they didn't expect them to return. In fact, the last time a trial of this type was held, a man was arrested, tried, beaten, sentenced, and crucified. So, this time the followers are not only ecstatic but erupt into a grateful and spontaneous prayer because they are pretty excited that God is using to perform miracles and preach the truth. But notice the focus of the prayer. The focus is on speaking the word with boldness. You see, they lived in a time where the religious and political influencers could not tolerate the truth. The truth was too problematic for their programs, plans, policies, procedures, and positions to handle. Therefore instead of embracing the truth that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and in his name he was healing people, they opted for silencing that truth. What the Council wanted was silence, not the truth, and this is why they commanded Peter and John not to speak about Jesus. But they refused. Leaving unharmed, they return even more emboldened and ready to speak even bolder in his name. We live in this time. A time where many are confused by what is the truth. And a few big entities are spinning the storyline. They do this because they have their programs, plans, policies, procedures, and positions. So they prefer not to hear the truth, but advance their version of the truth that advances their position. Therefore they want to distort, dismiss, silence, and cancel anything that opposes their position. And what followers need to do, is the same thing the disciples do here — preach the truth and pray for boldness. We should be praying right now for bold voices. God would use men and women to speak God's truth boldly in a world that is desperate for the truth. So today, don't pray that things get back to normal — pray for boldness. And let's invite Jesus to shake things up and show us miraculous things. ASK THIS: Are you ready to live bolder? Why or why not? DO THIS: Be bolder with the message of truth. PRAY THIS: God, give me the gift of boldness. Make me a bolder witness. Give me one opportunity to speak your truth a little bolder today than I have before. PLAY THIS: Ain't No Grave — Bethel Music. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller