Peter and John’s freedom
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Easter Saturday
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040613.cfm
Acts 4:18-20
So they called them back and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
This happened to Jeremiah, too. “His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I cannot hold it in!”
But Jeremiah was seized with fear and sorrow as he was persecuted. “Cursed be the day I was born,” he said. And we feel nothing but freedom. We speak in any language called for, and God’s word flies out of our mouths. We touch a man, and he is healed. The priests arrest us, and then release us the next day.
They tell us not to speak, but we cannot NOT speak. It’s not our words, it’s not our energy. We have surrendered our bodies to the Holy Spirit, as Jesus did. But to be captive to God is to find our place in the universe. No longer do we need to make anything for ourselves, or make ourselves into anything. We were made for this.
I (Peter) was afraid but my fear is replaced by Holy Spirit Joy. I feel my fear return, but its normal residence is full and there is no place for it to sit or stand. It cannot take hold. It leaves again, I feel it leave, and I give thanks to God.
This freedom from fear frees me to live. Free to give, free to be, free to love you * …
My strength and courage is the Lord. You are our savior, and I hear joyful shouts of victory in our tents. Give thanks unto the Lord, for his mercy endures forever. We do not die, but live and declare the glory of the Lord. Give thanks unto the Lord. Let us enter your gates of justice and give thanks, run in the paths of your commands. Your mercy endures forever.
Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxoYrqEmoY
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1190
