“Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned ” (Acts 5:26).
The apostles began to experience the same persecution that Jesus had suffered. Peter and John were put in prison, but during the night an angel came to open the doors and freed them (see Acts 5:19). With this, Jesus showed that there is no door that can block His presence from reaching His followers. There is no prison dark and distant enough that God cannot visit and, if He wishes, open it up, whether it be a physical, emotional, or spiritual prison. The apostles were freed with a purpose: to announce the gospel to the people. Because when God frees you from emotional prisons, it is with a purpose: for you to give testimony.
The disciples went out, and very early the next morning, they were in the temples preaching again. They were arrested once more, this time by the Jewish leaders, to question them. When you are freed from your “prisons” the enemy will continue to persecute you; but trust in God—He can free you as many times as necessary.
The apostles did not have any complaints; they had overcome in fear. In contrast, the Jewish religious leaders did not fear God but they feared the people.
Where there is no fear of God, other fears take control. The Sadducee accusers created the disciples with respect because they were afraid of being stoned by the crowd, and God gave them an opportunity to realize that they were fighting against supernatural powers. They did not believe in the existence of angels, but an angel came to free God’s faithful servants. The religious leaders did not know about the miraculous liberation of the apostles, and when they found one, they were filled with ire. But Gamaliel, a doctor in Pharisaic law, intervened and advised them to let the men go free to see if their teachings would eventually fade away.
If the apostles had decided only to meet together secretly, they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble, but they would not have experienced miracles. It is better to suffer for our faith than to suffer with a guilty conscience because we hid the message we have received. When you face opponents, say as Luther did, “Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen.”— The Great Controversy, ch. 8, p. 160.
Ask God to give you the same faith and courage that Peter and John had.
www.meditacionesdiarias.com
https://twitter.com/meditacionesdi1
http://www.instagram.com/meditacionesdiarias7
Taken from: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2023
“DAUGHTER OF MINE” Do Not Be Afraid
From: Arsenia Fernandez-Uckele
Collaborators: Xiomara Perdomo & Esteban Cortes
