Boldness
Everything you need to be an effective worker in God’s Kingdom
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When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13 (NET)
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Oh, may this verse be said of me!
This takes place after Peter and John are taken by the religious leaders in Jerusalem and had to answer about their preaching of Jesus as the Messiah.
I guess Peter had always had a brashness about him, but we know that he lacked boldness on the night Jesus was betrayed (because, you know, he ran away and then denied Him three times).
But now he had the Holy Spirit empowering him.
Clearly, the Holy Spirit can help us be strong & courageous.
Hey, look at that, it’s a similar message to yesterday!
I promise I didn’t plan it that way.
Okay, so, something else the leaders notice in this verse is that Peter & John were not classically educated as members of the religious leadership. But they did get a few years of training at Jesus’ seminary.
Jesus is the best teacher you can get.
Between the empowering of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (remember, Jesus IS the Word), a believer can have all they need by just spending time with God in prayer & His Word every day.
Well, maybe not all you need, because we are made for community, and interacting with the Church (i.e., the Body of Christ) is necessary too.
The point I’m trying to make is that you don’t need a doctoral seminary degree to do God’s work…
We just need to be obedient.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.