Peter and John were brought to the temple rulers regarding the healing…
Acts 4:8-10
“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.”
After a night in custody, Peter was ‘prepared to make a defense to anyone who called him to account for the hope that is in you’. (I Peter 3:15)
There was no sign of the former Peter who would state three different times after the arrest of Jesus, ‘I don’t know the man.’ (Matthew 26:72)
This was a different Peter who was now filled with the Spirit of God. (Acts 2:4)
Yes, he was an eyewitness of a crucified and raised Jesus – as he clearly declares to the rulers. But he was also ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ and it was God’s Spirit that gave him this new ‘spiritual courage’.
Like Peter, I also have God’s Holy Spirit within me…
Ephesians 1:13
“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…”
Prayer.
Thank you Father for the Holy Spirit. I pray that like Peter, I would be filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit so as to be a courageous witness for Jesus today and every day. In His Great Name, Amen!