A Submissive Heart

Energized by obedience!

Pursuit of God - desiring to live out conformance of His character to honor Him NOT for personal gain

David and Job

Act 13:22 (ESV)

22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’

Job 13:15 (KJV)

15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

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Act 4:23 (ESV) When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

Act 4:24 (ESV) And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

Sovereign Lord comes from the Greek word “des-pot’-ace”: an absolute ruler (“despot”): - Lord, master.

Acknowledging God‘s absolute and total authority and control of all things!

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Act 4:25 (ESV) who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

Act 4:26 (ESV) The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

Act 4:27 (ESV) for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

Act 4:28 (ESV) to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

These disciples are laying out the truth of what happened to Jesus – from the world‘s point of view a tragedy – from their point of view a triumph of God‘s sovereignty.

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Act 4:29 (ESV) And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,

No request for reduction of threat but boldness and strength to carry out their commission.

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Act 4:30 (ESV) while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

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Act 4:31 (ESV) 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.

God affirms their response with a supernatural outward occurrence - shaking of the physical place - to correlate with the inward refreshing of His Spirit.

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One thing I love about this passage is that the believers were not frightened or discouraged by the trial Peter and John went through but rather energized and even exhilarated!

They were committed to living their every day lives with a focus on and conformance to God’s character. That their efforts met resistance was an affirmation not a discouragement.

It is easy to imagine that this group of people was somehow more “perfect“ than any other assembly at that time or sense. But the reality is, as we see them live out their lives in the balance of Acts and throughout the New Testament, we see that there were plenty of imperfect aspects to their existence.

This affirms a principle that God has been pointing toward throughout the history of man: it is not the outward appearance or performance that he judges but the heart to pursue and know him.

1Sa 16:7 (ESV)

7 … the LORD looks on the heart.”

And He rewards that! This is the “perfection” God is looking for - a heart that is truly His, one that is seeking after Him.

Mat 7:7-8 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Ask, seek, and knock! Pursue a deeper and better understanding of God! Come talk to me – I’ll be glad to walk with you in that journey!