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Acts 4 by Jennie, age 20, from Sweden UNDER ATTACK Read Psalm 27:1-3. Think about these words of David. This was not just something he wrote to make it sound good, he wrote about things he had experienced himself when he was out in battle; he knew this to be true. He knew that even though he could get hurt or killed, God was with him, and no matter what happened to him he would be in Gods hands. How do you feel about this? Do you know that you are safe? What do you fear? Read Acts 4:1-3. John and Peter preached the good news; they did what God had asked of them. What happened to them as a result of this? How would you react if you were in their shoes? If God told you to do something, and then you had to suffer for doing it - what would you do? How would you react? It might not seem right that we have to suffer for obeying God, but Jesus actually says that this will happen to us when we follow him. In John 15:18-20 Jesys says that if the world hated and persecuted him, they will hate and persecute us to. We should not be surprised if we have to suffer for following the Lord. How do you feel about this? I have noticed that often when you start following what God asks you to do, right away something goes wrong. You can feel that there is someone there trying to mess things up for you. Peter and John had just started to preach the good news when they were seized - Satan wanted them to stop and tried everything to discourage them. It is the same with us - Satan tries everything he can to discourage us when we follow God, because he feares Gods power in us. So what did the disciples do? Jesus had told them they would suffer for his name - and now they did. Can you think of anything Jesus said that might have encouraged them in their situation? Read Matthew 28:20 and John 14:1,27. Jesus gave us many promises. He will be with us when things are hard. If God is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31)? Talk to God about what you've read today. Talk to him about your fears, about how you suffer, about what things are attacking you right now. Ask him to show you his promises and give you the strength and courage you need. Write down what he says to you, and thank him that whatever we face, he is greater. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE RESULTS OF SUFFERING It is not easy to go through suffering. Whether it is suffering for following God or suffering from other things - it is not easy. It was not easy for John and Peter to be in jail. The people around them saw that they were put in jail for believing in Jesus. What do you think would be a normal reaction when seeing this - to get the courage to believe, or not to? Read Acts 4:3-4. For some reason, the fact that the disciples were put in jail made people believe in Jesus. Why do you think that happened? Why do you think people started to believe when they saw that others who believed were put in jail? Read Acts 4:5-22. How did John and Peter respond when being put in jail? Look at v.13. The priests expected to see fear and regret in John and Peter. What did they see instead? Why do you think John and Peter didn't respond as expected? Read v.18-20 again. Where did John and Peter get their courage and knowlegde from? After reading these verses, why do you think people started to believe in Jesus when they saw Peter and John in jail? Through the disciples dependence on God in their suffering, and through their faithfulness, faith was created in the people around. Think about how you handle suffering in your life. When others look at you, will it give them faith? Do you depend on God, and do you believe him to help you? Ask God to help you stay true to him through your suffering. Ask him for help to encourage others through your example. There's an old song that goes like this: How great is our God! Sing with me how great is our God! And all shall see how great, how great is our God! We can show Gods greatness with how we live - in good times and in bad times. Ask God to make this true in your life.
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