“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 2:38 NKJV
A Transformed Person
Have you ever felt like you needed to have a do-over? If so, you’re in good company. Peter knew this feeling well.
Peter was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, invited by Jesus Himself to leave his life as a fisherman to join Him during His ministry on earth. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter followed Him to the sham trial. The people in the area were openly and aggressively hostile to Jesus. Imagine what that must have felt like—to be surrounded by people who may choose to treat Peter the way they were treating Jesus at that very moment.
In Matthew 26 and Luke 22, we see that Peter chose to keep a low profile. He wanted to go unnoticed by the angry mob. That didn’t work for long though—three different people recognized him as a follower of Jesus and asked him about it. Each of the three times, Peter denied ever knowing Jesus.
If we skip ahead in Scripture, though, we find Peter doing the exact opposite. In Acts 2, Peter is standing in front of a big crowd, filled with people who may persecute him. Rather than denying knowing Jesus, he proclaims the secret to life: repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and receive the Holy Spirit.
This is risky. What will people think? What if they turn on him the way that they did Jesus? Yet, he was bold anyway. He was a transformed person compared to who he had been earlier in the story.
How did Peter transform? He was restored by Jesus. He also received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Two major things happened between these passages of scripture: Jesus visited Peter, and with grace, restored him. Secondly, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven for the followers of Jesus. With the Holy Spirit came power, empowering the believers to live bold, transformed lives (Acts 2).
Many of us face moments like this: moments where the right answer is boldness for Jesus, but the easy answer is to keep our heads down. What will people think? What will they do?
Here’s some great news: we’re never alone. We don’t have to be bold on our own. The Holy Spirit is with us every day, giving us the power to be bold and transformed. We can walk out our newness each day with His help.
You can start today. Boldness is now. The Holy Spirit is ready to walk with you.
Share your faith: no one is out of God’s reach. If His mercy was offered to the crowd who murdered Jesus, it’s available to everyone.
Share your faith: What are you waiting for? Turn from your sins, plan to get baptized, and commit to telling others about God’s redemptive love!
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for giving me the gift of Your Holy Spirit! There are many things I can’t do on my own, but You’ve sent me Your Spirit to lead me and to help me. Holy Spirit, please empower me to be bold today. Give me eyes to see opportunities to share the Gospel, and the courage to do it well. I am so grateful for You. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Note after sharing the devotional: Yup, I’ve needed quite a few do-overs in life, not just over small decisions but regarding life paths on which I spent whole seasons or eras. I’m at that point again where I’ve needed yet another one, and I believe I finally got a “yes” to my praying for it at this particular juncture. The good thing though is, each time I hit this juncture, I learned something new that was also significant. Refer to yesterday’s post for more details. I’m grateful for Jesus’s transformation. Without it (or Him), I don’t change; I cannot change. But with it (and with Him), anything is possible.
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27, NKJV
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Philippians 1:6, NKJV
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