Today’s Food for the Soul: Acts Chapters 22-23
Be Bold and Courageous for Jesus
Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” (Acts 23:1, NKJV)
The Apostle Paul stood bravely before the hostile Jewish Council, and with sincerity, he confidently declares that his conscience is clear. He defended that he was innocent and did not come to Jerusalem to stir up a rebellion and violence. However, the Apostle Paul did not deny his intentions to share the Gospel and his testimony about the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection. He even boldly declared a detailed story about how he met the Lord Jesus and why he was preaching about Him. The Apostle Paul’s moral clarity, together with his intention to bring people to the Lord, gave him the freedom and courage to speak boldly even when his accusers were very hostile.
Do you have confidence in the Lord? Do you have the courage to boldly declare the Lord Jesus Christ even if it will cost you your relationship with family, friends, and co-workers? Would you stand for Him in front of hostile people?
Be reminded of what the Lord Jesus Christ declared in Matthew 10:33, “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Pray to have the boldness and the courage to declare the Gospel to all people, whatever the cost, and lift to God all those people to whom you have testified – about His love, mercy, and grace that they may also receive the salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord!
– Contributed by Ptr Neil Marlon Crisostomo