5/14/08 "Ordinary to Extraordinary!"

[D.Lang]

S Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and
realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished
and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.


O After speaking to the Sanhedrin about their acts of faithfulness,
and works to heal the crippled beggar. The leaders realized the
difference they saw in these two men. They took note at the boldness
of Peter as he spoke and realized that they were nothing more than
ordinary, unschooled men. They were astonished at this, but soon
realized these men had walked along side of Jesus. Jesus brought a
true element of unsettling to them, and more than anything it appeared
that they had fear that they tried mask. It was though they knew Jesus
held power, they just would not lay claim to it being from God, and
Jesus as God. They couldn't grasp it because they weren't with Him!
Peter, John and the Apostles presented an uncertainty also to the
Sanhedrin and all of the religious leaders. They did not know what to
do with them because they were just ordinary men with an defiant,
extraordinary call upon them.


A I too am just an ordinary man, but through Christ I was reborn
from my past to my present. Through my salvation I am restored and
equipped to do work far bigger than I ever could have imagined. Peter
and his brothers were fishermen, they lived simple lives and didn’t
need to think about something as big as confronting the Sanhedrin with
the gospel. That’s scary just imagining that! We all go from ordinary
to extraordinary through our time with Jesus. He changes us from the
inside out, and suddenly our ordinary lives look so different to
others. People suddenly take note this…and it’s all because we have
been with Christ.


P Lord, You have changed, restored and renewed me. Your work is so
evident in Your people when they are sold out for You. I am grateful
that plain old ordinary people look different to others when we walk
in Your shadow. Please continue to strengthen all I set out to do in
Your name. Let me be a testimony to other ordinary people that You can
do great works through us, even when we may not even believe it
ourselves. Thank You for Your word and faithfulness to complete the
good works You begin in us. Amen