The Real Deal. Am I?

BIBLE BITES

www.heaven4sure.com

 They Were the Real Deal. Am I?

The Apostle Peter wasn't hanging his head, avoiding eye contact with the influential members of the Great Jewish Council. He spoke with confidence and with power. He wasn't embarrassed to speak up for Christ. The powerful members of the Sanhedrin took their positions in the room and then Peter and John were ushered in, along with a man who had been healed. 

You could have heard a pin drop as the session was called to order.  The chairman speaks: "Order! Order! Now shall we proceed? By what power or by what name have you done this?" That's all Peter needed. "You leaders of the people, we understand you want to know more about how this man was healed. It's as simple as this: he was healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. The power is in Christ whom you have rejected. There is absolutely no other way of salvation."

Can't you see the Council members fidgeting and swallowing hard, wondering how to respond to such a powerful, straightforward but respectful message? "I am baffled. These men are just Galilean fishers. They are uneducated men who have never been trained in the Scriptures. Yet, there is something about them we can't ignore. These men not only know what they are talking about, they believe it too. They must have been with that Jesus or else they could never ever speak with such confidence and certainty; they could never behave this way unless they had been with Him. They're not even blinking or wincing or cowering in fear before us. These men are the real deal."

Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John

and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men,

they were amazed,

and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.

(Acts 4:13 NASB)

Is it obvious to others that I am real? There are too many people who SAY they love the Lord, who SAY they are Christians or who SAY they are saved - but the evidence is skimpy at best! It all seems too light and fluffy - shallow. Someone asked: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would they find enough evidence to convict you?"  At school or college, have your peers concluded that you really do belong to Jesus? Have your colleagues chatted among themselves that there is something very real about your faith? Is there a very distinct boundary between you and your unsaved friends that leaves no question about your identity as a Christian? 

May the Lord help us to walk and talk, grow and glow, and live and give in such a way that it will be unmistakeably clear that we belong to Christ - that we are REAL.

"Preserve me, O Lord, from blurring the boundaries, hiding my light, obscuring my testimony or obstructing the Gospel. May my witness before everyone with whom I rub shoulders today be clean and clear for Christ. I want to please and honour You this day in my behaviour, appearance and conversations." 

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today,

Warmly in Christ,

Peter Ramsay