Acts 4-6

The journey continues as the apostles speak boldly in the synagogues. They start to heal the sick and more people believed, five thousand was mentioned in chapter four! Rejoice!
Some verses caught my attention like the one that speaks about Peter and John's courage : "When they(the rulers, elders & teachers of the law) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."Acts 4:13 (NKJ)

unschooled yet they spoke with boldness and authority. What about me..educated and trained...?

Right after this it struck me that the people who were trying to put the Apostles behind bars and stop them from speaking the word of God is the very people who called themselves the teachers of the law, elders, rulers, even the high priest that many Jews revered! How hypocritical can these men get! They are going outrightly against God! But they were blinded by sin, darkness has filled their hearts and minds. They were losing their authority, their statues, the Jews' 'worship'...

Still, among all these hypocrites, there was one, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who stood up and said ".....Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."Acts 5:38,39(NIV)
Its a comfort to know that it is not mere men fighting but God as well. We have a strong and infallible "kao shan".. if God is for us, who CAN be against us!?

Its wonderful to know that I've a heavenly Father powerful as He is, one whom never fails and continues to love me.

The student study bible has this short write up entitled "the secret to the Early Church". Basically speaking about the power and sustenance of God and his Holy Spirit behind the work in the book of Acts, hence the great revival and miraculous signs and wonders. The write up said, as the church grew, the disciples gradually began to understand what Jesus had meant when he said, "It is not for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you(John16:7). Although Jesus himself departed, God became present in each one of them, making his activity in the world more widespread than ever before. The Spirit personally directed each major advance of the church...As presented in Acts, the Spirit was no vague but a living person who spoke, guided in decisions and fueled the church with the energy of faith.

:)