Acts 4:1 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled ; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
I was attracted by the good use of these words; 'saw' and 'perceived'. It is quite reassuaring that men will treat you based on what they think of you. No matter how you do the right thing, it is their perception of that thing that shapes their reaction.
If you look at that scripture, you'll find that what had led the priests to arrest these men was their thought that Peter and John were so unlearned that they believed in the resurrection of a man, Jesus Christ.
Yet what these men were doing was revealing the power of the Holy Spirit at a time when their bodily flesh was weakest! That is how we ought to achieve righteousness through faith. Standing with the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit.
It then goes on to say:
14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it
The word beholding can be taken to mean 'witnessing'. Thus the priests perceived them unlearned, saw the wonderful miracle and witnessed the beneficiary of the miracle alive, this resulted in them being confused; this confusion is what we call darkness in the world. It makes people blind lookers; for they see and perceive in different ways.
For us who are saved its the opposite. This is because we both see and perceive in the same Spirit. Jesus Christ is a proud lamp that shines for us who are in the light. We dare not be drawn to that same darkness as others, yet we ought to pull them to us; for in us is light, knowledge and wisdom. In Jesus Christ's Name, Amen!
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Seeing and perceiving with the Helper's knowledge...would that all men would know this Treasure. Love that word--PERCEIVE! Thank you for this divine devotion! :)
