Acts 4:13   Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

We all can make excuses for the reason we don't share Jesus with others.  I'm shy, I don't know what to say, I don't have enough Bible knowledge, I don't have anything special to offer.

Peter and John could have said the same things.  They were uneducated.  They were common.  But they had one thing that compelled them to tell others about their faith.  THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS.

Have you been with Jesus?  That is all you need.  Simply tell others about your experience with Him.  How has He touched you, healed you, and changed you?  

The only thing you need is the only thing they needed.  You have this in common with Peter and John:  You have been with Jesus.

John 3:14-16   And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus was raised up on the cross to die in your place and mine.  He took all our sin, yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's too.  Why?  So that we will believe in Him.  Why?  So we will not perish, but have eternal life.  Why?  Because He loves us enough that He would rather die in our place than live in heaven without Him.

​What is your response?

Revelation 7:9-10   After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

You and I didn't get the opportunity to wave palm branches on the first Palm Sunday.  But those who were there didn't understand the message and mission of Jesus.  They thought they were proclaiming Him as their king who would defeat Rome and give them their independence.  They thought Jesus would make them the top world power in the place of Rome.  And they were wrong.  Jesus came to establish a different kind of kingdom.

If you and I trust in Jesus, we will be in that final crowd, waving palm branches, dressed in white praising God.  We will be a part of every tribe, every nation, every language, and every color standing before the throne.  But we will all have one message:  “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,"

It is God's children who will be waving those palm branches and praising God.  Will you be there?

Leviticus 9:22-24   Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.  And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.  And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

While there is no guarantee that you will see God's glory in THIS way, blessing people in the name of Jesus will always bring glory to God.  As God then allows us to see Him working in our lives, and through our lives, we do see His glory.  Are you blessing people in your life?

Jude 20-23   But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

James said that we are to "keep [ourselves] unstained by the world."  But how do we do that?  By building our faith in Christ.  How do we do that?  By praying as the Spirit directs rather than praying for our own interests, by waiting on Christ's will and doing it, and by having mercy, or compassion, on those who are struggling with their faith.  We are to spend our days "snatching them out of the fire", sharing Christ with all who will listen.

We must "show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh."  In other words, as we care for others, we are to love them, but hate the sin that surrounds them.  We must be careful to keep from becoming a part of their sin, even as we help them change their old way of life for new life in Christ.

1 John 3:16   By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 

There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.  Jesus has done all that is necessary.  If we truly understand that, we will want to obey Him out of love and gratitude.  We will be willing to lay our lives down as He laid His down for us.

Mark 8:29   And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

Jesus had just given His disciples an object lession in seeing as He sees.  He touched a man a second time to heal his blindness.  The disciples had been "touched" by Jesus, but they needed a deeper experience.  They needed a second touch.  Then their eyes were opened, and Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the long-awaited Messiah.

Do you see with the eyes of Christ?  Do you see lost and dying people as He sees them?  If you do, you will willingly go to them and share the love of Jesus as He did.  Perhaps you need to ask Him for a second touch.  Ask Jesus to give you His eyes to see people as He sees them.  Then go and give them the opportunity to see Him, too.

Jeremiah 2:12-13   Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils:  they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

God's people chose to do life on their own, trying to fix things in their own strength.  But God said that is like building broken cisterns, or wells, that will never hold water, while He is holding out an unlimited supply of fresh, cold water that will satisfy you forever.  It sounds a bit foolish, doesn't it?

Compare that picture to this one:

Psalm 91:1-2   He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Too often we think we have to build our lives by ourselves.  But God give us shelter, and He provides the nourishment.  All we need to do is to give up trying and instead to gratefully accept His free gifts!

Revelation 2:2-5  “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 

The church at Ephesus was commended for doing some very good things.  But then God gave them a warning that He would not allow the church to continue if they didn't repent.  What did they need to repent?  They had abandoned the love they had at first.  God wasn't their sole reason for living.  Other things had become more important to them than their devotion to God.

How about you?  Is Jesus still your first love?

John 6:66-69   After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Many disciples left Jesus when He spoke about Himself being the bread of heaven.  After all, it seemed gruesome to talk about eating His body and drinking His blood.  Of course Jesus was speaking figuratively, but most people in His audience were offended.

Peter realized that there was nowhere else to go.  No one else had words of eternal life.  Only Jesus.  Do you know this Bread of Life?  Have you received His gift of eternal life?  There is no other place you can go to receive this life.  Only Jesus.