Acts 5:21, 42 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

What strikes me about this is that the apostles were obedient to what God told them, regardless of what human authorities said. As Peter said, “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29) If this were just rebellion against authority, which is actually pretty common all around us, then there would be no benefit. After all, God is the ultimate Authority, and plenty of people rebel against Him! It isn’t rebellion, but a recognition of priorities, of genuine authority. As Martin Luther declared, when on trial in the Diet of Worms (that sounds really strange in English, but a Diet is a major legal conference, and Worms is the German city in which it was held), “Here I stand. I can do no other.” Many, many saints down through the centuries have made that choice, regardless of the consequences. When we understand the difference between time and eternity, and that God has opened a way for us to spend eternity with Him, delivered from the consequences of our sin, then the choice becomes both clearer and easier to make. The problem is, our understanding becomes clouded at times, and our flesh and the world loom big in our awareness. As the chorus of a hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” When we are rightly fixed on Jesus, then obedience becomes our first choice all the time, and the results are glorious.

I am both preaching to myself and speaking from experience here. I haven’t been faced with martyrdom or even imprisonment, but I have encountered social censure and financial hardship because of my obedience to God. The social censure showed me who was listening to God and who wasn’t, and the financial hardship showed me what I genuinely needed and what I didn’t. Sadly, there have been times when my obedience has been far less than perfect, and I have encountered the consequences of that. Thankfully, repentance is always available! I think my biggest failures have been in failing to speak out what the Lord was saying, because of fearing people’s responses more than I feared God. That’s certainly foolish! This morning I have the privilege of speaking to an interdenominational prayer meeting, and the message I have been given is a strong challenge to personal openness to the Holy Spirit, so that He may pour revival out on this region and this nation. By no means are all of the participants Pentecostal/Charismatic! I am to speak in love, but I am in no way to draw back from speaking the truth as God speaks it to me. Today and every day I am to obey God above and before any other obedience.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. Help me indeed be fully obedient in all things at all times, so that Your will may be done for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!