The Book of Acts | The Wrong People For The Job

Devotional

Day 1: Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Boldness

Peter and John stood before 71 religious elites in Jerusalem’s most intimidating courtroom. Their Galilean accents marked them as uneducated fishermen. Yet when questioned about healing a crippled man, Peter declared, “He was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ—the man YOU crucified!” The council marveled at their boldness, realizing these were ordinary men who’d been with Jesus. [14:48]

Credentials didn’t qualify them—the Holy Spirit did. God chose working-class disciples to shame Jerusalem’s intellectual elite. Their transformation proved resurrection power at work, not human achievement.

Where have you let “I’m not qualified” silence your witness? What simple act of obedience is God asking of you today—not because you’re ready, but because He’s with you?

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
(Acts 4:13, NLT)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal one area where He wants to use your ordinary story for His extraordinary purposes today.

Challenge: Text one friend about a time God helped you, using the phrase “Jesus did…” instead of “I did…”

Day 2: Recognized By His Presence

The same religious leaders who’d condemned Jesus now interrogated His followers. As Peter spoke, something felt familiar. The cadence. The conviction. The unshakable hope. Though they’d arrested Jesus’ disciples, they couldn’t arrest His influence. The verdict was unavoidable: “These men have been with Jesus.” [22:35]

Time with Jesus leaves marks. Not academic degrees, but love that disarms critics. Not eloquence, but authority that shakes prisons. The council didn’t applaud their theology—they recognized their Teacher’s imprint.

What daily habits imprint Jesus’ character onto your soul? When others observe your reactions under pressure, what would they conclude you’ve been “with” this week?

“Peter followed at a distance […] A servant girl noticed him […] ‘This man was one of Jesus’ followers!’ But Peter denied it. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said.”
(Luke 22:54-57, NLT)

Prayer: Confess one distraction that’s diluted your time with Jesus this week. Ask for hunger to return.

Challenge: Set a 7-minute timer today to sit silently with Jesus—no agenda, no requests, just presence.

Day 3: Prayers That Shake Rooms

The apostles didn’t pray for safety. Facing threats, they begged: “Lord, give us GREAT boldness!” As they prayed, the building shook. Not from earthquake tremors, but Pentecostal aftershocks. The same Spirit who resurrected Christ now resurrected their courage to preach despite prison. [29:43]

Boldness isn’t recklessness—it’s Spirit-empowered clarity. They didn’t seek conflict, but refused to let fear edit their message. Their prayer exposed priorities: advancing the gospel mattered more than avoiding discomfort.

What sanitized prayers have you been settling for? Where do you need to trade “Make this go away” for “Make me faithful here”?

“After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.”
(Acts 4:31, NLT)

Prayer: Name one relationship where you’ve avoided spiritual conversations. Ask for boldness to speak truth in love.

Challenge: Write down a fear holding you back from boldness. Burn or tear it up as an act of surrender.

Day 4: Leaking Vessels, Overflowing Courage

Peter received the Spirit’s filling at Pentecost—yet weeks later, needed fresh infilling. Like D.L. Moody said: “I leak.” The disciples didn’t rely on past anointings; they sought daily renewal. Each crisis became a fresh invitation: “Fill us again.” [40:00]

The Spirit isn’t a one-time download but a continual flow. Our cracks don’t disqualify us—they become channels for His power. Brokenness precedes shaking rooms.

Where have you been trying to minister from last month’s filling? What practical step will you take today to drink deeply from the Source?

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them […] ‘There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.’”
(Acts 4:8,12, NLT)

Prayer: Ask God to highlight one area where you’ve been operating in self-reliance rather than Spirit-dependence.

Challenge: Set three phone alarms today labeled “Be filled” to pause and pray for fresh Spirit infilling.

Day 5: From Denial to Declaration

Three denials. Three charcoal fires. Three years of fumbling discipleship. Yet the Peter who once swore, “I don’t know Him!” now stood before Christ’s killers declaring, “We CANNOT stop speaking!” The difference? Resurrection encounters rewrite identities. [23:56]

Jesus doesn’t waste our failures—He redeems them into testimonies. What Satan meant to silence you through shame becomes your megaphone. Your denial story becomes your declaration platform.

What chapter of your story have you labeled “too messy for ministry”? How might God want to repurpose your pain for someone’s healing?

“They called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, ‘Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard!’”
(Acts 4:18-20, NLT)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for one past failure He’s redeemed. Ask for courage to share that story this week.

Challenge: Tell one person today, “God’s not done with me yet” as a declaration of ongoing transformation.

Sermon Summary

Acts 4 sets the scene in a credential-obsessed world and lets the Spirit overturn the scoreboard. Peter and John walk into the most intimidating room in Jerusalem as fishermen from Galilee, not as scholars from Jerusalem. The council demands, by what power or in whose name did this happen. The Spirit fills Peter, and the text puts the whole weight on one name. Jesus heals the man. Jesus is the stone the builders rejected who became the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else. The council hears it straight.

Luke then lets verse 13 carry the punchline. The council sees boldness in men with no special training in the Scriptures and recognizes them as those who had been with Jesus. God chooses people who do not qualify on paper. That is not a bug in the system. That is the playbook. Moses stuttered. David was left in the field. Amos kept sheep and figs. Mary was a teenage girl from Nazareth. The disciples were regular guys. Paul later says God chose what the world calls foolish to shame the wise. Education has its place, but the text refuses to let credentials replace the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The story then flips Peter’s past into a new identity. The fire-side denier becomes the man the council now marks by this line. This man has been with Jesus. Attention forms a soul. Whatever owns a person’s week shapes their life. Years of eating with Jesus, being corrected by him, serving alongside him, spill out in the pressure room, and what comes out is Jesus. That cannot be faked.

When the council bans the name, the apostles do not bargain. They cannot stop speaking about what they have seen and heard. The church gathers and prays, and the prayer is not for ease. The church asks for great boldness to preach the word and for God to stretch out his hand with power. Boldness in this text is not a license to be a jerk. It is courage to speak the truth in love, knowing the gospel may offend, but refusing to let personal harshness do the offending.

God answers that prayer by shaking the room and filling them again. The Spirit’s indwelling settles who a person is, once for all. The Spirit’s filling supplies fresh power for what is in front of a person, again and again. As one old line puts it, because people leak. Acts 4 lands here. God uses ordinary people. Being with Jesus becomes the marker. Boldness becomes the request, and the Spirit becomes the difference.

Key Takeaways

1. God uses the unqualified on purpose [14:48] The Spirit loves to work through people the world overlooks because then the credit is unmistakably God’s. Scripture keeps that pattern front and center, from Moses to Mary to fishermen in Galilee. Feeling underqualified is not a barrier to calling, it is often the very doorway God walks through. Availability beats impressiveness when the Spirit fills a life. [14:48]
2. Presence with Jesus reforms identity [22:35] Time with Jesus does more than inform a mind, it reshapes a person’s center. The denier becomes the man identified as one who has been with Jesus, even by hostile eyes. Attention is spiritual formation, so what owns the week will own the soul. Let proximity to Jesus become the explanation others reach for when they cannot make sense of a life at peace. [22:35]
3. Pray for boldness, not comfort [29:43] The early church does not ask for the pressure to go away but for courage to stand under it. That kind of praying reveals priorities shaped by eternity, not ease. Boldness in Scripture is not bravado but Spirit-given steadiness to speak the gospel in love. When the assignment is costly, ask for power equal to the task, not a task equal to personal power. [29:43]
4. Let the Spirit fill again [37:22] Indwelling answers who a person is, but filling answers how today will be met. Fresh courage, clarity, and strength are normal needs because people leak. Dependence looks like repeated asking, patient waiting, and obedient stepping into the very places that feel beyond capacity. God delights to refill empty people who keep showing up. [37:22]
5. Boldness is truth with love [32:12] The gospel may offend, but personal harshness should not. Biblical courage refuses the keyboard-warrior swagger and chooses a Jesus-shaped tone that weds clarity to compassion. The goal is not to win arguments but to bear faithful witness. Let conviction travel in the posture of Christ so the offense belongs to the cross, not the messenger. [32:12]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:25] - Living Stones update
[03:58] - Why credentials do not qualify calling
[07:43] - Acts 3 healing recap
[08:52] - Opposition and arrest
[11:14] - Peter’s Spirit-filled defense
[14:48] - Ordinary men, no training
[17:16] - God’s pattern: Moses to Mary
[21:22] - Education cannot replace the Spirit
[22:35] - Recognized as those with Jesus
[29:43] - Praying for boldness, not ease
[32:12] - Boldness without cruelty
[37:22] - Shaken room, fresh filling
[40:29] - Three calls for today
[43:48] - Closing prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Acts 4:1-13, 29-31 (ESV)
1 Corinthians 1:26-27 (ESV)
Luke 22:54-62 (ESV)

Observation questions

In Acts 4:13, what two observations did the religious leaders make about Peter and John?
What specific request did the early church pray for in Acts 4:29-30 when facing opposition?
According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, what pattern does God follow when choosing people to use for His purposes?
How did Peter’s response to being recognized as a follower of Jesus in Acts 4:13 contrast with his earlier denial in Luke 22:54-62?

Interpretation questions

Why do you think the council was "amazed" by Peter and John’s boldness despite their lack of formal training? What does this reveal about the source of their confidence?
The sermon emphasized that "credentials cannot replace the filling of the Holy Spirit" ([21:22]). How does this principle challenge cultural assumptions about qualifications and influence?
Acts 4:31 describes the believers being "filled with the Holy Spirit" again after Pentecost. What might this repeated filling imply about our ongoing need for God’s power in daily life?

Application questions

The sermon highlighted examples like Moses, David, and Mary—people God used despite their perceived inadequacies ([17:16]). Where have you felt "unqualified" to serve God or share your faith? How might this story reframe your perspective?
The council recognized Peter and John as people who "had been with Jesus." What daily habits or rhythms could help others notice Jesus’ influence in your life this week?
The early church prayed for boldness, not comfort ([29:43]). What current situation in your life requires courage to speak truth in love rather than avoidance?
The sermon described the Holy Spirit’s filling as a repeated need because "people leak" ([39:32]). What practical step could you take this week to intentionally seek fresh spiritual renewal?
How might the distinction between "offending people with the gospel" and "offending people with personal harshness" ([34:22]) shape your conversations about faith?

Sermon Clips

27s

“"But this time, for Peter, it's different. Because this time, Peter isn't opening his mouth on his own. The passage tells us he was filled with the Holy Spirit. And out of him, as you saw, came this bold, clear, theologically sound message to these leaders. And he confronts them, and he uses scripture, and he proclaims Jesus crucified and risen to the very same group that killed him.”

42s

“"In many cases, what we're lacking is boldness. We're afraid to talk about Jesus at work. We're afraid to invite our neighbor to church. We're afraid to share someone share our story with someone. We're afraid to pray in public for someone. We're afraid to say something to a family member because we might offend them when really we're just insecure about it. So we stay quiet. The early church refused to stay quiet. When the pressure came, they didn't they didn't pray for the pressure to lift off of them. They prayed for the strength to stand up under that pressure.”

35s

“"There's an old preacher from the eighteen hundreds called d l Moody. He was once asked why he keeps praying to God to fill him with the spirit. Hadn't that already happened once in your life? Why do you keep asking God to fill you? They asked him. And he famously replied, because I leak. Because I leak. And some of you, you you just need to hear that today. You're not crazy. You're not losing your salvation. You're just leaking, bro. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit again. You need God to pour himself out on you in a fresh way.”

32s

“"Now we fast forward to Acts four. Peter is standing in front of that same council that was condemning Jesus, the same body of high priests that he once ran from. And what did they say about him? This man's been with Jesus. The thing that scared him the most is now the thing that defines him. Isn't that so cool? This is often what the Holy Spirit will do in our lives. He doesn't just give us a boldness, but gives us a new identity.”

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The Book of Acts | The Wrong People For The Job | Pastor Billy Humphrey