Acts 4:23-31 (click to view Scripture below)
It doesn’t take much to see that, around the world, followers of Jesus will need boldness as we face the challenges that seem to arise daily and threaten the spread of the Gospel. The early disciples prayed for boldness as they faced opposition to the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The response from God was a mighty display of His power that shook the room where they were praying. (v 31)
Not only do we need boldness to meet challenges, we need boldness to get out of our routines and safety zones to spread the Good News. Many years ago, former ChildHope President Phil Schmidt and I were in Nicaragua visiting schools. A young boy named Juan Carlos (pictured below) gave Phil a letter to take back to the US to mail. It was simply addressed to Tract Company in the United States. Juan Carlos was going to use his vacation time at Easter to ride a donkey up into a remote region to preach the Gospel to children. He wanted some gospel tracts for children that he could use in his preaching campaign. We knew this letter would never get the response he wanted, so Phil purchased some tracts and had them delivered to Juan Carlos. 
Juan Carlos got his tracts and headed to the community of Rio San Juan. There he preached the Gospel and with the help of those gospel tracts, over 100 children and 12 adults accepted Jesus that week. The Spirit-empowered boldness of Juan Carlos, a young ChildHope student evangelist, is a simple reminder that boldness is never outdated and certainly never in short supply when the Holy Spirit is present and depended upon.
Vice President, ChildHope
Prayer: Lord, stir me by the power of your Holy Spirit to be bold like those early disciples in Jerusalem who boldly proclaimed the Gospel. Give me boldness like Juan Carlos to speak the Good News to those nearby who still need to hear the Gospel that transforms lives.
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Acts 4:23-31 (ESV)
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,
“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
See other devotionals in this series.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.