June 4

2 Samuel 22:1-23:23

Acts 2

Psalm 122

Proverbs 16:19-20

Acts 2:36-41

"So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!" Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?" Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles —all who have been called by the Lord our God."  Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation!" Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.

One of my favorite things about the Bible is reading about lives that have been transformed. God uses people who are flawed, sinful, weak and He transforms them with His strength and love. I love this because it means that we all have the opportunity to be used by God and do great things for His kingdom. 

We are reading about one of these transformed individuals today: Peter. Peter was someone who loved Jesus very much, and he believed with all his heart that Jesus was the Messiah. Peter followed Jesus and listened to His every word throughout His entire ministry. Yet Peter made some pretty big mistakes. The biggest one was when he denied knowing Jesus three times after He was arrested. Jesus was God in human form and Peter believed this... but when under pressure in a distressing time, Peter denied Him. Once he realized what he had done and remembered that Jesus predicted this would happen, he wept bitterly. 

Skip ahead to Acts 2. The Holy Spirit has just descended onto a group of believers and amazing things are happening. Many do not understand what is happening and assume that these people are drunk. Peter got up and in front of a large crowd gave a compelling and heart-felt message, proclaiming Jesus as Lord and telling the people what they must do in order to be forgiven. Because of Peter's message, three thousand people were added to the church in a single day.

How can the same Peter who was too afraid to admit that he even knew Jesus, now be giving a speech in front of a large crowd, telling them they must accept Jesus to be saved? The difference is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came into Peter's life and gave him the strength and courage to stand up for the truth. It didn't matter what mistakes he made or what sins he committed in the past. The Holy Spirit has to ability to transform anyone into someone who can be used greatly by God.