Radical Obedience

We all know the well-loved scripture in Acts 1:8; “𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪; 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙈𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙅𝙚𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝.” Can you imagine the lively discussion that broke out among the disciples at Jesus’ final words? “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞?!”

Jerusalem was the city where an angry mob crucified Jesus, where animosity towards the King of the Jews was alarmingly high. Even saying the name of Jesus could bring some level of persecution. Judea outright rejected the ministry of Jesus, and Samaria was a barren wilderness of unclean heathens! The ends of the earth? Why that was full of Gentiles! I would imagine the disciples had a million different reasons, for not taking the gospel to any of these places.

Perhaps the baptism of the Holy Spirit was to supernaturally give the disciples the power to love, the power to be obedient, and the power to trust. Trust that the Father sees the bigger picture, and all we need is blind obedience! But what if the disciples didn’t act on those final, very important words of Jesus? What if they kept the gospel within the walls of the Upper Room?

Thankfully they didn’t keep it to themselves, and history was changed! Through the power of the Holy Spirit, millions heard about salvation through Jesus Christ. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺! Through radical obedience, the whole world was turned upside down upon hearing the gospel! God could see the bigger picture. He could see the ripple effect that would happen when a few everyday people, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, went to places they didn’t want to go to, and loved those they didn’t want to love!

Is God asking you to do something hard? Something you would rather not do? 𝐀𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 💕