[Darris McNeely] As we've been talking about acts for today's disciples and taking out lessons from the book of Acts for our lives today, there's one that struck out to me as I was teaching it here recently regarding the apostle Peter. In Acts chapter 2 beginning of verse 14 on the day of Pentecost, this great display of the Holy Spirit being given to the disciples in Jerusalem, tongues of fire, languages and all that is displayed there. In verse 14 it says that Peter standing up with the 11 raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea, all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words." And he begins this great sermon on the day of Pentecost. Peter, it says, stood up. Now, this was the same Peter who just a few weeks earlier had denied Christ three times.

After Christ said, "You're going to deny me." Peter vehemently said, "No, no, no, I will not.'' And he did. And if you remember the last and the third time that Peter denied Christ in the court to the High Priest, Christ turned and looked straight across the court at Peter, their eyes met and Peter was so ashamed. He just melted into the darkness, melted away. He was humiliated in front of the one person who he esteemed most of all, Jesus. Well, now more than seven weeks later, Peter stands up, he's a different person. Where he had been humiliated and in a sense taught a major lesson, now he stands up and he gives us a powerful sermon. Now he leads out in this way, as God's Spirit is poured out.

And I think that's the lesson for us to remember. There are times when we will dealt a setback. We will perhaps be humiliated. We will have to recognize our own personal limitations and we still have to show up. We still have to come back. You see, Peter just didn't go back fishing. He may have wanted to but he came back to the table. He came back to the job that he had been called to do, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. But now when he stands up, he has the power of the Holy Spirit, the very power that Jesus said that they would all receive as they waited for that day of Pentecost to come and when that spirit was poured out.

It is a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind that can help us sort through all of our own mistakes, all of our own missteps, and all of our own problems. It helped Peter to come to the point where he could stand up. He was a disciple. We are disciples. God's spirit can help us as well. Remember that. It's an important lesson for all of us who are disciples acting out the very work of God today.

That's "BT Daily." Join us next time.