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When Rebellion is Obedience
from Treasure Bible Study Guide
by Phyllis
When Rebellion is Obedience
As Christians, we are commanded to share our faith. As Americans, we are admonished to keep our religion to ourselves. One of the most common places we feel this tug-of-war is in the workplace. It can often be a challenge to find opportunities to speak about God openly.
I was seven months pregnant and running late for my brandnew job in a brand-new state. I finally found parking and quickly waddled across campus. I arrived...breathless, red-faced, and sweating profusely. That was my embarrassingly awkward first impression on Becca. Yet, that was the night we became friends. American Sign Language (ASL), like any language, has varying accents for which geographic location plays a role. Being from Ohio, she picked up on my accent and asked what brought me to Buffalo. I told her we were there to plant a Deaf church. Little did I know how God would use that simple question to begin Becca’s journey toward becoming a Jesus follower!
Obedience and conformity are distinct. God requires our obedience to His righteous commands. The world pressures us to conform to its set of standards that is woefully debased. We must resist conformity and embrace radical obedience to God.
In Acts 4, we see Peter and John being told to cease and desist teaching in the name of Jesus. After miraculously healing a man, they were arrested. The next morning their opportunity to radically obey came in the form of a question.Their accusers challenged, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, gave an expert answer, “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ... whom you crucified...by Him this man is standing before you well” (Acts 4:10-11ESV).
The Sadducees couldn’t refute their testimony. The man who had been unable to walk since birth, was healed. So, they tried to silence their message with threats! But Peter and John rebelled against the gag-order (Acts 4:19b-20). Peter and John would not tap out.
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