Compromise, fear, insecurity, these are powerful emotions that bind us from living the life Jesus intends for us. Peter must have claimed one of these emotions as he stood warming his hands by the fire along with the very officers who came to arrest Jesus.

His fear must have been so intense to deny he was ever with Jesus, “But he began to curse and swear, ‘I don’t know this man you are talking about”.  Mark 14:71.  We can relate to the heartache as Peter wept over his weakness.

How did Peter change?

Have you ever asked yourself how Peter changed?  How did he transform into a man God used mightily for the kingdom?

Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”  Acts 4:8-13

By the Power of the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to stand in front of the rulers of the people and elders, and declare the resurrection power of Jesus.

This time he doesn’t shrink back!

This time he acknowledges Jesus to the influential people of his day!

This time he stands in boldness!

Will you claim the Holy Spirit’s power in your life?

Women, let’s put away insecurity and be done with its power to push us to compromise.   Your education, your status, nor your personal abilities have anything to do with the power of God in you.  It is a spiritual discipline we all must practice to put away thoughts that conflict with the Word of God.  We are women who are equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let your mind dwell on these truths!

Jesus told the disciples a Helper would come after He ascended to heaven.  This Helper gives Peter, the disciples, and you and I the ability to live like Jesus.

It is time to claim His power,

Be filled with His power,

And walk daily in His power!

These promises were given to you!

As you read these promises, ask God to help you claim the Truth about the Holy Spirit in your life.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  John 16:12,13

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. I Cor 2:12

Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. I John 3:24

Dear Jesus, thank you for being the God who chooses to forgive and give us second chances.  Thank you for giving us the Helper, Your Holy Spirit, who gives us everything we need to live and look like You!  Oh Jesus, I desire to be filled with Your Spirit, to be used for Your purposes.  In Your power, I stand against the spirit of insecurity and fear, for Your glory alone.  Amen.