People seeing Jesus in you

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus."                                           Acts 4:13.  New King James Version

The word uneducated here means that the disciples had not received formal instruction in the rabbinical schools. The word untrained, describes them as common laymen, not professional experts.

And yet, these 'common laymen,' were the chosen vessels to promote the Kingdom of God when Jesus ascended into Heaven. They were called to preach the Word and nothing was going to stop them doing this. They had a determination to carry out what Jesus had called them to do. And it would turn out to be very costly for them, as they carried out this ministry.

Many people today are Spirit-filled and, like the disciples, know the Word through and through. They have an anointing directly from Jesus and carry His authority. However, if they were to apply to certain Christian denominational institutes to become a vicar/pastor, they would be asked to undergo several years of training before they were set free to do this; and perhaps that may be the right thing to do. However, many serve as pastors today who have not been to theological colleges or had professional training. Yet they are being used greatly by God.

Many very influential people who have been used by God over the years, had no particular training; Charles Spurgeon, DL Moody, William Carey, Martin Lloyd-Jones and Hudson Taylor, spring to mind. And what about Smith Wigglesworth? None of these great men of God had undergone professional training and yet God, used them mightily. 

Jesus Himself chose, trained and ordained His disciples. One only has to look at scripture to see the training He gave them:

'(1) And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain and when He was seated, His disciples came to Him. (2) Then He opened His mouth and taught them.'  Matthew 5:1-2

Matthew describes The Sermon on the Mount in detail. It would have been impossible to cover all of this in one sitting. There are 107 verses recorded. No one could sit through a sermon of such length, and if they did, they would never be able to absorb it all. No, it must have been over a time that Jesus taught them.

Whatever the time-scale was, Jesus taught them and this is why the Sanhedrin noticed that they had been with Jesus. They had had no formal training but were spiritually eloquent in all they said.

Therefore, a person can apply for formal training at a theological college and that is all right. Likewise, a person who has done much personal training in the Word, but not had formal training, can still be eligible to pastor a church, and this too, is all right.

The main thing is knowing God and living His Word. The more time we spend with someone the more like them we become. This is why many married couples are so alike in what they do and think. It is also why, people who spend time together, possibly at work, pick up certain characteristics. So, spending lots of quality time with Jesus has got to benefit a person; they become more like Him and it shows itself to other people.

If you spend more and more time with Jesus, pretty soon, if not already, people will see that you're different. And what an honour that will be, for someone to realise that you have been with Jesus.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com