Acts 4:13 (AMP)

“Now when the men of the Sanhedrin (Jewish High Court) saw the confidence and boldness of Peter and John, and grasped the fact that they were uneducated and untrained [ordinary] men, they were astounded, and BEGAN TO RECOGNIZE THAT THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS.”

Once upon a time, it happened that two of the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John, were captured by the Sanhedrin of their days because they performed miracles and preached to the Jews in the name of Jesus. Still, despite the interference of the council of elders, these two spoke with so much confidence and boldness that the elders had to conclude that they couldn’t be like that if they had not been with a man – JESUS (cf. Acts 4:1-21).

The name “Christian” is not a tag you give yourself; in fact, the early disciples of Christ never called themselves Christians. It was the people who saw how they lived that gave them the name. The way the disciples lived then showed and proved one thing: that they had been with Jesus. One who hasn’t been with Jesus cannot live like Him.

What does being with Jesus mean? It means walking with Him daily and allowing Him, through His Word and Spirit, to transform you into His own image and likeness. You cannot be a Christian and not look anything like Christ; that would be an aberration. Being yielded to the working of God’s Spirit and living in absolute obedience to His Word makes one become like Christ.

In all of your pursuits in life as a believer, let this testimony be your greatest desire, that men can say of you that you live the way you do as evidence of one who has been with Jesus. Don’t be one through whom the name of the Lord is mocked. Your life speaks a lot about who you serve and worship. Be a good reference to God’s name in this world.

Confession: I do not take my walk with the Lord lightly and allow His Word and Spirit to shape me to become more and more like Him.

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