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Identifying Ourselves with Scripture Instead of Lies

Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: "Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: "And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.""[Act 2:14-21 CSB]

Observations:
  • Who said what? 
    • Peter said, "Fellow Jews and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only nine in the morning. On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 'And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women and they will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
    • God says, "And it will be in the last days that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. I will even pour out my Spirit on my servants in those days, both men and women will prophesy. I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 
  • What other choices could have been made? 
    • Peter and company could have listened to their critics instead of relying on scripture.
    • Peter could have used scripture and the words of Jesus to point out the self-righteousness and the hypocrisy of their critics. Instead, he used it to identify who he was and what he and the other disciples were doing. 
    • God could have chosen to hide what He was doing in the last days. 
    • God could have chosen to be more specific about how long the "last days" would last. 
    • God could have chosen to give up on the world in the "last days" and keep His Spirit from being poured out. 
    • God chose to make salvation as simple as calling on the name of the Lord. He could have made it much more complicated. 
Applications:
Today, is it ever tempting to listen to lies about who we are and what we were doing instead of listening to scripture? EVERY SINGLE DAY I STRUGGLE WITH THIS! The enemy may not accuse me of being drunk, but he sure accuses me of a lot of other things in my thoughts (and to be honest, a lot of times I agree with him). It has taken the Holy Spirit my life-time to combat lies such as: 
  • "I'm not good enough" 
  • "I don't love God the way that I should." 
  • "Other people deserve God's blessings more than I do."
  • "My life was not in God's perfect plan for the world."
  • "If I'm not as perfect as Jesus was in my choices, I am missing out on God's best for me."
With truths from scripture such as: 
  • "I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. You are the Bride of Christ, that is more than 'good enough,' for He has made you holy, cleansing you through the washing of the water of the word... to present you to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless" (Isaiah 43:1 and Ephesians 5:25-27)
  • Through the blood of Jesus, I am capable of "loving the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength." (Mark 12:30)
  • "There is no one who is righteous, not even one. [...] but righteousness with God is through faith in Jesus Christ to ALL who believe, there is no distinction." [emphasis my own] (Romans 3:10 and 22)
  • "God knit me together in my mother's womb." (Psalm 139:13) 
  • "My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weaknesses." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
In truth, I am so thankful for Peter's example of someone who could find his identity in scripture and prophecy, even in the midst of critics, because their are many times when the critical voices/thoughts feel louder than God's truth in my own mind! 

Any other observations, applications, or thoughts? Feel free to share!
-Jordan
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