While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

There have been times in my life where God has worked through me and others to do some pretty incredible things. One of these was putting together a Back the Blue rally in the middle of Covid. We got the Idaho Governor and Lt. Governor both to speak. We had a speaker from New York who was a Fox News contributor, and an expert witness in police tactics — he was a responding officer during the 9/11 attacks. We had an MC (master of ceremonies) from S. Carolina who MC’d the chief’s and sheriff’s training at Quantico every year, who had been both a Chief and a Sheriff. We had local sheriffs and police speakers too. We raised $43,000 in six weeks and rented out the largest event center in Idaho. It was a huge success!

After this event, many have given me the credit for pulling it off. However, I keep telling them it was God who did it. He told me to do it, and provided people daily to volunteer, donate, and spread the word. And so in my mind he gets all the glory!

And if I would have tried to take some for myself, I would have missed out on his long-term plans for our Back the Blue Idaho group. This month, we are meeting to brainstorm how to partner with our sheriff and police departments, legislative contacts, and New Day for Children to tackle stumbling blocks in the way of having homes in Idaho to care for sex-trafficked children.

Peter and John also knew that if they took the glory for this healing, they would be no different than the Pharisees and they would miss the opportunity to see God use it for his glory. So instead, they named Jesus and his power as the true reason for the healing. This led to calling out the people to repentance, as they needed to admit they helped crucify an innocent man.

Jesus was the reason for the healing. Jesus was the reason I was able to put on a great event for the sheriffs and police. And I was able to tell the officers afterwards that this was clear evidence that Jesus loved them so much — he caused all the pieces to come together in six weeks, when an event like this would typically take eight months to a year to organize.

What is Jesus calling you to do to promote his name? How will you give him the glory and pivot to the gospel like Peter and John did?

Lord, thank you for this great example of how to serve you and give you the glory. Keep me from pride and help me to humbly seek after you and direct those in awe of your works to your throne.