A Submissive HeartEnergized by obedience!Pursuit of God - desiring to live out conformance of His character to honor Him NOT for personal gainDavid and JobAct 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’Job 15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.———————————————————Act Act Sovereign Lord comes from the Greek word “des-pot’-ace”: an absolute ruler (“despot”): - Lord, master.Acknowledging God‘s absolute and total authority and control of all things!———————————————————Act Act Act Act These disciples are laying out the truth of what happened to Jesus – from the world‘s point of view a tragedy – from their point of view a triumph of God‘s sovereignty.———————————————————Act No request for reduction of threat but boldness and strength to carry out their commission.———————————————————Act ———————————————————Act God affirms their response with a supernatural outward occurrence - shaking of the physical place - to correlate with the inward refreshing of His Spirit.====One thing I love about this passage is that the believers were not frightened or discouraged by the trial Peter and John went through but rather energized and even exhilarated!They were committed to living their every day lives with a focus on and conformance to God’s character. That their efforts met resistance was an affirmation not a discouragement.It is easy to imagine that this group of people was somehow more “perfect“ than any other assembly at that time or sense. But the reality is, as we see them live out their lives in the balance of Acts and throughout the New Testament, we see that there were plenty of imperfect aspects to their existence.This affirms a principle that God has been pointing toward throughout the history of man: it is not the outward appearance or performance that he judges but the heart to pursue and know him.1Sa 7 … the LORD looks on the heart.”And He rewards that! This is the “perfection” God is looking for - a heart that is truly His, one that is seeking after Him.Mat 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.Ask, seek, and knock! Pursue a deeper and better understanding of God! Come talk to me – I’ll be glad to walk with you in that journey!