Thursday... What he intended didn't happen but what they intended did happen and they were surprised.

In my reading in Acts 12 this morning two words in verses 4 & 5 (NLT) jumped out at me. Here is what the verses said, "Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him." The first word is intended and the second is prayed.

Yes, things happen to us that are intended to imprison us, keep us in bondage and hurt us. The devil intends to harm us to get back at God. But, but is such an important word, but.

What do you do when bad is happening to you? Yes it is happening because someone intends to hurt you and bring you down. But when we have things happen to us a very good thing is to ask our church or maybe they hear that we were going through a bad time or we earnestly pray or have our family pray then the intention of others to harm us changes when we pray.

So do you pray during bad times or do you wallow in discouragement saying there is nothing I can do? Here is the key, if you have a relationship with God you can pray.

Now the story didn't end there. It seems that an angel came to Peter and he woke him up and said (vs. 7) "'Quick! Get up!' And the chains fell of his wrists. And he got dressed and followed the angel." He escaped.

Then verse 11 says, "Peter finally came to his senses. 'It's really true!' he said, 'The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders has planned to do to me!" Remember, "But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him."

And then (vs. 12), "he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer." He knocked on the door and (vss. 13-15) "a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, 'Peter is standing at the door!' 'You're out of your mind!' they said."

Of course they finally opened the door and saw it was him but there first response after earnestly praying was, "You're out of your mind!" They prayed and when their prayer was answered they were surprised but God still answered because they prayed.

Such a great story. Yes, when we earnestly pray something will happen and we will probably be surprised. So let's earnestly pray and leave the answer to God, Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Todays Beginning

Search This Blog