Daily Bread 12-14-16

Acts 12:17-19

17 But he, beckoning them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go and show these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.

18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter.

19 And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea, and there abode.

Peter had been put in a prison because Herod was trying to destroy many of the people of the Church. Herod had killed off many of the followers of Jesus, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews(claiming to believe in God but not in Jesus Christ), he decided to keep on going. He had him guarded on all sides, assuring that he would not be taken nor escape in the night. He did all a man could do to keep Peter imprisoned. It was then that prayer in the Church began and continued for Peter. The night before he was going to deliver Peter to the Jews to be killed, as he was sleeping between two guards, bound with two chains. In the night and angel came and shined a great light on Peter. He told him to get up and get dressed as the chains fell from his body. As they escaped from the prison it says that a gate opened on its own. when Peter had escaped and had time to think about it, he new that the Lord had sent an angel to deliver him from prison. As he went to tell his brethren he stopped at a house where they were praying to show the that God had delivered him. At first they did not believe him but as he showed himself to them, in the flesh, they believed. The next day the soldiers could not find Peter and Herod was coming to take him and present him to the Jews. Herod did not find him and, after looking over the keepers, he commanded them to be put to death. Now Herod continued on and was getting quite used to being spoken of as a god. He knew of God but was accepting praises from the people that he, himself was a god. AS the people shouted out that he had a voice of a god , and not of a man, and he accepted it, the Lord was become angry. The angel of the Lord hit him so hard it killed him because he didn't give God the glory for all of the things that were going on. It says that he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. But the word of God grew and multiplied!! It was spread abroad by the disciples and Apostles and still is today.

This is a great story of the power of God in many aspects. It shows that no matter what the hardship, and no matter how the world thinks it has us imprisoned, God can deliver us. Even in the hardest of situations, he can deliver us. The rest of those around us, if they are against God's people and God's will? They will be taken care of by our Lord. You see, The soldiers were maybe not evil men but they were followers of an evil man(the world), and as the word of God says, the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch. They were persecutors of God's people and they were taken out by their own leader. Next, as the leader grew in worldly power he forgot about God as well and started taking on the title of a god, he was taken out as well by the angel of God. The men of God continued spreading the Gospel, and the ones who tried to persecute them were taken care of in their own ranks and by God. The message behind this story is simple; No matter what we are going through we must continue to praise God and believe in this wonderful Gospel. we are to keep pushing even when we believe we are surrounded as God will come and deliver us. We must take on the form of God's people while calling on Christ around every corner. Worshipping him and singing praises unto his name. God will take care of each and every one of those who suppress and imprison us, and will also take care of those responsible for this imprisonment. God has got this and, even though we may stumble at times and need his forgiveness ourselves, he will bring us out victorious and he will silence our oppressors. Let us be right with God and follow him in his Son Jesus Christ!! Have a great day!!!