{"id":21039,"date":"2022-04-10T22:00:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T05:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_12_1-10-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-04-05T22:25:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T05:25:08","slug":"acts_12_11-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts_12_11-25\/","title":{"rendered":"In Case You’re Tested By This"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 12:11-25 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Acts 12:11-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 12:11-12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 11-12:\u00a0 Peter now realizes that the deliverance from prison he was dreaming about was actually real.\u00a0 His first instinct is to go to the house of Mary, mother of John-Mark, where many are praying for him.\u00a0 Peter wants those praying for him to see for themselves the incredible deliverance God made possible for him, knowing how much encouragement that would bring to them.<\/p>\n

Acts 12:13-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-16:\u00a0 Acts is not without its moments of humor.\u00a0 Funny how Rhoda answers the door, hears Peter, tells everyone in the house that Peter is outside, but doesn\u2019t open the door!\u00a0 I wonder if we do that with Jesus sometimes?\u00a0 We hear Jesus knocking on our door, we even tell others that we think He is knocking, but we never get around to opening the door.\u00a0 When Jesus knocks, let\u2019s be sure not only to recognize His voice but also to open the door and let Him in.\u00a0 \u201cHere I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.\u201d (Revelation 3:20)<\/p>\n

Acts 12:17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the brothers about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
\n<\/em>
\nOn verse 17:\u00a0 Peter didn\u2019t take God\u2019s incredible deliverance for granted.\u00a0 Peter knows that the risk of him being executed for his faith is still looming and he doesn\u2019t want to put him or his church family in any further danger.\u00a0 So Peter leaves for an undisclosed place, possibly to hide temporarily.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0when God rescues you from great trouble or temptation, don\u2019t take His rescuing for granted.\u00a0 Be careful to avoid situations where you can easily get into the same trouble once again<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Acts 12:18-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 22:\u00a0 Likely the only reason the people of Tyre and Sidon were calling Herod a god and not a man was not because they truly believed he was a god, but because they depended on Herod for their food supply and were flattering him, stroking his ego (v20).\u00a0 Yet Herod takes their praises seriously.<\/p>\n

Acts 12:23 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 23:\u00a0 Interestingly, Luke\u2019s account here of Herod\u2019s sudden death is corroborated by the ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, who was not a Christian.\u00a0 In Book XIX, chapter 8 of his book\u00a0Antiquities\u00a0<\/em>(http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/2848\/2848-h\/2848-h.htm#link192HCH0008<\/a>), Josephus mentions that the crowd in Caesarea flattered Herod with shouts about him being a god and that Herod did not reject this flattery.\u00a0 Josephus also says that at that moment Herod looked up and noticed an owl, which he believed was a sign of bad luck.\u00a0 According to Josephus, Herod began experiencing severe pain in his belly and died five days later.<\/p>\n

Contrast the way Herod accepted the claims of divinity from the crowd with the way that Peter would stop people repeatedly from bowing down and worshiping him (see Acts 3:12; 10:25-26).\u00a0 It reminds me of Proverbs 27:21 which says, \u201cThe crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but a person is tested by the praise they receive.\u201d \u00a0You and I will be tested from time to time by the praise people give concerning us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0May we always respond to praise in healthy and humble ways.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 12:24-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the word of God continued to increase and spread.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 24-25:\u00a0 While Herod dies, the church continues to grow and the word of God continues to spread.\u00a0 Human kings can appear invincible yet they will eventually die, while the church can sometimes appear weak but it will never die and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.<\/p>\n

Holy Spirit, may I never take Your rescuing and deliverance for granted.\u00a0 Also, since we are tested by the praise we receive, I pray that I would respond to people\u2019s praise in healthy, humble, constructive ways that bring glory to You, health to me, and blessing to others.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!
\n\u00a0
\nToday\u2019s passage is Acts 12:11-25.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 12:11-12 (NIV)
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
\n12\u00a0\u00a0When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 11-12:\u00a0 Peter now realizes that the deliverance from prison he was dreaming about was actually real.\u00a0 His first instinct is to go to the house of Mary, mother of John-Mark, where many are praying for him.\u00a0 Peter wants those praying for him to see for themselves the incredible deliverance God made possible for him, knowing how much encouragement that would bring to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acts 12:13-16 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
\n15\u00a0\u00a0“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
\n16\u00a0\u00a0But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21042,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21039\/revisions\/21042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}