{"id":32165,"date":"2024-08-09T22:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T05:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-11_19-30-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-07-23T17:32:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T00:32:31","slug":"acts-12_1-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/acts-12_1-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk By Faith, Not By Feelings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 12:1-10 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Acts\u00a012:1-10.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

Acts 12:1-3 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.<\/em>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.<\/em>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 James, the brother of John and one of the original twelve disciples, is martyred for his faith, put to death with the sword by King Herod.\u00a0 Seeing how the killing of a Christian leader was seemingly gaining him favour with other people in his kingdom, King Herod decides to seize Peter with plans to put him on trial and to execute Peter just like he did James.\u00a0 \u201cThis happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread\u201d (v3) \u2013 in other words, on the anniversary of Jesus\u2019 own arrest, crucifixion and death on Passover weekend, Peter was being seized and on the verge of being executed.\u00a0 Peter probably imagined that this is exactly how his life was supposed to end.<\/p>\n

Acts 12:4-5 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.<\/em>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 4-5:\u00a0 Because Peter was able to escape prison the last time, Herod wanted to make sure that the same didn\u2019t happen again.\u00a0 So Herod places many more soldiers to guard Peter.\u00a0 But once again we see the power of prayer and the power of God to overcome the plans of men.\u00a0 Sixteen armed soldiers will turn out to be no match for one unarmed disciple when that one disciple is supported by his church with earnest prayers. \u00a0\u00a0Whenever we or those we love face difficulties, let our offensive weapon, our defensive shield, our first resort and our constant habit be prayer. With prayer comes God\u2019s peace and God\u2019s power.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 12:6 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 6:\u00a0 Peter knows he is probably going to be executed in the morning. Yet the night before his trial and execution he\u2019s sleeping soundly while chained to two soldiers, so soundly that he needs to be struck in the side to be woken up (v7).\u00a0 How could Peter sleep with his life in danger and his fate so uncertain?\u00a0 It\u2019s because to Peter his fate wasn\u2019t uncertain.\u00a0 Peter knew that his life was safe in God\u2019s hands, so he needn\u2019t fear what tomorrow holds.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you know that God holds your life in His hands and that no one is more loving, powerful, wise and trustworthy than He is, you can have peace even in the midst of great uncertainty.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0I pray that you and I would have a similar peace, that even when facing an uncertain future, even when sandwiched by enemies, we would be able to find peace and rest in the Lord.<\/p>\n

Acts 12:7-10 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.<\/em>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him.<\/em>
\n9\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.<\/em>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>\u00a0They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-10:\u00a0 Peter responds obediently to the angel, thinking that it\u2019s only a dream, when in fact this deliverance from prison was happening in real life.\u00a0 Whether we think it\u2019s a dream or real life, let\u2019s respond obediently to God and step out in faith, because the worst case scenario is that it\u2019s just a dream, and the best case scenario is that freedom is waiting on the other side of our obedience.<\/p>\n

Also, notice that the angel only physically accompanied Peter one block and then let Peter walk the rest of the way himself.\u00a0 Often that\u2019s how God works with us too.\u00a0\u00a0When we first step out in faith, we often feel Him accompanying us with a special sense of His presence and protection.\u00a0 But there comes a point when God will want us to exercise faith by walking forward even when we don\u2019t feel His presence strongly.\u00a0 It\u2019s part of God\u2019s maturing process with us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Will we walk by faith or just by our feelings?<\/p>\n

Father, thank You that because You hold my life and tomorrow in Your hands, I can rest safely and in peace today.\u00a0 Thank You that with You is not just make belief deliverance, but real deliverance.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a0Acts\u00a012:1-10.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Acts 12:1-3 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-3:\u00a0 James, the brother of John and one of the original twelve disciples, is martyred for his faith, put to death with the sword by King Herod.\u00a0 Seeing how the killing of a Christian leader was seemingly gaining him favour with other people in his kingdom, King Herod decides to seize Peter with plans to put him on trial and to execute Peter just like he did James.\u00a0 \u201cThis happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread\u201d (v3) \u2013 in other words, on the anniversary of Jesus\u2019 own arrest, crucifixion and death on Passover weekend, Peter was being seized and on the verge of being executed.\u00a0 Peter probably imagined that this is exactly how his life was supposed to end.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32165","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\/32165","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=32165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32168,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32165\/revisions\/32168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}