Daily Bible Message:
A POW Turned Hero Amichai Farkas talks with veteran Ori Shahak about his eight months as a captive in Syria during the Yom Kippur War. Ori suffered horrible post-traumatic stress symptoms after his release, but he now helps other victims as the director of aFellowship-sponsored POW program called Up at Night. Read Ori’s compelling story |
Bible Verse: Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. Acts 12:5-12
My thought for today is the power of prayer is incredible when it is focused upon God’s will. We may not always get what we want, but we can be assured that we will always get what we need. God lavishly showers us with His love.
Peter in today’s scripture had done nothing wrong. He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and for that message He was imprisoned. Herod was going to make a mockery of Peter’s gospel teaching, but through the prayers of the saints Peter was set free.
A smile comes on my face every time I read this passage. Herod and the guards do not know the power of prayer. They think that because they have jailed Peter that he is secured. In chains, guarded by many men who were willing to die before allowing a prisoner to go free, Peter is set free by the hand of God.
The church prayed and Peter was saved. This is a great story, but prayer does not always have a happy ending. Some prayers are not answered. Though we gather and pray we still see death, sorrow and fear prevail. What then shall we do? Should we stop praying because God does not answer our every want and desire? The answer is a resounding NO!
Prayer bends our heart toward God. Though He may be silent, He still listens. Though we may not get what we ask, we are still blessed. There is power in prayer, but the power follows the will of God and not the will of man. We need to mindful of Paul’s message to the church at Thessalonica to “Pray unceasingly” for God will draw close to comfort us and meet our needs.
Are you a prayer warrior? Do you pray without ceasing? Can you let go of your wants and accept God’s will for your life? He is worthy of our praise and our attention. Pray!
The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. – Proverbs 21:5
The photographer for a well-known magazine was assigned to take photos of a great forest fire. The problem was that smoke at the scene hampered him. So he frantically called his home office to hire a plane. “It will be waiting for you at the airport!” he was assured by his editor.
As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. So the reporter jumped in with his equipment and yelled, “Let’s go! Let’s go!” The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air.
“Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “and make three or four low, level passes.” “Why?” asked the pilot. “Because I’m going to take pictures!” said the photographer with great exasperation. “I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures!”
After a long pause the pilot said, “You mean you’re not the instructor?”
Many times, in order to make the quickest decision possible, it can be easy to sacrifice our God-given wisdom for the sake of expediency. And all too often, these hasty decisions result in negative outcomes, because when not all the facts are known, bad choices can very easily be made.
Yet the wisdom of the Psalms tells us in today’s passage that diligent planning and seeking the Lord’s will ultimately result in our good. So instead of making decisions too quickly, spend time praying and seeking wise counsel to make the best choices possible!
Prayer Challenge
Pray and ask God to give you wisdom and patience to make decisions that honor Him.
Daily Bible Message:
The key to building solid, selfless relationships
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…. – James 1:19
Albert Einstein was invited to speak at a banquet held in his honor at Swarthmore College. Hundreds of people from all over the country crowded an auditorium to hear what he had to say. When it came time for him to speak, the greatest physicist walked to the lectern, solemnly looked around, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry, but I have nothing to say.” Then he sat down.
The audience was in shock. A few seconds later, Einstein got up, walked back to the podium, and spoke again. “In case I have something to say, I will come back and say it.” Six months later he wired the president of the college with the message: “Now I have something to say.” Another dinner was held, and Einstein made his speech.
It’s been said that God gave us two ears and one mouth for the simple reason that we should listen more often than we speak. Yet for many Christians today, relationships are breaking down for the simple reason that people are forgetting how to listen to each other.
You never hear of someone sticking his foot in his ears—only his mouth! So when it comes to interacting with others, listen before you speak. Prefer others and let them talk. Listening, not talking, is the key to keeping peace and building solid relationships that honor God!
Prayer Challenge
Ask God to show you people with whom you can be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Bible Verve: Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying
Acts 11:1-4
My thought for today is an attitude of judgment is not what we need in our world, but rather and attitude of humble obedience and surrender. Peter was a staunch anti Gentile advocate. Thinking of entering a Gentile’s house would have been painful because it went against his Jewish upbringing, which had Jews set a part from the rest of the world. This was not God’s plan for His Chosen people. God told Abraham that he would be a blessing to all mankind, not a people to be set a part for their own blessedness.
When Peter came back from visiting the house of Cornelius, his friends questioned him and his actions. In their view Peter and the disciples that went with him were now unclean for staying in the house of a Gentile and having eaten with them was even worse. They needed and explanation.
We may judge others harshly as well based upon our own opinions. We at times are so harsh that we are unwilling to even allow people to explain. Our opinions are right and everyone else’s is wrong. This may be furthest from the truth.
We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Living by the Golden rule of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us, may not be all bad. When we surrender our pride and accept others who were made in the image of God we are bringing honor and glory to God.
We may not like the action, it may in fact be wrong, but this is not for us to judge. God alone is capable of judging our actions. He is the truth, where you and I have hidden private agendas.
Are you estranged from someone you have judged harshly? God has forgiven us for the sin we have committed against Him. He could easily condemn us for our actions, but because of Jesus we are forgiven. As a result of His forgiveness what right do we have of judging the words or actions of another?
Are you a judgmental person? Do you hold people to a harder standard that you are willing to follow? Can you let go of your pride and love the person and not the words or actions? The Lord’s prayer says it best, where we read, “forgive us our trespass as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.” We are forgiven! Let us forgive in the same manner.
However as Christians we must be willing to stand up for the teachings found in the Holy word of God, And in my humble opinion, the Holy Bible does not warrant same sex marriages but some of the politicians who want to be elected are pushing same sex marriages in an attempt to get votes. See AP news brief below:
In an exclusive interview, the president says same-sex couples “should be able to go ahead and get married.”
Daily Bible Message:
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