Monthly Archives: June 2018

29 June 2018 – Acts 12:5-19 (NIV)

Scripture

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

The 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. Suddenly 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.

Then 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. Peter 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. 10 They 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.

11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

12 When 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. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.

Reflection

This is a story that has been told with touches of the kinds of things that happen in “real life” and the humor that we experience with those touches. Peter is imprisoned and the church begins to pray for his release. An angel meets Peter in prison and leads him out through locked doors and gates into freedom. When Peter goes to the house of his friends where they are praying for him, they shut the door in his face because they can’t believe it’s him. God answers their prayer and when Rhoda tells them God has answered their prayer they tell her she is “out of her mind”! it is a good thing that God is patient with us, even when it is hard to receive the answer we have longed for (Ps. Dale).

Thoughts for the day

  • What do you feel God is telling you through this passage?
  • What is one way you can apply this truth to your life today?
  • Who can you encourage with this story/message?

Prayer

The simplest prayer can be the most powerful: “Your Kingdom Come, Your Will be done, On earth as in heaven

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By |2018-06-23T12:44:52+08:00June 29th, 2018|Categories: Week 4|Comments Off on 29 June 2018 – Acts 12:5-19 (NIV)