June 30th - Acts 12:11

Acts 12:11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” At this time the early Church was growing fast and this was making King Herod increasingly nervous. He was determined to tighten the screws and so he arranged for the killing of James, the brother of John. This went down very well with the Jews and so he decided to arrest Peter, the leader of the Church, and kept him under the closest possible surveillance. He was guarded by four squads of four soldiers each, and chained as he slept between two guards. King Herod must have assumed that nothing could possibly go wrong, but he hadn’t taken God into account! That night, an angel woke Peter up and led him out of the prison (vv6-10). Not unreasonably, Peter first assumes that his dramatic rescue is a wonderful dream. But, as our text reveals, he suddenly realises that he really has been set free! Now he has to reckon with the fact that the impossible has happened. One of the biggest challenges of the Christian life is acknowledging that God really is in the business of doing miracles. He does them all the time. As we go about our daily life, we need to raise our level of expectation. When we pray for someone to be healed, we shouldn’t be surprised if God actually does heal them. When we pray for our sins to be forgiven, we should take it in our stride when we become overwhelmed with a sense of God’s peace. When we pray for restoration in a broken relationship, we should be quick to praise God when it happens. We need to have open arms to God’s daily miracles. Question What miracle are you praying for today? Prayer Lord God I worship you for your miraculous power and your endless love. Amen