The Heart

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE HEART

Acts 12:18-25

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. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there a while. 20 He 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. 21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God continued to increase and spread. 25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

NIV

The heart of an evil man will receive his just reward. First, because the guards had no idea that Peter had been rescued by an angel, they had no valid reason for the empty cell. It is sort of like no one had any idea why there was an empty tomb. The heart of this evil, Herod, had those innocent guards executed. Had he stood guard himself, he would not have known why Peter was missing from the cell, but that did not matter; he was angry and took it out on those guards. But that is not the full story, as this evil heart was still at work. When the people of Tyre and Sidon wanted an audience before king Herod of Israel to secure peace because they depended on Isreal for food. When he made his speech, their response was that he spoke like a god, not a man. Then the evil heart responded with pride in self, instead of giving all the credit for his wise words to the Lord God Almighty. This is the lesson that we all must learn well. Jesus told us to learn from him, for he is gentle and humble of heart. Herod did not learn that lesson, as Herod's heart was not gentle nor humble. Because he did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. That sounds like an awful way to die, as worms fed on him as he lay there, after being struck down. Let us learn never to give ourselves any credit for anything, which is contrary to the way of the world. It is natural to want credit for what we do. It is natural to expect others to give us credit in the realm of the world. We earn a better position, a pay increase, and acknowledgment of a job well done. Credit for our efforts started in our schooling, everything we did was graded, earn that "A", and be praised. This is the way within the church. We do not take credit for our good deeds or whatever ministry we are called to. We do not take credit for our education, abilities, talents, skills, or knowledge of the scriptures, or anything, for that matter, as we are supposed to have a gentle and humble heart. We are supposed to overcome pridefulness and replace it with humility. Let us give the Lord all the credit for all we are and all we do, for we are the work of his hands, being who we are, doing what we do because of his divine purpose for our lives. God saw the evil heart of Herod and responded with worms. How does God respond to our hearts? 

Out of Our Mind

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

OUT OF OUR MIND

Acts 12:11-17

11 Then 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." 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 girl 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 brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.

NIV

Why was their first response unbelief? They knew factually that Peter had been arrested and put in prison and was waiting to be put in front of Herod, who had already had James killed. Facts are facts, and then there is faith. They certainly would never dream of trying to break Peter out of prison; that would be impossible.  However, nothing is impossible for God, or for that matter, with God. After Peter realized he had been rescued by an angel and, through the supernatural power of God, was able to walk out without any guard seeing him. But when he knocked on the door of the house belonging to Mary, the mother of John, and the servant girl saw it was Peter and told those in the house, they did not believe her; in fact, they thought she was out of her mind. Weren't they praying for Peter? Didn't they expect God to answer? We wonder how many believers today pray without expecting God to answer. Do we live as though God is not going to do anything for our benefit? Do we just live like a Christian, but not really believe God will heal, provide, rescue, or perform a miracle in the church? Do we just say the right words, but not truly believe them? Is our first response not to believe God for a miracle? When the servant girl saw Peter at the door, she was overjoyed and shared her excitement with those in the house. That is where we should always be, in a state of being overjoyed because we serve a risen Savior and He is in the world today, we know that He is living, no matter what men may say. We also have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and that alone is a miracle. How can we even respond with unbelief? Have we been disappointed because it seems God has not answered us? Maybe we are not looking to God, or for God to actually do something for us. Have we learned to lean on ourselves or others before leaning on Jesus? Maybe we should be living as someone out of their mind, that is, living by faith and not by sight, actually believing God, not just believing in God. Yes, that is it, live out of our mind means we do not live by how or what we think, we live out of our mind, simply believing God. 

Hand of God

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE HAND OF GOD

Acts 12:1-10

12:1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 After 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. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.

NIV

This is one of those sad moments in the life of the apostles, for James had drunk the same cup Jesus did, losing his life because Herod did not like those who belonged to the church. This is another case of people loving and serving Jesus instead of Herod, who must have thought he deserved all the praise from men. Maybe Herod thought that putting an end to the ringleaders would stop the whole movement and cause the church to disband, but he was wrong. The basic truth is that whatever God establishes, creates, or makes, man cannot establish, create, make, or destroy. This is evident in Peter's arrest. Herod's intent would not be fulfilled because God had another plan for Peter's life. He was in a dark cell, without clothes, chained to a wall with two guards on each side, a locked cell door with two more guards at that door. This was looking like a grim situation, with a grimmer outcome. There appeared to be no way to escape this circumstance; however, with God, all things are possible. What we would call an angel of light showed up; however, we heard him say, " He is simply an angel of the Lord, and a bright light was upon him. Peter must have been asleep, as the angel needed to strike Peter on his side to wake him up. We find it interesting that, given the situation Peter was in, he must have felt at peace enough, having faith in Jesus, to fall asleep. His faith was not disappointed: the angel woke him, the chains fell off Peter, he was instructed to get dressed, and they simply walked out of the cell, the prison, and onto the street. Not a single guard was aware of anything that happened. The gate even opened by itself, and that is all the hand of God at work for Peter. What we learn is another basic truth. With man, some things are just not possible, but with God, all things are possible. Why do we try so hard to do so much for ourselves, to put in so much effort to advance ourselves, or to secure our material or monetary future instead of resting in the hand of God? There is nothing or no one greater than our God; therefore, why should we put any of our trust in anything or anyone other than our God? Not only has he saved us from the clutches of darkness and death, given us life in His light, but He has healed us, provided for us, led us, and secured our future life in a place Jesus has prepared for us. It looked like Peter did not let his heart be troubled, and he had good reason. Why then should we let our hearts be troubled? We shouldn't, for we trust in God; we also trust in Jesus, just as he told us. Let us always defer to the hand of God. 

Christians

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

CHRISTIANS

Acts 11:25-30

25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. 27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

NIV

It is right to spread the good news about Jesus, and about the kingdom of heaven, but it is also right to teach believers. We are not told what Barnabas and Saul taught beyond the good news of the kingdom of God. They could have shared all the teachings of Jesus, such as everything he said during that sermon on the hillside, or perhaps what he taught from the boat on the seashore. Maybe they were teaching the believers in Antioch about the Holy Spirit with all his gifts and how he manifests his fruit in the lives of those who have been baptized into him. Whatever they were teaching, they spent a whole year teaching a great number of people. Here is where we believers were first called Christians. We are not sure who decided that name, but it does make sense, since people were usually called something according to whose teaching and doctrine that leader laid down, such as Platonists, who got their name because they followed the teaching of Plato. Because those believers were following the teachings of Christ, then Christian would be a good title. Maybe the people of Antioch named the Christians, or perhaps it was the idea of Saul and Barnabas, yet it stuck, and today we call ourselves Christians because we follow Jesus, the Christ. It is unfortunate that, over the years, we have decided to call ourselves by some denomination's affiliation.  We might say we are a Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Catholic, or Lutheran. Then we have to divide those up: a Free Will Baptist, a Southern Baptist, an Apostolic Pentecostal, an Assembly of God Pentecostal, and on and on, with hundreds of denominational identifications we identify as something other than a Christian. Who then do we follow, Wesley, Calvin, Smith, Peter, Apollo, or some silver-tongued preacher of deception? Should we not just follow Christ, and therefore say we are Christians? We also see that after learning through a prophet that a famine would spread throughout the Roman world, the brothers in Antioch sent gifts to the brothers in Judea. This is where we might get the missionary idea, either from Saul and Barnabas being in Antioch, or the believers there sending or supporting those in Judea. Yet the idea is more about all believers helping other believers in need. We might have forgotten how to share with each other. We tend to keep what is ours, ours and maybe give a little percent to the church, but would we just give to someone who has less, or is in need? What does it mean to be a Christian? 

Full Up

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FULL UP

Acts 11:22-26

22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

NIV

We looked at the evidence Barnabas saw when he arrived in Antioch, but we did not spend any time on his description. We are told that he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and Faith. Those three traits are worth our consideration or pondering, if any of those would be used to describe us. First, this word good means good in so many ways, such as good or fertile soul, a fruitful tree, something that is profitable for good. But when used for a person, it denotes excelling in any respect, distinguished, or the qualities and affections of the soul, deeds, or a person's constitution or nature. The Greek word agathos is translated 108 times, all as "good": "like," "every good gift," "every perfect gift" comes from above. That is how Barnabas was described. Can people say that about us? Are we good? Are we a good gift from God to others? Does our soul reflect goodness, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit? Second, Barnabas was full of the Holy Spirit. This would mean, filled up, full completely, as the Greek word denotes. If we were to fill anything to capacity, such as a glass of water or the gas tank in our car, there would be no more room for anything else. Full means absolutely filled up with the Holy Spirit. Of course, that does not mean we are not us; we have our character, but would our personality reflect being full of us, or of the Holy Spirit? Being full or filled up with the Holy Spirit would also mean we should be reflecting, or displaying his fruit in our lives, and have some, or at least one dominant gift of the Spirit, and possibly more than one. Thirdly, Barnabas was full of faith. We usually define faith as the substance of things hoped for, yet not seen, but this Greek word carries the meaning of having a conviction of what is true, which we know God is true. Jesus always tells us the truth; in fact, he said that he came into the world to testify to the truth, and everyone on the side of the truth listens to him. Our faith gives us that conviction of what is true, and if we are full of faith, that would eliminate any room for doubt or disbelief. To be full of faith means we believe God. 

The Evidence

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE EVIDENCE

Acts 11:19-24

19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. 22 News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

NIV

It did not matter that these believers were scattered because of the persecution that was connected to the stoning of Stephen; they were still telling the others about Jesus. Some only told other Jews, perhaps thinking that Jesus only came for the Jews, after all, he was Jewish, born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He did many miracles among the Jewish people, and he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He ended up being crucified, died, and was put in a tomb. However, on the third day, He rose from the grave and is alive. But some came from Cyprus and Cyrene and started telling the message about Jesus to the Greeks, Gentiles, and they turned to Jesus. However, our story is about what Barnabas found upon arriving in Antioch. He saw the evidence of God's grace and was glad. What exactly did Barnabas see? When someone receives the grace of God or lives under it, we believe this indicates we are living in God's favor. We would be living with spiritual blessings and shining with the light of Christ. We would be living with life, and life abundantly, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Barnabas saw all that in the lives of those new believers in Antioch, and people should see all that within us, because we have turned to Jesus. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us brings with him his gifts and fruit. The Spirit also inspires our faith, hope, and love. Certainly, those evidences were there in the believers at Antioch, and surely that evidence would be there within the local churches today who worship Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. How could it be possible for a believer in Jesus Christ to not have the indwelling of the Spirit, who would be producing his evidence in those believers? Is it possible to not see any evidence of the Spirit in a believer? Could we confess our belief in Jesus, but then not accept the baptism in the Spirit, or quench any of his work, any of his gifts, or not allow him to manifest his fruit in our lives? Is it possible that a believer can think that being holy is all up to themselves? Could a believer think they can live righteously in their own strength? That just could not be, for we know we have no righteousness in ourselves, but only through Jesus can we be made righteous in the eyes of God. Alone, we are powerless, but Jesus is our strength, and when we give the Holy Spirit full access, there will be evidence that others can see. Lawyers present their evidence of a person's guilt or innocence in a court of law, but the Spirit presents His evidence through our lives.

No Criticism

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

NO CRITICISM

Acts 11:1-3

11:1 The apostles and the brothers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."

These are believers, people who say they love the Lord, which we think they would want to be like Jesus, or live according to his teachings, but they were critical of Peter because he went into a Gentile's house and ate with them. That would mean that Peter and the men with him ate Gentile food. Why was their first response criticizing Peter? This is a truth we should come to grips with, for it might be too easy to criticize others whom we think are not living as we think they should. We even find believers criticizing other believers, which, in some sense, is being judgmental. Of course, it is easy to criticize those who worship in different ways or with a slightly different theological position than we do. Pentecostals criticize Baptists and vice versa. Some evangelicals are critical of Catholics and their seemingly obsession with their Pope. Even within a single denomination and within a local church, it becomes too easy to be critical of one another if we are not careful to pay attention to the teachings of Jesus. The circumcised wanted nothing to do with the uncircumcised considering them to be unclean. Are we not all sinners saved by grace? Are we all created or formed in the image of God? Jesus taught that we should love the Lord our God with all our being and love our neighbors as ourselves. Yet the believers in Jerusalem failed to follow Jesus when they first heard that Peter had gone to the Gentiles. They will accept it, as we will see later, after Peter explains the Lord's move in his life and in Cornelius's. But it is this first response that bothers us. We cannot afford those quick judgments about others, as we should be quick to love them, even if they are different from us, or do things differently than we do. We are also not supposed to just love believers, but also those who do not believe. The Jewish believers failed to understand that God loves all his creation, even the uncircumcised Gentiles. We cannot make the same mistake. We know the teachings of Jesus; in fact, some take pride in knowing their Bible so well, which means we take every opportunity to show the love of Jesus to everyone. We must rid ourselves of all criticism.