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Acts 12:15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
If we are not going to believe in the impossible then we will probably always turn our backs on the impossible.
God had sent an angel to get Peter out of the prison and he was now standing at the back gate of the house people were praying in so he could be released.
They did not seem to expect Peter to be released… If we do pray, then we should expect to hear results from our prayers otherwise we are not displaying faith in God.
Don’t just say you have faith in Christ, believe and trust in that faith; believe and trust and expect results!
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Acts 12:14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.
What is your reaction when God answers your prayers? Do you do silly things because you are so happy?
Rhoda was so happy to hear Peter’s voice she ran back inside before even opening the gate, forcing him to wait outside before anyone else came.
Getting together with people and setting time aside to pray together is not just what God asks us to do but very profitable; we are able to encourage each other as we see prayers answered!
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Acts 12:7 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.
Even though Herod was about to let Peter out of prison, God wanted to make a point and sent the angel to release him before anyone had time to get him out.
God’s timing is perfect. It was not just to show Herod nothing is impossible with God, but to show the people who were praying for him that God was in control too.
Just because things seem impossible, don’t give up on the prayers. God is our God of miracles, then and now. Believe in Him and trust in Him, always.
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Acts 12:1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.
Many people in positions of authority do things because they see their popularity change at those times. Authority and greed do tend to change people without warning!
Herod started harassing the Christians and even killed James the brother of John. When he saw the Jews were pleased, he continued to harass them further, putting Peter in prison.
Don’t be put off by what the world does because God sees everything and continues to allow things to happen for a reason; He sees the bigger picture, trust Him.
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Acts 11:28 Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
I find it very interesting a prophet was named at this time since many believe prophets were only around before Christ to give a way for the people to hear from God.
God continues to speak to people through various means and wants His message and warnings to be told to others; we just have to be careful to make sure they are prophets from God.
He has warned us there will be plenty of people coming forward pretending to be from God; we have to make up our minds who is real. Trust God to guide you.
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Acts 11:23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.
You can see where God is working and you can see where people are following Christ; there is a big difference in attitude, appearance and general demeanour of the people.
We are called to be effective witnesses for others; but this requires us being effective followers and disciples of Christ. It is then that people will see the difference for themselves.
It is then that people will follow with their hearts just as we do. Give it all to Christ from deep in your heart today.
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Acts 11:16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
The difference between being baptized with water and baptized with the Holy Spirit is one we should be reminding people of, just as Peter was reminding the disciple here.
Baptizing with water is a sign of the inner baptism which should be taking place; the real act of giving your life to Christ and being re-born free from your sins.
Remember it was Christ who gave His life for us and we are the ones who choose to follow in His footsteps, though He does not call us to give our physical lives, just to show others we are willing.
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Acts 11:3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
Just because those around you try to tell you who you should be mixing with does not mean that is what is required by God.
Listen carefully to God to see where He wants you to be. Don’t reject things just because the people close to you say so.
Peter listened to God and obeyed Him. The people around Him could not believe what he was doing until they listened to Peter explain how God was guiding him.
God will always give you the words to explain things; trust Him.
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Acts 10:45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
It is God’s decision as to whom He gives the Holy Spirit to; not ours. We need to be willing to take the gospel out to everyone we meet and not just those we choose.
God will then see what is in their hearts and will bless who He wants to bless.
I can imagine how the Jews felt at the time knowing God had chosen them and yet now was giving others the Holy Spirit.
Allow God to choose whom He wants to choose.
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Acts 10:43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.
When we begin to understand the bible properly, we too should be able to tell people this wonderful truth: Right from the beginning of time, people, prophets and kings have been talking about Jesus.
We are now living in the age of grace where we have seen Christ give His life for our sins.
We now live in hope and fear that Jesus Christ is coming once again; we need to be ready for His return.
We need to show people we are ready and invite them to be ready as well – believing this is what God promised all along!
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Acts 10:35 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
I think it must have been hard for the disciples to accept how Jesus wanted them to go out into all the world to preach the gospel; they were a protective race, a God-fearing race.
In their history they learned how God had wiped out other nations and how God did not want them to mix with others, and yet God was saying they needed to mix now.
God was not going against His word; rather He was opening new doors for them to preach, not to ignore His laws in.
When God sends you out to spread the gospel, He does not send you out to go and act like the local people.
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Acts 10:28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Who do you believe? Do you believe a dream or do you believe the law of the land? That is always a hard one to follow…
But if that dream has come from God He is not going to leave you in doubts about its origin. God will always show you why He has given you a dream.
Our brains are pretty amazing but they do tend to go off on a wander now and again. God will give you direction; listen in.
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Acts 10:15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”
Are you swayed by all the things the papers say about your diet? Do you stop eating things when someone says it is not good for you?
So many times in our lives we are confronted by people holding half the truth where they have come up with an answer based on that half truth.
Do we listen or do we disregard it?
Go back to God and ask His advice. Go back to the experts and ask their advice. It is not always what you think or what others say!
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Acts 10:3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
How good are you at listening to God? Do you have to wait to hear Him out loud or do you sense His will in your life each and every day?
I know I still have days when I seem so far from God that He should have to shout out loud before I’d even hear a glimmer of what is going on; and yet there are days when I am sure He is standing next to me whispering in my ear.
Don’t be afraid to listen to Him because he is trying to tell you the right stuff – but it may be someone else who has to verbalise those instructions for you so you can understand them. Listen with patience.
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Acts 9:39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them.
If a bunch of people called you up and begged you to come and bring a dead person back to life, what would you do?
Peter had the faith to trust God and allow God to bring Tabitha back from the dead. He did not trust in himself but in Christ.
We need to trust in Christ totally before we will see huge changes in others; if we show them doubt, doubt is what they will see.
Show people your faith and belief in Christ your King!
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Acts 9:35 So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
When you read this section of Acts and find out the people of Lydda and Sharon all chose to believe in Christ because of a miracle of Aeneas being healed we may question “what can we do because we have not had a miracle performed on us?”
You don’t have to wait for a miracle or only talk to people after they have seen a miracle; the people needed to have heard the gospel before they had something to believe in.
Tell people about the awesome God we have and allow God to open up their hearts. If He has to use a miracle then He will do so; just don’t expect a miracle so your work can be easier…
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Acts 9:31 Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
It is only after trouble and strife that you begin to see peace as the stark contrast to what was before and what is now.
The disciples had to put up with a lot of people working against them, people trying to put them in jail and even some trying to kill them.
The peaceful stage they reached after this all was a marked difference to what had gone before; but they did not stop and rest, they continued to preach and share God’s love with everyone.
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Acts 9:26 And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple.
Don’t be discouraged when people do not believe you are telling the truth; especially when you have a history of not telling the truth!
Saul had a history of trying to track down the disciples and put them in prison. It is no wonder then they were a bit weary of him coming forward to try and meet them.
Trusting Christ to open doors in your life means waiting on Him and waiting to see which doors He will open. It may not be the door you are expecting to be opened.
Don’t just stop and wait for God to do things for you; continue working for and with Him until He shows you another door opening.
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Acts 9:25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.
When we place our faith and trust in Christ, He may well use the church around you to make a difference in your life.
Expect God to do miracles. Don’t expect Him to personally show up as a bright light and have to perform for you!
Expect God to answer prayers. Don’t expect Him to announce answers over a PA system to you!
Expect God to be with you; always!
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Acts 9:22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.
When God asks you to do something, believe Him and believe in Him to give you the strength and words to say.
Saul was recognised wherever he went as the one who had done so much against Christians, and yet now Christ was filling him with the right stuff to prove others wrong in their assumptions.
Trusting in Christ does not just mean saying you do but really putting your life in His hands for everything!