Get Up Quickly!

SCRIPTURE

Peter and Paul, Apostles
Acts 12:1-11 (NRSV)

About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.
The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, "Get up quickly." And the chains fell off his wrists. The angel said to him, "Fasten your belt and put on your sandals." He did so. Then he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel's help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."


DEVOTION

Today's scripture reading makes me giggle because it reminds me of the importance of radical obedience to God.

I am quite sure that if an angel appeared to me in Peter's circumstances, rather than being quiet, quick and obedient, I would have been asking a million questions. Who are you? Why are you here? What took you so long? Where are we going? Why are we going this way and not that way? And so on and so on...

Sometimes we just need to learn to hear and heed the voice of God, trusting that God will not lead us astray.

Especially when we have been praying for a miracle, or a supernatural rescue, we need to be open to God's manifestation of the same to appear in ways we may not have ever imagined.

So often when we are in trouble, we try to dictate to God how it is that we should be rescued. We "write" a prescription through our prayers that we expect God to fulfill.

But, God does not work like this my friends! God is The Sovereign of the universe. God is in complete control. God sees the end, before it begins and God is well able to rescue us from anything that befalls us.

In general, I think that God welcomes our questions. God is not threatened by our curiosity. But, sometimes, we just need to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

Peter was able to do just that and was thus, and therefore, rescued in a most unusual way. May each of us find the courage to follow God wherever we are led and to trust Almighty God's ability to save us whenever we are in trouble.


Let us pray:

God and gracious God, I am so glad that you are in total control of all things. I believe, please help Thou my unbelief. Please fill me up to overflowing with your Holy Spirit so that I can walk in radical obedience to your Word and please help me to share your love and care with others, in Jesus' Name, Amen.


INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta

Radical Obedience

SCRIPTURE

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Matthew 2:13-18 (NRSV)

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
"A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."

DEVOTION

Today’s scripture reading speaks to the importance of listening to the voice of God.

Some would say that God doesn’t speak clearly in 2009; I would beg to differ. God is always speaking to us; we simply need to put our listening ears on!

God speaks to us through scripture and song. God speaks to us through nature and friendships. God speaks to us in a still small voice or in a “strange feeling” in our heart.

God is always talking with us, but we need to learn to listen!

I am so glad that Joseph had his “listening ears” on. When God told him to get up and take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, he did just that! He didn’t wait around, ask questions, or seek other counsel. He knew that God had given him a command and he obeyed with expediency!

As parents, we know how important it is for our children to obey us when we speak to them. I don’t want to yell “HOT!” at my daughter, only to have her continue to reach out toward the stove asking me, “Why?”

I want her to obey me immediately and without questions trusting that I will never tell her to do anything that is not for her good. Additionally, I want her to obey immediately; I have heard it said that delayed obedience is disobedience.

If Joseph had said, “God I will take Jesus into Egypt in a few weeks after I have time to say goodbye to my family and pack up my belongings, he might have been murdered by Herod.

Instead, Jesus lived to become the savior of the world—feeding the hungry, healing the sick, raising the dead, and ultimately dying and rising again on the third day in order to forgive our sin and gift us with eternal life!

Because Joseph was obedient, God’s good plan unfolded without a hitch. In what ways is God calling you to greater obedience in 2010?

Let us pray:

Holy One, thank you that you are always speaking to me. Please forgive me for the many ways that I have taken your instruction, commandment, and rebuke for granted. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit afresh so that my heart will be attuned to you. I want to go higher in Jesus in the upcoming year and that requires radical obedience to Your Word. I love you and I promise to share our love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

THE INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html