August 25, 2025
Acts 12:1-5 (HCSB)
James Martyred and Peter Jailed
12 About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church, 2 and he killed James, John’s brother, with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.
Michael Jackson
I can’t think of a single person I know who was put to death by the sword. Doesn’t happen very often in my church, but apparently it was a thing back in Acts. I’d say that’s real Christian persecution, wouldn’t you? Maybe a bit more serious than somebody making a little fun of us for not watching R-rated movies or bailing out when the alcohol comes out. Or maybe even creating laws of our land designed to keep us from spreading what we know about God and His Word to the rest of the world. But if you think about it, the concept is about the same. Persecution is persecution. I noticed this king, after killing James, saw that doing something like that pleased the crowd. So, he grabbed Peter and planned on humiliating him publicly. But did the people storm the king’s house? No. Did they go on TV and demand Peter’s release? No. Did they throw tantrums in the streets? Nope. They prayed earnestly to God for Peter. Funny how God works, isn’t it? He tells us to be strong, but not in body, in spirit. Keep the faith. Even when it looks really, really, grim in your world. And guess what happened in this scripture?
God sent somebody to get Peter out and Peter made his way straight to where people were praying. Well, what do you know.... God saved the day....and then let everyone see how good He really is by using the very thing they were praying for to show up and say “Surprise!” The world and the evil people in it ain’t gettin’ no better. Remember, God is big enough to fix it. He wants to know we believe that, and praying is how we show Him we do.
James Martyred and Peter Jailed
12 About that time King Herod cruelly attacked some who belonged to the church, 2 and he killed James, John’s brother, with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.
Michael Jackson
I can’t think of a single person I know who was put to death by the sword. Doesn’t happen very often in my church, but apparently it was a thing back in Acts. I’d say that’s real Christian persecution, wouldn’t you? Maybe a bit more serious than somebody making a little fun of us for not watching R-rated movies or bailing out when the alcohol comes out. Or maybe even creating laws of our land designed to keep us from spreading what we know about God and His Word to the rest of the world. But if you think about it, the concept is about the same. Persecution is persecution. I noticed this king, after killing James, saw that doing something like that pleased the crowd. So, he grabbed Peter and planned on humiliating him publicly. But did the people storm the king’s house? No. Did they go on TV and demand Peter’s release? No. Did they throw tantrums in the streets? Nope. They prayed earnestly to God for Peter. Funny how God works, isn’t it? He tells us to be strong, but not in body, in spirit. Keep the faith. Even when it looks really, really, grim in your world. And guess what happened in this scripture?
God sent somebody to get Peter out and Peter made his way straight to where people were praying. Well, what do you know.... God saved the day....and then let everyone see how good He really is by using the very thing they were praying for to show up and say “Surprise!” The world and the evil people in it ain’t gettin’ no better. Remember, God is big enough to fix it. He wants to know we believe that, and praying is how we show Him we do.
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