Our Blog is inspired by The Holy Spirit.
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 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.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” End of today’s first reading.
What you missed because the reading was cut off:
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. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 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 other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 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. Acts 12: 1-19
Wow!!
What a shame the reading is cut off where it is.
Why you might ask?
- The church was earnestly praying to God for him. Prayers were answered then and prayers are answered now.
I belong to a Prayer line at our church, and we have had many many successes. I genuinely believe in the power of the prayer line.
I am reading Everday Supernatural: Experience God’s Unexpected by Joanne Moody, who suffered severe pain for fourteen years, found relief through Prayer, and is now in a group dedicated to healing others. Using only prayer.
- she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” I love this line, in another bible, it said she slammed the door in Peter’s face to go and tell everyone Peter was at the door.
- “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” How true this is for me. I seem to have a hard time accepting good news.
Why
I’m not sure, but I, yes I, seem to accept bad news quicker than I accept the good news, and the good news is a Triune God of Outrageous Love loves me.
God has taken care of me, released me from the jail of many sins, but sadly not freed me from sin, which won’t happen until I take the Hallelujah train home.
God has taken care of me, is taking care of me, and I know They will take care of me.
- Peter kept knocking. How many times in my life was the door slammed in my face, and I gave up.
Peter kept knocking!
And so must we.
- He (Herod) cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. You might be wondering why this is important. Go back to the Crucifixion of Jesus; when Pilate asked the Centurion if the three who had been crucified were dead, the centurion answered “Yes,” and he replied “Yes” because a spear had been thrust between the ribs of Jesus and His Blood and Water flowed out from the wound.
Never forget that 1.7 billion Muslims claim Jesus didn’t die on the cross.
If the Centurion and his men had botched this execution, some or all of the soldiers participating in the Crucification of Jesus would be dead. That wasn’t going to happen because they didn’t know who Jesus was and were only doing a job. They were not going to lose their life over these three Jews.
I, we, feel this line is very important for all of us when satan enters our thoughts and maybe gets us to think that Jesus didn’t die on the cross, and yes, I have had this happen sadly once or twice,
But,
Never forget, we’re in a battle, and satan attacks in many different ways.
Keep knocking by your prayers, reading the bible, loving God by loving your neighbor and yourself, and finding a world you never knew existed.
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
I apologize!
I ran into a person who asked for the name of the gel because of our blog. A few weeks later, I asked him if he had tried the gel for his back pain?
He said, “Yes, but nothing changed; he still had pain.”
We, yes we, next asked, “did you pray for a healing?’
The answer was “No.”
So now you know why I am apologizing.
In my opinion, anyone who thinks any treatment will succeed without prayer is kidding themselves.
I have been healed by the laying of hands by a Catholic Priest at a healing service at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in Cape Elizabeth,
Right after I received communion, yes, Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist and does want to heal you.
By doctors, I prayed they would have a great day.
By medications, I prayed they would heal me and wouldn’t have any side effects.
By off-the-shelf medications, I prayed they would work.
In all of the above healings, I first prayed for healing. I didn’t have as firm a conviction as I do now about God the Father wanting us healthy, but I prayed anyway.
I am reading Everday Supernatural: Experience God’s Unexpected by Joanne Moody, and if you think God can’t or doesn’t want to heal, I suggest you get this book and learn how much your Father, Brother, and the Holy Spirit want you well.
Joanne, by the way, was filled with chronic pain for fourteen years. I mention this because a few people who asked for the gel said they had had chronic pain for years. She discovered God wanted her healed, and of course, satan didn’t, and she changed her life, was healed by prayer, and is now healing others.
One example of a healing Joanne was involved in; Joanne was in Brazil doing a healing service; a woman walked up carrying her young daughter, whose right arm hung limply by her side. No mussels, ligaments, etc., just skin covering the bone.
She was unable to use her arm for anything.
The Holy Spirit told Joanne to say four prayers,
- Pray for normal neural conductivity with the brain.
- Pray for normal muscle, ligaments, and all missing support pieces.
- Ask the child to raise her arm,
and the arm moved!
- Ask the child to raise her hand over her head.
The little girl did and next gave a hug to her mother.
Wow!
I was blown away by this story.
This is just one example, the book is filled with healings, and Joanne, at a different healing service, even taught two children on the spot how to heal people,
And they did!
Wow!
If you don’t believe in the power of prayer or the power you can have in your life to heal others, get this book and read of a new life that is genuinely waiting for you.
What was also amazing to me was I wanted to write about this last week, but the Holy Spirit said, “No” I want you to write about “Here Animal.”
We did, and when I saw the readings this week, I understood why I was told, by the Holy Spirit, to wait because today’s reading fit into what the Holy Spirit wanted to talk about this week.
Keep knocking by your Prayer!
Life in the Holy Spirit is fascinating, as Joanne and we have tried to relate.
Picture:
Virginia Creeper Trail is one of America’s top-rated trails. It is thirty-four miles long and an easy ride if you go to the uphill end, ride down, and then use a shuttle service to get back. Sadly I didn’t research the ride we would do enough, and we rode downhill first and uphill back. If I had used a shuttle service, we could have doubled the distance we rode. That’s sad because this trail is drop-dead beautiful. You can rent bikes, and shuttle services are available to make the ride more manageable and enjoyable.
Enjoy!
www.vacreepertrail.org
