Wednesday 10-19-2016 Martínez,
Argentina
Today we read: Job 5, Psalm 108 and
Acts 11 - 12
S. Acts 12:1-5 About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute
some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John's brother)
killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish
leaders, he arrested Peter during the Passover celebration and imprisoned him,
placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod's
intention was to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. But while
Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. NLT
O. For Stephen, the first Christian
martyr, Luke, the author of the book of Acts, dedicated more than an entire
chapter and Stephen was only a deacon. Now the Apostle James, brother of John,
one of the three chosen to witness the transfiguration on the mountain, merits
only a short sentence and he is forever gone from Christian history. Was
he kept overnight in prison? Did the church go to earnest prayer for his
life? Was he given a trial like Stephen? We only know that Herod
wanted to please the Jews so he ordered someone to kill him with a sword. Herod
was a politician. He wanted the favor of the Jewish leaders. He cared nothing
for those he ordered killed. So now he plans to finish off Peter as well. And
when that didn’t work, he killed his whole team of prison guards. Then in this
same chapter, this proud, bloody king Herod was finished off, eaten by worms.
God said, “That’s enough big boy!”
A. Obviously God was not finished with
Peter yet. His time would come late in life. Tradition says that he
was crucified upside down at his own request, since he felt unworthy to be
crucified like His Master, Jesus. One by one the apostles disappeared
from the history books, but not without spreading the message of Christ to many
areas. With each apostles’ death the Jewish leaders may have felt that
they now had this blazing wild ‘Jesus fire’ under control, but it was destined
to fulfill Christ’s great commission and wrap its warm arms of love around the
entire globe. And here I am, almost 20 centuries later, counted among the many
thousands that have been privileged to spread this ‘Jesus fire’ to the ends of
the earth.
P. Lord, only You know why some were
given more time than others. I thank You for the privilege of returning to the
land of my calling again late in life. You may choose to call me home any
day. That’s okay with me, but You have blessed me with a multitude of
friends that seem to be carrying me on their shoulders, giving me the chance to
meet their children and their grandchildren. I pray for the privilege of
igniting this same ‘Jesus fire’ in their souls as well. And may they burn
brightly until You return! Amen.
Ralph
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