A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Take Note #61

Psalm 119:40 Wrongful imprisonment often draws a person close to God. What is nice to know is that God draws near to those who cry out for grace and deliverance. Psalm 111 Jesus Never Fails!

Good Morning

I retired from the Navy in September of 1987 but in 1985 I had started a small business of landscaping and minor carpentry work. At that time in 1985 knowing that my career in the Navy would soon end I thought that since my brother made a decent living at landscaping that I would too. Well to my surprise; I found out that if your body is not use to grunt work it fights back, so by 1988 the efforts of landscaping changed to cleaning. I was able to contract with a few banks, office building and schools to clean the offices, classrooms, etc. We even had a few restaurants, and we were making a good chuck of change. As anyone will tell you, owning a business is tough business. Employees have needs and it is not long before you are personally linked to them in some way. Even the slacker that you would like to fire gets treated with considerable care since he has a wife and two small children. Yes, you might be the boss, but you are still a servant, serving in places that you might never go if you were driving alone. Well, I have said all of this to say the following. Our LORD puts us in places that we would never expect and if we are tuned in to follow His voice, we will hear just as Peter heard in (John 21:20-22)

Acts 12

Acts 12:20 Kingdoms and kings all have their day of pomp and circumstance, whether they jockey for position politically or breakout the war clothes it is ultimately God who rules the world. The margin for error in the world around us is very wide (Matthew 7:13-14). It is certainly a wide road of destruction and many kings, political entities, influential people and everyday humans wander this road continually. The exit gate is always in plain view, it is the gate that glorifies God through His Son Jesus. (John 12:28), but the better read is the entire gospel of John.

Acts 12:21-23 These things that happen to people like Herod are rare, but they do happen. When the headlines of our newspapers fill up with an event like this, it does not take long for the tabloids to trash the events with some dark side of the story so that the glory of God is made of no effect. When I see those tabloids in the places where we shop, I can almost see the worms crawling in and out of the pages. If we stick to the Word of God we will see great and mighty works. (Jeremiah 33:3)

Acts 12:24-25 While the wide world of destruction keeps moving in that spiraling downward motion, notice what God is doing in His people. It is growing and multiplying. This is what the Church of Jesus Christ is called to do. If this were really happening these days as some would think, then our world would be ever so closer to the uplifting of the saints and the downtrodden road to destruction would become a very narrow path. But I do not see that happening any time soon.

Now if you do not have your bible with you, the following is a link you can go to and find the verses of scripture I have referenced herein. Bible Gateway at: www.biblegateway.com/