“I got worms.”

I was recently reading about a king named Herod Agrippa. Probably not a name that comes up in casual conversation at the dinner table, but he was kind of a big deal. Herod’s rule was during the time when Jesus’ message was beginning to rapidly spread. Due to his deep Jewish roots, Herod wanted to do anything possible to destroy Christianity. This included having James (John’s brother) publicly killed by a sword and throwing Peter in prison to await his execution. But, things didn’t go as planned, as an angel led Peter out of his heavily guarded cell (Acts 12:6-18). This really ticked off Herod. When no one could find Peter after a while of searching, Herod interrogated the guards and then sentenced them all to death.

But, Herod’s anger didn’t end there. He decided to flex his authority against the lowly countries of Tyre and Sidon. Since they depended on Herod’s country for food, they had to brown nose their way back into his good graces. They were granted an appointment with Herod who donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made an epic speech. Acts 12:22 says, “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, ‘It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!’” This was a bad move. The next verse in Acts says:

Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

I’m sorry, but that is so……..awesome! I mean, God didn’t just kill him. But my man was consumed with worms. Maybe this is just my sick side, but I wonder what that looked like.

So here is the question for us:: Are we more concerned with worship and recognition for ourselves, than for giving glory and credit to God? Are we seeking recognition from people instead of doing things that God asks us and created us to do? If so……you got worms!

Religious Roadblock

In Acts 10, Peter is hanging out on a rooftop while waiting for lunch to be made. While up there, God suddenly got his attention by giving him this vision:

He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners. In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds. Then a voice said to him, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.”

So…that’s kind of weird. Can you imagine laying in bed, counting down how many hours of sleep you’re going to get and then…BAM…you see a sheet with animals on it. Now, imagine it happening 2 more times. That’s what happened to Peter. With Peter being really confused (understandably), he asked what this vision meant:

“Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”

What did this vision mean? Well, it was against the Jewish religion to eat anything that was considered “unclean.” All of the animals that appeared in Peter’s vision were animals that he would never eat due to his devotion to his religious practices. But, God was preparing Peter for something He was doing behind the scenes.

Immediately after his vision, 3 men showed up at the house, who were sent by a man named Cornelius. They told Peter, “We were sent by Cornelius, a Roman officer. He is a devout and God-fearing man, well respected by all the Jews. A holy angel instructed him to summon you to his house so that he can hear your message.” What’s the big deal about this? In the past, Peter would not have gone to Cornelius’ house because he wasn’t a Jew and therefore considered to be “unclean”. But, when the men showed up, Peter knew exactly what his vision was all about. When Peter arrives at Cornelius’ house, he tells him and the 3 men:

“You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean. So I came without objection as soon as I was sent for.

That made me think: Sometimes our religion can get in the way of our relationship with God and His people. Man, I know I have been guilty of this! How about you?

La,La,La…I Can’t Hear You

Remember being a kid, and someone would try to tell you something you didn’t want to hear? What would you do? Did you ever cover your ears, sing “la-la-la”, and yell at the person “I CAN’T HEAR YOU”? How many of you still do that? I recently saw a friend do it because they had Tivo’d a game and didn’t want to hear the results as a group of guys discussed it. Immature? Yes. Effective? Oh yeah.

I was reading in Acts the other day about a guy named Stephen. He was a regular guy telling anyone and everyone about how Jesus was the Messiah they have been waiting for. Well, the higher-ups in the government/religious leaders didn’t like this. So, they falsely accused Stephen of telling lies, which was a crime that carried a death sentence. Right before the council stoned him to death, Stephen says, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” (Acts 7:56).

If someone says this, whether you think they are crazy or not, you stop what you’re doing to look and listen. But, that didn’t happen. Check out the response of these “wise” and “distinguished” religious and government leaders from Acts 7:57, “Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting.”

Can you imagine what that scene looked like? These men knew Stephen was telling them the truth, but they didn’t want to hear it. That’s because, if they heard it, it would require action and belief in a direction opposite of where they were heading.

Are there areas, people, circumstances, etc… in your life that are causing you to put your hands over your hears and say “I CAN’T HEAR YOU”? If so, how’s that working out for you?

Just the right time

Has anyone ever said something to you that you needed to hear at that exact moment? Or, have you read something at just the right time? It happened to me this morning. While sitting in the Panera before heading to Carmel Baptist’s Edge service, I read this in Hebrews 10:36-

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Man, I needed to hear that! How about you? Did you need to read that? Maybe for you, it came at just the right time.

Hosea

I’m preparing for February’s two22, which is a college-aged gathering hosted by Salem Baptist in Apex, NC. While praying and thinking about what’s on my heart, God laid the story of Hosea and Gomer (which is the worst female name in the history of the world). FYI- Hosea is my favorite Old Testament book!

And man, it was crazy how the words were jumping off the page at me! I felt like I was reading something from thousands of years ago about today’s culture. Some time this week, read Hosea chapters 1-3, and see what you think. How does the passage reflect your life? Who in the passage does your life reflect?