God's Word will not be held back. Are you growing in it or pushing against it?
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Acts 12 Summary
After gaining some approval points in the polls for executing a Christian, Herod nabs Peter in hopes of scoring even more. Peter is placed under a massive level of security, but it's no match for the angel of the Lord.
Meanwhile, the Christians gathered to earnestly pray for Peter's release don't believe it when Peter shows up, and instead leave him out in the cold.
After executing his security team for losing Peter, Herod seems like he's at the top of his game after coming out on top of a major trade deal. But God has had enough of Herod's psychotic ego, and drops him just has his subjects are heaping praises on him.
Chapter 12 has been an entertaining sidebar in the story of the early church, but by verse 24, Luke is ready to get back to the primary focus of his report: the growth and success of the spreading gospel.
Dig Deeper
Luke's choice of words at the end of the chapter are interesting:
But the word of God increased and multiplied. (v24)
This phrase means more than just 'the church got bigger.' If that's all Luke meant to say, he would of used that phrase as he did four other times in Acts.
Certainly there's an implication here that there are more people being added to the church, but Luke's brilliant phrase communicates both that fact as well as the reason why the church is growing: as people come to understand that the word of God (at the time, the Old Testament) is fulfilled by the Word of God (Jesus as described at the beginning of John's gospel), lives are being increasingly transformed and the good news is being multiplied as those transformed people share it.
The Word of God will never stay stagnant in your life. It will either diminish as you neglect it, or increase and multiply as you dig into it. Which is the case for you right now?
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God has the power to break every chain (v7).
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to increase and multiply His Word in your life.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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