Acts Chapter 12 Verses 5 – 7

• Ant Man! HA!!  That’s totally how I picture this!!  Peter gets shrunk!!  HA!  Ok, maybe not…but I love this picture of peace.  James was just killed…Peter knows he is next but he’s in such a good sleep that the light shining (beaming, radiant brilliancy) doesn’t disturb him!  The angel has to punch him!!

Acts Chapter 12 Verses 8 – 9

• Peter must have been super groggy! I mean the angel has to tell him what to do like a kiddo getting up for school….HA!   Peter is a sleeper.  We see that a lot with him.  He fell asleep at the Mount of Transfiguration…he fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane…and here again, he’s just sound asleep.  Some of y’all are envious because for some, sleep doesn’t come easy…while some of y’all, I’m sure, are just like Peter…
• I was looking up creative alarm clocks…for heavy sleepers…this was an interesting rabbit trail!! HA! I found one called “The Gong.”  This alarm clock appeals to your sense of never wanting to lose.  When it goes off, a referee starts a countdown like you’re a boxer on his back…you have to strike the gong with the provided hammer or it goes into a big “You lose” tirade!!  HA!!  I saw another one called “The Money Shredder.”  (Interestingly enough that’s my nickname for my children)  You load a $20 or $50 or whatever (I guess it depends on how badly you need to get up on time) and if you don’t get up then the alarm clock shreds the bill…that’s crazy!!!  Ok, one more…the “helicopter clock” launches a drone that you have to catch and reattach or it won’t stop going off!  HA!!  I’d end up with holes in my walls shooting it!!! HA!!
• At any rate, Peter is a sleeper BUT…it’s amazing…even being woken up…realize his situation…he’s not filled with anxiety at all. That amazes me…you ever wake up worried about that deliverable at work or that paper that’s due at school or that bill that has to get paid…?  Me too!  But Peter faces execution…and not only is he sound asleep…he is also mighty hard to wake up…and when jolted awake…it’s like he could care less…
• I want that kind of cool when things are imploding!! I want to not get so scared when I don’t know what’s ahead…I have a tendency to be filled with anxiety and I know there are many like me…Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:16, “May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way.  The Lord be with you all.”  Peter is so very confident in the truth of eternal life in Jesus that whether this life or the next…makes no difference to him…Peter trusts the heart and ways of the Lord…and he’s cool…God help me gain a better eternal perspective!

Acts Chapter 12 Verses 10 – 11

• The angel could have just hung with him…I mean did he have a bus to catch? A pizza in the oven!?  This is interesting.  Peter is in a lot of trouble and out on the street he may be in even more trouble than before…and yet the angel does a bit…and the rest is up to Peter…I like that…because there’s this question always as to do I need to do it or do I trust God to do it?  I want to tell you today the answer….YES!  I’ve heard it this way.  Pray and believe like everything is up to God…and work like everything is up to you! 
• And I like this…notice this…Peter had to wake up twice. Awake first he faced a dulled understanding…he faced the chains…he faced the first and second contingent of guards…he faced the iron gate….but awake twice, he is delivered!  He is certain.  He has “come to himself,” and he is free!  This is a great picture and parallel of the Christian who has finally come to the end of themselves and can say, “It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me.”
• AND LISTEN…its ok to need this!! I think we get so stuck on being right and perfect and good and strong right out the gates and then we mess up, falter, discover that the flesh is still strong…listen, walk with God and repent AGAIN!!!  How many people would be set free if they just ditched their pride and became like a new Christian again!!!  I may be so bold as to say that if you have not woken up twice at least in your walk with Jesus then you probably don’t have much of a testimony…

Acts Chapter 12 Verses 12 – 16

• The funny thing here (well there are a couple of funny things) but I’m thinking that Peter could probably hear them! There were no cars going by outside…no TVs on inside…he’s probably able to hear everything!!  “Peter is here!”  “No, you’re crazy!!  It’s his angel!!” – Um, guys…it’s me…I’m out here…that’s my stapler…,” HA!!
• It’s also funny that the answer to their prayer is right in front of them but they don’t have the faith to see it! I see that condition in myself all the time!!  Faith is simply trusting God and it’s so simple…where can God’s will, heart, direction and guidance be constantly found…24 hours a day (Twenty PHO Seven – joke) – the WORD!!

Acts Chapter 12 Verse 17

• Essentially, the last we see of Peter is right here. There will be a brief appearance of Peter in Chapter 15 but really, that’s it…it’s all about Paul from here on out…

Acts Chapter 12 Verses 18 – 23

• Where did the worms come from? From inside of him…he is eaten alive from the inside out…same will be the life of the godless man…and that doesn’t necessarily mean the unbeliever…believer or unbeliever alike…God has ordained by design and commanded by conscience in the unbeliever and indwelling Holy Spirit in believer how one should live…the conscience is not strong enough because ultimately it is still the flesh…and folks throw their lives away and hollow out apart from the Lord….
• But even in the Lord…as the Holy Spirit teaches and speaks and yet you decide to not listen and to continue to live and do what you know is not good or right…you will find your life, your soul, your heart…hollow as a chocolate Easter Bunny man….and, interesting tidbit about this story, according to Josephus, this was a 5 day ordeal…
• It’s a bad scene…but so is a heart that is sick with self…I want to say something to you today that I hope will stick with you…when you feel as if you’re losing, missing out…and something or someone is continually eating you alive…when you’re feeling empty…that empty feeling inside you is a RESULT of you being full of yourself.
• I saw the dumbest post this week, you know, one you just want to comment on, then you remember the Bible says, in Colossians 3:15 that you’re called to peace…and you kinda rationalize past that one and remember that the Bible says, in 1 Peter 3:11 to turn from evil and to seek peace…pursue it…and you’re stuck…HA!
• Well anyway, I saw, “I’m not perfect but I’m always myself.” What a dumb expression!!!  I tell you what….#goals!  GOALS man…what are YOUR GOALS!  What are you pressing for…striving towards…if you can’t answer that question then I promise you, you will achieve nothing!!!  Come on man!!!  Gonna call you “wormy” from now on…HA!!!  God has such a great plan for anyone that would seek Him and not be comfortable in “being myself.”  To live is Christ man….we are told to “put on Christ!”  Maybe you need that second wake.

Acts Chapter 12 Verses 24 – 25

• The contrast between Herod and the church rounds out this chapter. History is filled with men who thought they could fight God and succeed.  Their ruined lives are evident that God is indeed God...God is All Mighty, perfect, good and like we talked about last week…undefeated…and His heart is for you as well to not let this world, this flesh or the enemy defeat you but that you would humble yourself, come to the saving knowledge of the truth and call upon Jesus for the forgiveness of sin…and know the depth of God’s unconditional love for you!