“When
this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also
called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
(Acts 12:12)
“Previously, Peter
had been in prison when an angel of the Lord appeared, freed him from his
chains and guided him to freedom. The angel then disappeared and Peter found
himself all alone on the city's streets. Peter realized that God had intervened
and freed him. The only thing Peter did was what the angel told him to do (get
up, get dressed and follow me). Now Peter was without a leader or direction
(the angel didn't tell him where to go next). What would you do? Go back to prison
to check it out? Maybe verify whether the chains had been broken or unlocked by
the angel? How about go back and talk with the guards? I know this sounds
ridiculous, but that is exactly what many of us do after the Lord frees us from
something that has bound us. We flirt with the old addiction rather than run
from anything remotely associated with it.
I hate to admit
this, but I used to smoke cigarettes. When someone would ask me why I hadn't
stopped smoking, I would respond, ‘I don't have a problem with stopping. I've
stopped a hundred times, my problem is I've started a hundred and one.’ The
problem for me was not stopping, it was starting again. I would not smoke for
months, then I would be faced with a long drive home in traffic and would start
thinking about passing the time by smoking. Whatever my justification might
have been, it would always start with buying that first pack. Tommy Lasorda,
the venerable former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers once said about
cigarettes, ‘One is too many, and a thousand is not enough.’ In other words,
the first one is the one I needed to avoid.
Questions to Ponder:
We all have choices:
Do we return to sin or do we accept the Lord's freedom from bondage and turn
away from it? The more often I said, ‘Not today, maybe tomorrow,’ to that
cigarette, the easier it became to not smoke. When the next day came I never
thought about smoking. To the point I am now where (until I began writing this
devotion) I had forgotten I ever smoked. The Lord says he will take away our
sin as far as the east is from the west. The question is, what decision will
you make when you are left alone? Peter decided to go to Mary's house (a
faithful woman), "where many people had gathered and
were praying." It was his final step toward ultimate
freedom — that last step was his alone to take (no one could do it for him) —
it was the right direction and the right decision. What step do you need to
take? Will you take the steps to freedom or back to bondage? Ask God to provide
today the strength and direction to step towards freedom in whatever area you need
it.”
“And when Peter had come to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for certain that the Lord has
sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the
expectation of the Jewish people. So, when he had considered this, he came to
the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were
gathered together praying.” (Act.
12:11, 12, NKJV)
“But Jesus
answered them, ‘My Father has been
working until now, and I have been working.’ ” John 5:17 NKJV)
Tonight’s post: WHY DO WE PROCRASTINATE?
Tomorrow’s post: SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES Vs
PHYSICAL FACADES: Prayer Note # 46
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