Undistracted Devotion

As always, I encourage you to get your bible, read the scriptures in their entirety; but I wanted us to focus on the scriptures that I've posted in this blog.

ACTS 12:20-24 (NKJV): Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.

As disciples of Christ, it is our responsibility to keep our eyes on God! Even though the people of Tyre and Sidon were the one's calling Herod a god, Herod chose to receive their worship and the angel appeared and struck him. The people of Tyre and Sidon were also wrong for worshiping a man, instead of God. I noticed that earlier in the same chapter, Herod had also attacked the church because he saw that it pleased the Jews.

ACTS 12:1-3 (NKJV): Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

One of the worst things that a disciple of Jesus Christ can do is make someone or something their God. How does that come to pass, it starts with infatuation, obsession, people pleasing, ignoring God and his ways to please a person or obtain favor with another, (wife, husband, brother sister, friend, child, co-worker, employer, etc) or obsessed with something more than God (car, money, physical appearance, house, food, job, etc...). The meaning of OBSESSION from Dictionary.com: the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc... The meaning of INFATUATION from Dictionary.com: being absorbed with an extreme passion for someone or something, especially in a way that makes you foolish or unreasonable about it. Let's give God the rightful place in our life and our hearts.

PSALM 115 (NKJV): Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth, Why should the Gentiles say, "So where is your God?" But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trust in them. O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, You and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; But the earth He has given to the children of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

By Alva Williams

02/20/2021

https://youtu.be/fQpII1ytL40