A Lent devotional on Acts 12:24 about why God demands praise, using King Herod's death as a cautionary tale. The speaker commits to Psalm 34:1's model of continual exaltation and urges listeners to keep praise flowing throughout their day.
Blessings everyone and welcome to this day 21 Lent devotional where we are going to be multiplying your praise. I thank God for the opportunity to be able to praise him yesterday with our encounter with him as we just lifted up his name on high and being filled with the Holy Spirit and inviting the Holy Spirit into the place where we can just worship freely and be free to just multiply in his praise. So I thank him for the opportunity to just continue to praise his name, for he is good and his love endures forever. So as we on day 21, Multiply Your Praise, we're going to be reading from the book of Acts chapter 12, verse 24. But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. I love the book of Acts. Now, I love all the books But Acts is a really great read. Just, I just love it. It's my favorite book in the Bible along with Romans. I actually love the book of Revelations. And so reading about the way the church grew despite opposition has always been a reminder of God's faithfulness. The book of Acts reminds us that God's plan is going to happen no matter what. Okay, now to our present tense. Verse 1 through 11 of Acts 12 share King Herod's campaign to persecute the church. Acts 20, uh, 12 and 1, he has one disciple killed and Peter imprisoned. However, an angel rescued Peter from prison. When next we see Herod He is dressed in royal robes, delivering a public address and enjoying the accolades of the people who shouted, this is the voice of a god, not a man! Acts 12:22. Herod is killed immediately because he did not give praise to God. Now I'm guessing that Herod is not a believer. He was persecuting the church. So why would God kill Herod for not giving him God the praise. Is praise so important to God that he requires it of everyone? Hmm, that's a great question. It's not that we will face the same fate as Herod, but what are the implications for us when we do not praise God? We need to know those implications. How does that impact our lives? And what will happen to us when we accept praise that belongs to God? I don't know about you, but I'm not trying to find out. I'm definitely not trying to find out. All glory and honor and praise goes to God. I will do what David did in Psalms 34, um, verse 1. I will extol the Lord at all times. So I will exalt the Lord at all times and his Praise will always be on my lips. So just thanking God. And dear God, thank you for forgiving us when we come to you with repentant hearts. Thank you for loving us in our brokenness and sinfulness. God, you want to restore us to wholeness, and you have given us that opportunity repeatedly. We desire to obey your laws So we can live in the abundance you have for us. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. So thank you, God, that we can just exalt your name and give you glory and honor and just say thank you for being great. Thank you for being the God who sees me. Thank you, God, for being greater, greater, so much greater than we could ever imagine. Thank you, God, for For being a healer. Thank you, God, for being a counselor. You are the best friend. You are a great friend. You are love. You are joy. You are peace. You are awesome, Lord. And I will forever continue to just praise you and make sure that you get all the glory and the honor in my life. But thank you as we go on day 21 and multiply your praise. Let the praise continuously be in your mouth. Thank you, Lord. Everyone have a blessing, a blessed day. Thank you.
