Its Not Yours Anyway
Scripture Reference: Acts 12:21-24 (KJV)
Acts 12:21-24 21 And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. 22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. 23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. 24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
I would like to share a short story with you that I copied from sermoncentral.com
Jeffrey Sturdivant
IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is
worth about $33 million
It depends whose hands it’s in
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth $19 million
It depends whose hands it’s in
A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands
is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends whose hands it’s in
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends whose hands it’s in
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it’s in
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands
is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s
hands will feed thousands It depends whose hands it’s in
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce
salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it’s in
As you see now it depends whose hands it’s in.
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears,
your hopes, your dreams, your families and
your relationships in God’s hands because
It depends whose hands it’s in.(Author Unknown)...
Prayerfully we all realize that things become special when in the right hands.
Today I want to talk to those of us who have earned the right to be in leadership positions. Prayerfully we all realize that the things that God has given us charge over are not ours to call our own.
The King is here giving a victorious speech. He was really probably giving the speech to give more reasons for the people to respect him as much as he was giving it for anything else.
This should raise a red flag in our mind. It should make us take a second thought as to why we give some of our greatest speeches. Are we speaking to gain the respect and adoration of the people or are we really trying to please God with what he has given us to be a steward over.
Note: When I say speech I am referring to anytime we talk in authority. To our wife, mom, husband, children, employees, etc.
The writer Josephus noted that the king was dressed probably in some fancy shiny gear that really glared in the sun. The people were awed by his great outfit which subjected them to receive from the king even more. (Foolish men value the outward appearance of men).
These people were caught up in materialism anyhow. But the one thing was true about them is that they were very subjective which left them vulnerable. Sometimes we are more vulnerable than we think to leadership. We should never place the voice of our leader (earthly) over the voice of the Heavenly Father (God). Our leadership in turn should never speak without first hearing from God.
He was probably giving a great speech about how great he was in an attempt to erase out of the mind any hopes of the people rebelling against his authority as he sat in his great chair. This was no ordinary chair that the king sat in as he gave his speech. In fact, just by looking at the chair, one could assume some type of power held by the occupant.
The king also made sure that he gave the speech during great times. It was during the great sporting events. The people were probably already in great spirit of expectations.
There are times in our lives where our adrenaline is so pumped up that we are subject to hearing and receiving less than the truth without even knowing it. People have a way of surrounding their speech with the right preparation stages so that the actually speech is just dessert.
I see it all of the times in the movies. A con artist comes in and raises the adrenaline of his suspect and lays the load of lies on his prey without his prey having any idea on what is going on. For instance good insurance salesman would not approach you with the price of the insurance but he would probably try to get you excited about the fact that you truly need insurance in times like these. Once he raises the level of expectation then we are much more open to what he has to say than if he had simply come to us with a price list of his different policies.
The people that the king was talking to were from Tyre and Sidon. These two groups of people were used to having luxury lifestyles. Although they depended on King Herod for food and living supplies they had abundant resources. Tyre was known for being the place that Solomon got most of his materials to build his temple. The King needed them for their materials and supplies as much as they thought they needed him for his.
However after the speech something extraordinary happened just as he had expected. Although it may not have been the type of touch that he wanted, he was touched by an angel. Leaders we have to be careful sometimes when we ask God to touch us.
He was touched with sickness. Some of us know some people that have been suddenly struck with sickness and they don’t know why.
This great King was struck in the midst of his people while they celebrated the king’s greatness and there was not anything that they could do to save him from the wrath of God.
Not only was he struck with sickness but this sickness was unto his death.
Also, let’s look at how he was killed. The bible says that he was first eaten by worms then he died. This was truly a painful and slow death. God was apparently making an example of him. God wanted his people to see what was truly on the inside of him. He allowed his inner man (full of worms) to be seen outwardly and it was an ugly site. I truly wonder how the people gathered around singing his praise felt when they saw him suddenly stricken sick and there not be anything that they could do.
CONCLUSION
We have to be careful when we are speaking about our accomplishments that we always give God credit for what we are. We have to ensure that we always remain humble and knowledgeable of God and his grace and how he sits up high and judges us down low. If for one second we begin to take credit for anything that God has given us charge of we are subject to his wrath. I am the perfect person to warn you that you do not want to fall into the hands of an angry God.
Let’s Pray
Thank You. May God continue to bless you and keep you. Amen
Your Friend
Minister Juan D. Lane Sr.
