🕊️ Rescue Story

 (Acts 12:5–11)
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
— Acts 12:5–11 (NIV)

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The Rescue You Don’t See

Peter had no idea that his rescue was happening while the angels were breaking him out of prison. Much like Peter, we often have no idea when God is rescuing us. We are oblivious to the higher realm—yet He rescues us time and time again. The church that was praying for Peter had no idea that their prayers had been answered until Peter was standing right at their door.

This makes me ask,
“How much can I trust what I see and hear when I am blind to an entire realm I can’t perceive?”

Because I can’t see the process of God working, I often wrongly assume He isn’t. I miss it. My eyes are drawn to what the world shows me instead—the noise, fear, and hopelessness that fill my screen. It’s exactly where the enemy wants my focus.

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Looking for God in the Wrong Places

So, how can I see evidence of God’s movement?
Well, it’s not on TV or social media.
If social media is my only indicator of the movement of God, I’m in trouble.
My best source for seeing His hand at work is to pay attention to the prayers I pray.

I must remember what I’ve asked for and follow through. Sometimes it may take years, even decades, to see an answer. Yet other times, God responds in an instant. I’ve seen both.

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A Moment on the Road

As I was traveling home from work on a wooded, winding, dangerous road, a motorcycle—one of those fast “crotch rockets”—flew past me on a blind curve. I imagined his demise and prayed for his safety. About a mile down the road, I saw that same motorcyclist stopped on the shoulder, frustratingly trying to start his stalled bike.

That moment stopped me.

Few prayers are answered in a minute. But that one was.

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Write It Down

Since most answers take time, how can I remember what I’ve prayed for with my poor memory?  

        Write it down. Check that list daily. Then record the answers. 

                                                          You will be amazed!

Because we cannot see the actions God takes, never assume He isn’t responding. His timing is not our timing.

And just a word of advice: remember, these prayers are not wishes sent to a genie. They are conversations with the Creator. Prayer must always come from a humble, honest relationship with Him.

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Be Persistent

Scripture tells us to pray about everything.
So pray about small daily irritations as well as the big, life-changing events—and keep track of them. Day by day and year by year, you’ll begin to see results from many of those prayers.

Be persistent. Changing hearts—especially hearts with the freedom to reject truth—is a slow process. But God begins His work when we ask. He is always moving on our behalf.

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Watch and See

When Peter was set free, he didn’t realize it until he was already outside the gate.
You may not recognize your rescue until much later either.
But trust this—God is already working it out.

Watch and see.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Real Journey of Following Christ

Accepting Jesus is only the beginning—following Him daily is where the real transformation happens.

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The One-Sided Gospel

If you picked up a coin and found that only one side was printed, you’d know it was fake. A post currently circulating on social media discusses only one side of Christianity. But the life of following Christ is a two-sided coin. One side is accepting Jesus as Lord; the other is following Him daily. In church-talk, these sides are called justification and sanctification.

The post warns that many people are fooled into thinking being good will get them to heaven. It leaves readers wondering if they’re going to heaven or hell—because there seem to be so many ways to get it wrong. It also suggests that those who do good are simply trying to earn salvation, implying that once we say “yes” to Jesus, we can go back to life as usual since being good is pointless.

But here’s the thing—there is truth in that post. We cannot earn our way to heaven. If we think we can, we are deceiving ourselves. Yet, that’s where the truth ends.

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The Danger of a Half-Truth

The unintentional message sounds a lot like “turn or burn, then carry on.” But that kind of “get-out-of-hell-free” mindset is dangerous. It ignores the beautiful journey we’re invited into—walking and talking with God each day.

If you believe you can say a quick prayer, shout a “hallelujah,” and then carry on as before—think again. You may have stamped your ticket to heaven, but if that’s your only motivation, you might be surprised. Time and time again, Jesus pointed to the motivation behind our actions. Motivation matters.

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Life More Abundant

Yes, Jesus came to seek and save the lost—but His mission didn’t stop there. He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly—a life surrendered to becoming more like Him, loving others with selfless abandon. And when we live this way, it shows. To some, it might look like striving to earn heaven, but in truth, it’s the natural outflow of gratitude.

Transformation is the evidence of a heart surrendered to Jesus. It’s part of the walk. When we live in daily surrender, change is inevitable.

James 2:14–17 (NIV)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

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Surrender and the Helper Within

When you prayed that prayer, you made a commitment to surrender. You chose to transfer ownership of your life. You gave up your right to call the shots and instead became the hands and feet of Christ in this world. Of course, we can’t do this in our own strength. That’s why God sent a Helper—the Holy Spirit—to live within us and guide us.

But His voice can easily be drowned out by the noise of everyday life.

To hear Him, we must be still and know that He is God.

Be still.

Again—be still!

We have to quiet our racing minds and tune in to His voice. There are many ways to practice this, far too many for one post. But a great resource is How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People by Pete Greig. Listening to God requires patience, focus, and time. It isn’t easy—we are imperfect people trying to hear a perfect God—but it’s worth it.

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The Reward of Listening

When we persist in listening and surrendering, we begin to find Him. The more we know Scripture, the more we recognize His voice and His character. We begin to see His deep love for us in everything. The more we seek, the more we find. And as our faith grows, that nagging worry about whether we’re “really saved” begins to fade.

So, what’s in it for us?

We already have that ticket to heaven, right?

Ah—there it is again. Motivation.

What’s in our hearts when we seek Him?

Are we going through the motions, or are we falling in love with our Savior?

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The Donkey and Elephant in the Room

I can remember a time when I had no clue how my friends voted.

I knew their challenges and successes in life. I knew what their kids loved to do, but I never thought about their political leanings. And frankly, I didn’t care. Few of us did.

Fast forward to now. Most of us spend more time each week on social media than we do in church. We excuse ourselves from attending church because we don’t want to be around those “judgmental hypocrites.”

I hope we can see the irony in those last two sentences.

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Checking Our Focus

Do I spend more of my headspace exalting political leaders than I do my Creator-Redeemer?

Every once in a while, I have to check my social media history and see where my focus has been. What am I liking? What am I sharing? It’s very telling.

I’ll admit it — I’m guilty of throwing gasoline on the fire at times. And this fire burns those who are most vulnerable.

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What Can We Do?

As Christians, how can we change this?

Jesus gave instructions to His disciples about conflict when they were spreading the Good News and weren’t accepted in a town. He said to brush the dust off their feet and move on to preach in places where acceptance could happen.

I think the same principle can help in our current battle with political anger.

We, as Christians, need to let offenses go and move forward in our mission to share God’s love. This can be difficult if we’re chained to a political stance. But it’s not impossible.

Here are a few ideas to help us break those chains.

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Step 1: Walk Away

When social media or a news channel riles us up, we need to leave it.

What would happen to the algorithms if, every time we saw something that made us mad, we stopped scrolling and shut it off?

Imagine what kind of peace would fill the space that anger used to occupy.

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Step 2: Deal With the Anger

It’s not enough to walk away — we still need to deal with what’s brewing inside.

We must find a way to shake off our anger like dust from our feet, leaving it behind.

Earnestly asking God for help with our indignation is the key to moving forward. He can turn our frustration into peace, our outrage into prayer.

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Step 3: Recenter on God

Then we need to relocate our focus.

The best way to recenter our thoughts is through Scripture. The Psalms, in particular, have an amazing power to calm and realign us with God.

Lately, I’ve been reading Bible stories and focusing on God’s character as it’s revealed in each one.

For example, when I read about Jesus turning the water into wine, I see a God who cares about every seemingly insignificant issue in my life. I see that He will move mountains for me.

That realization highlights a new facet of God’s nature, shifting my focus from myself and my frustration back to Him.

And when that happens — He becomes bigger in my thoughts throughout the day.

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Freedom From the Chains

When those three steps have been taken, I will have successfully stepped away from the chains of political anger — putting that political critter to bed.

I know this will make a difference in my life.

And most importantly, it will help me avoid hurting those who are unstable and might act out in anger.

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Prayer

Lord, help me see when my heart is more focused on politics than on You. Remind me that no leader, party, or opinion can save me — only You can. Give me the courage to walk away from anger, the humility to seek peace, and the wisdom to reflect Your love in every conversation.

Amen.