“…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…”Acts 12:21-23 (NKJV)
One thing I have learned in life is that power intoxicates People. Even the most respectful man can be intoxicated by the power given to him due to his position in authority. This was the case of Herod the king as stated in the opening text. He suddenly forgot that he was just a man. His subjects chanted and praised him when he spoke and addressed his words like the voice of God and not the voice of a man, and since he would not correct them and took glory in being called God, an angel of the Lord struck him and he died. He died not as a god but as a mere man.
Beloved, one of the things we must be careful about is not to be tempted to take God’s place, not to be tempted to take God’s glory and praises. As Christians, it’s our sacred duty to know that the Almighty is God, and no matter the position we are, no matter the wealth we have and no matter the authority bestowed to us, our praises should go to God for all and what he has given to us. God hates the proud, he demonstrated this also in the case of the parable of the rich man.
In this parable, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “…the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? ’Luke 12:16-20 (NKJV). When you take a look at the preceding text, before the ones above, you will discover that God wasn’t happy at the rich man’s attitude towards his possession. The man did not give glory to God for the things he possessed rather he gloried in himself as though he had achieved all by his strength. So we are picking lessons from his story so that we can give all praises to God for all he does for us and not allow ourselves to be intoxicated by power or wealth. Interestingly, when we do this, we can’t but live a long life and our prosperity will have no end. Halleluiah!
TODAY’S RHEMA
Do not let power or wealth rule you or get you intoxicated, for God is the giver and all glory is expected to go to Him!
CONFESSION FOR THE DAY
Dear heavenly Father! Thank you for giving me access to all things and thank you for the ability you have given me to make wealth. I know that all I have is not by my power. I acknowledge that you are the giver of all things, everything I have is yours and all you have is mine in the name of Jesus. Amen!
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