Tag Archives: Paul

July 16
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“The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!’

“The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’

“They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.” (Acts 16:27-32, NIV)

It isn’t about us.

When God permits the suffering of His saints without apparent cause; and when He allows pain and various humiliations into the lives of His children, we need to remind ourselves that it isn’t about us. 

God so loved the jailer and his household that he permitted the illegal confinement and humiliation of two of His most productive people in order that through their faithful testimony in adversity His grand plan for humanity (e. g. the salvation of the world through Jesus) might be realized. 

In our weakness, we would prefer that those in need would come to us in our bright, shining, sanctuaries of holiness.  However, it pleases God to send His people into the dark, adverse, and gritty places because that is where the light is most needed.  We are privileged to bear that light!  – Luther

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July 15
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“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

“At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his
sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had
escaped.

“But Paul shouted, ‘Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!'” (Acts 16:25-28, NIV)

It is axiomatic: When praises to God go up, the power of God comes down.

This is illustrated by today’s scripture. Even in the midst of their pain, and the apparent wrongness of their situation (they were doing a good thing — for God, no less) Paul and Silas found reasons to pray and to sing!

Allow your prayer and your praises to God to rise in every circumstance, and you will see the power of God arrive and transform sorrow into joy.

Remember: When praises go up; power comes down.  – Luther

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July 10
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“And it came to pass in our going on to prayer, a certain maid, having a spirit of Python, did meet us, who brought much employment to her masters by soothsaying, she having followed Paul and us, was crying, saying, `These men are servants of the Most High God, who declare to us a way of salvation;’ and this she was doing for many days, but Paul having been grieved, and having turned, said to the spirit, `I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come forth from her;’ and it came forth the same hour.” (Acts 16:16-18, Young’s Literal Translation)

A single word can, sometimes, make a world of difference.

The young girl in today’s scripture passage “dogged” Paul and his companions as they proclaimed the Good News, saying: “These men are servants of the Most High God (TRUE), who declare to us a way of salvation (FALSE).” 

Here, it can get confusing because except for a literal, word-for-word, translation of the Greek New Testament one will probably find the word “the” instead of the word “a” in other New Testament translations to English of the girl’s characterization of the disciple’s message.

Paul and the others were not announcing one way of many ways; they lived to proclaim the way of salvation.  It was this mis-characterization of their message that annoyed Paul and provoked him to “call out” the demon within the girl that was the true source of the half-truths. 

As disciples of Jesus, our message today is the same as the message of Paul and the other disciples in the book of Acts: “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12, New Living Translation) 

If we believe that to be true, we, too, should be annoyed at any attempt to mis-characterize or to alter the whole truth of God’s word — and use whatever tools at our disposal to set-straight the record. A single word can make a world of difference!  – Luther

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