In today's passage of scripture we will see what impact a life surrendered and lived in His presence has on others! A life lived for God is a powerful life! A life surrendered, walks in His power! Check it out!
Acts 16: 22-26 says,
"Once we were going to a place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
When the owners of the slave girl realized their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
These men were upset at their loss of money, not what Paul and Silas were, actually, doing. It was in an act of revenge that they took them before the authorities; they were angry! Notice, they made no mention of their loss of money, at all, but focused on putting fear of them in hearts of others: "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." I think it's funny that the fortune teller, who was demon possessed, knew exactly who they were! Boy, he was a great witness! Lol.
(Take a look at what happens with the crowd; the fear tactic worked!)
The scriptures say,
"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them stripped and beaten. After they had been SEVERELY flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them, CAREFULLY. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
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, 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 the 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 the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then, immediately, he and his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God ~ he and his whole family."
Paul and Silas drew their strength from God, to be able to respond to their circumstance with singing and praise; that is not a natural response in their circumstances! God's presence in them, gave them the ability, to move beyond the human response, that would have, likely, been one of despair. God's Word says they were SEVERELY flogged so they had to be in severe pain, but rose to the occasion to praise God for in their circumstances! Their faith gave them a different perspective; they believed that they were in God's hands and that He would use, even their persecution and suffering for good! They were, physically, imprisoned, but their minds weren't. We don't have to be imprisoned by our circumstances either!
As Paul and Silas sang praises don't you wonder what the other prisoners were thinking? It says, "the other prisoners were listening to them". These men were known to be "men of God" though there wasn't alot of respect given them. Their message and their praise set the tone for what happened next! Look at God's response to their imprisonment and their praise!
The earthquake, would in a normal situation, just been considered just that, an earthquake. But look at the jailer's response after he's told not to take his life, "We are all here!" God has drawn this man to his knees, trembling, in repentance. God has opened the eyes of this man's heart to see this as the hand of God and he trembles on his knees before them. "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
God had sent two men, in His name, to seek and save the lost. They had been willing to give up their lives, to live and walk in God's presence; to be His hands, His feet, and His voice. They didn't have the power to change the jailer's heart or the power to give him eyes to see God. God was present with them and God was using them to join Him in what He was already doing. God was there to draw and save the jailer and his family. God was on a mission and He had two men that were willing to do all He asked; to share the message God sent them to share. God was the power behind the message, He was pursuing the hearts of men. God was using these two men that knew Him, so intimately, that their first response to being persecuted, flogged, thrown in prison and put in stocks was to PRAISE HIM! God was WITH THESE MEN! Could He not have provided the earthquake "at a more opportune time" and caused everyone to run and the flogging and the imprisonment to never happen. Sure! God could have saved everyone in the prison, if He so desired. We don't always understand God's ways; that's why He's God and we are not! Our hearts are filled with questions as we read this passage; some of those questions won't be answered till we get to heaven.
But I know this ~ I want to live and walk in the light of God's presence! I know I need His help to do that! Their faith unnerves me! I want to love God that much, that I would have that kind of strength to have that kind of response! But if that's my thinking, haven't I missed the point? They weren't acting in their own power, their relationship was so personal with God, that they were moving in HIS POWER, not their own! The power of His presence!
We, so quickly, move to independence in our thought process! We're trained in our workplace to be confident, self motivated, to be decisive and independent (self made). God requires just the opposite: humility, self surrender, to look to Him in every thing and to be, completely, dependent. We are meant to be set apart from the world! We will be ODD, ridiculed and laughed at and yes, as we become more like Him, we will be persecuted!
How does the world view you? As a friend, like them? Or as a weirdo and too heavenly minded to be any earthly good? The question that really matters is, "Where is your relationship with God?" What does God think about you? A life lived in His presence is a life of power and impact ~ "In His Name And For His Glory", not our own! A powerful life for God, begins at His feet! Want to be used? Get plugged into the Power Source ~ the Vine!
We, so quickly, move to independence in our thought process! We're trained in our workplace to be confident, self motivated, to be decisive and independent (self made). God requires just the opposite: humility, self surrender, to look to Him in every thing and to be, completely, dependent. We are meant to be set apart from the world! We will be ODD, ridiculed and laughed at and yes, as we become more like Him, we will be persecuted!
How does the world view you? As a friend, like them? Or as a weirdo and too heavenly minded to be any earthly good? The question that really matters is, "Where is your relationship with God?" What does God think about you? A life lived in His presence is a life of power and impact ~ "In His Name And For His Glory", not our own! A powerful life for God, begins at His feet! Want to be used? Get plugged into the Power Source ~ the Vine!
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