(Read Acts 16:25-31)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” Yesterday we learned of the time when Paul casted a demon out of a young slave girl. The girl’s master was furious because the demon in the girl had been enabling her to operate as a fortune teller. With the demon gone, the fortune telling business was shut down and the master wanted Paul and Silas imprisoned. The Apostles were brutally beaten, imprisoned, placed in maximum security (in the inner dungeon), and then further secured (with their feet in stocks) within the most secure portion of the prison.
After all they had been through you would think Paul and Silas would curse God. But instead of cursing God, in the midnight hour, at the lowest of lows, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God! Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer charged to ensure Paul and Silas did not escape was asleep while the men were praying and singing praises. The earthquake woke him up and when he saw the prison doors wide open he assumed Paul and Silas had escaped. The jailer knew the warden would have him killed for failing to keep Paul and Silas behind bars. So, instead of waiting for the warden to execute him, the jailer drew his sword and prepared to kill himself. But Paul and Silas were still there. Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer had a near-death experience and it almost came it his own hands. He called for lights, ran to the dungeon, he saw Paul and Silas still there, and he fell down trembling at their feet. As the jailer got up he brought Paul and Silas out of their dungeon cell, he thought about how close he had come to death, and he asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Never let anything steal your praise. Paul and Silas were in as bad of a situation as you can be, but they refused to allow their circumstances to steal their praise. They prayed and sang praises to God, and the Lord manifested a Supernatural earthquake that changed their situation around. So no matter what you are facing, no matter how hard it gets, and no matter how much pressure you are feeling, continue to pray and sing praises to Your God. When you pray you are acknowledging His power and exercising your trust in God. When you praise you are giving God the adoration He deserves and your focus shifts from your circumstance to God’s’ goodness.
2. God can get good out of any situation. If God could get good out of Paul and Silas’s situation, then He can find a way to get good out of yours. Trust God! Stop telling your God about your situation. Start telling your situation about Your God! God is bigger than anything you face and He can turn it around for your good.
3. It’s not over unless the Lord says it’s over. The slave girl’s master wanted revenge against Paul and Silas. The Roman government sought to shut down their ministry. The prison guards who beat Paul and Silas with rods attempted to break their spirits. But no matter what people did to Paul and Silas, God was still God, He was still on the throne, and their ministry could not be shut down unless He told them to do it. So remember, man can attempt to stop you, but it’s never over until or unless the Lord says it’s over. If God wants you to keep going, then no man can stop you!
4. Sometimes people need to see a manifestation of God’s power before they come to Him. The jailer could care less about what Paul and Silas were preaching when he first took charge of the men. He heard of how people were following their message, but as far as he was concerned, their message was just empty words. However, when the earthquake came and he saw the power of God manifested, he quickly asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Many people are the same way today. They don’t want to HEAR a sermon, they want to SEE power. And that is exactly why God freely manifests His Supernatural power through us when we align with His will. Paul said, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power” (1 Cor 2:4). God is not against manifesting the Supernatural through you. Submit yourself to God, align with His purpose, and you will experience things that cannot be explained away. When you do, others will see it and come to Jesus because of it.
Closing Confession: Father, You have been better to me than I deserve. If you only gave me what I earned or deserved, I would be a man-most-miserable, but You have not. You have blessed me richly. Not because I have deserved it, not because I have earned it, and not even because I have been so good. No, You have blessed me by Your Grace, because You are so good. When I think of Your goodness towards me, I can’t help but give You praise. Sure, I face challenges, obstacles and opposition. It is not always easy and You never promised it would be. But You promised never to leave me or forsake. You are always there for me, even when the going get’s rough. So Father, I declare by faith that I shall never cease to give You praise. I won’t allow difficult circumstances to steal my praise. I shall enter every day with Your praise on my lips, Your joy in my heart, a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I am blessed, even when the circumstances don’t look like it. And I will praise You, even when I am in my midnight hour, at my darkest and lowest point. My praise shall create an atmosphere where You are welcome to move. You can turn any situation around and I am open for You to move in my life in a Supernatural way. I want people to SEE Your goodness manifested through me, so that they can come to Jesus, Your Son, and call upon Him as Lord. So Father, I give myself over to You, regardless of the situation, to be used of You for Your glory. Use me as a conduit of Your divine power and show people, through me, that You are real. Your power has come TO me and changed me. Now I ask that Your power would flow THROUGH me and change others. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
