Week 09

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NIV

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:20 NIV

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:11-13 NIV

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these 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. Acts 16:22-25 NIV

Paul and Silas are in a Philippian prison, in the very innermost cell, fastened with their feet in the stocks all night, and they are praying and singing hymns to God. The other prisoners heard their prayers and singing. Why do you think these men were able to pray and sing while in this situation?

I think the book Paul later wrote to the church in Philippi has the answer. Paul and Silas had a Biblical and an eternal perspective. Paul and Silas knew God’s desire for them – was to share the gospel in any and all circumstances. For these men, it did not matter if they were preaching in a synagogue (Acts 14:1), beside a river (Acts 16:13), or in prison (Phil. 1:12-13). Their job was to proclaim the gospel of Christ in any circumstance. Later, when Paul was under house arrest in Rome, he said, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear,” Philippians 1:12-14.

So, what about us? Have you found yourself in a difficult situation and just didn’t feel like praising God in the midst of it? I know I have, but I personally have found if I take a step back, – look at our faithful God – my perspective can change. Lamentations 3:21-26 says, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”

The simple act of singing praise to our faithful God, whose love for us is unfailing can calm our spirit, realign our perspective and give us hope. Listen to this song– perhaps sing along, give God praise – rejoice in what Jesus offers to all.

By Grace Hunter

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. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household 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 household. Acts 16:29-34

It took me a long time to understand the need to be baptized. If baptism in and of itself didn’t save you- just demonstrated a decision you already made- did it matter? It seemed like an “extra credit” thing that the overachieving youth group kids did. And I was not an overachieving youth group kid. It wasn’t until years later- and hearing a more robust explanation of baptism than I had before- that I realized its importance. While it’s true that the act of baptism doesn’t save, Jesus changes everything and he has changed me. Why not acknowledge and declare, to myself and others, all that he has done and that in him I am a new creation?

Over and over in the book of Acts, those who believe the good news about Jesus are often immediately baptized in the name of Jesus. We see it here, with the Philippian jailer and his family (v. 33), as well as the stories of Lydia (Acts 16:15), Philip and the Eunuch (Acts 8:38) and Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:48), as well as many others. Belief and acceptance of good news is followed by joyful action.

If you have already been baptized, spend some time today thinking about that day, why you were baptized, and the joy and celebration of that day. If you have not been baptized but consider yourself a follower of Jesus maybe it’s time to consider taking that step. If you are interested in baptism- even if it’s just in finding out more about it- you can let us know here.

By Jessica Rust

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!” 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. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household 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 household. Acts 16:25-34

When driving around town I have seen a bumper sticker with the message: “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”. That thought brings to mind outrageous examples of twisted accusations and legal proceedings launched to stop Jesus followers from offering the Good News and serving the needs of the oppressed. 

The early part of Acts 16 describes Paul liberating a slave girl from the oppressive power of a fortune-telling demon in the name of Jesus. Because this act deprived her owners of income derived from the demon’s predictive powers, the owners launched a twisted and false accusation that Paul and Silas were leading an insurrection. The magistrates of Philippi then beat and jailed them without a trial. If that happened today, such a gross miscarriage of justice would make many of us angry! 

Instead of anger rising to the surface at such evil treatment, the above passage describes Paul and Silas praying and singing after their beating and imprisonment as well as remaining in jail when it was clear God had arranged an earthquake to release them. 

Why such counterintuitive behavior? The only explanation is Paul and Silas had learned to first seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in every situation. Their obedience opened a supernatural path to lead their jailer and his entire household to salvation in Jesus.

Although each injustice carried out on those who follow Jesus arises from different circumstances, the Holy Spirit is faithful to guide us to fruitful purposes as we respond in the way of Jesus. 

Here are a few other situations recorded in Scripture that demonstrate one or more aspects of injustice toward godly, righteous people: 1) no crime committed, 2) false charges, 3) lack of a formal trial, 4) severe punishment/death/imprisonment in spite of no legal conviction:

• The prophet Jeremiah – Jeremiah 38
• John the Baptist – Matt 14:1-14
• Jesus – The last chapters of all the Gospels
• Stephen – Acts 6:8-15 and Acts 7:54-60
• Peter and John – Acts 4:1-17
• The Apostles – Acts 5:17-42
• James and Peter – Acts 12:1-19

Pick one of these situations and meditate on both the godly response of the righteous individual and the purpose God intended through their response to injustice.

By Kathleen Petersen

One day on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl ran into us. She was a psychic and, with her fortune-telling, made a lot of money for the people who owned her. She started following Paul around, calling attention to us by yelling out, “These men are working for the Most High God. They’re laying out the road of salvation for you!”She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, “Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!” And it was gone, just like that. When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square .Then the police arrested them and pulled them into a court with the accusation, “These men are disturbing the peace–dangerous Jewish agitators subverting our Roman law and order.” By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood. Acts 16:16-21 The Message.

At first it wasn’t a problem for the slave girl’s owners that she followed Paul and Silas and yelled words telling what the two of them were about. Maybe there would be money in it. The trouble started when Paul ordered the spirit to- in the name of Jesus Christ- get out of her. Everybody now knew what Paul and Silas were doing, but the owners could no longer make money on the girl’s psychic abilities. Competition for attention had killed their business, and would likely destroy the economy if allowed to continue. Paul and Silas and the power they brought were a threat, so the owners started a riot in order to get rid of Paul, Silas and their message.

Words have power for both good or evil, depending on who is using them and for what purpose. Scripture is full of ways words have been used for good or evil, as encouragement or as threats. And in every age, and certainly, in ours, the word, “CHANGE” is one of those powerful words.

In Acts 1:1-9:1-32, as the Holy Spirit came and the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached, huge changes happened in individuals, communities, the culture and started to spread into the world.

Go back through those chapters in Acts and pick one that encouraged or felt like a threat to you. Then look at one or more of the changes that have happened in your life as you follow Jesus and are learning to know his heart. How have you been encouraged or, perhaps, felt threatened? Using Psalm 139:23-24, go to the Lord, who knows you intimately and loves you deeply, and thank him for encouragement and talk with him about your felt threat.

By Carolyn Schmitt

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She 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 annoyed 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. Acts 16:16-18

I can’t help but find humor in the scriptures, and this little story is yet another example of that. Here we see a demon-possessed woman recommending following Paul and Silas, shouting affirmation of their message. At first, one might think that this is a story about God’s power to cause the demon to do this; like an older sibling might grab the arm of a younger, then use it to smack them while saying, “Why are you hitting yourself?” God could do that to this demon, but there seems to be something more going on here.

Strangely, Paul is not thrilled by the marketing efforts of this afflicted girl. That begs the question: why, if she is speaking the truth? After all, she is speaking the truth!

There is some hidden motive for the actions of this demon through her. The only explanation is that her persistence is a distraction from what God is trying to accomplish in the town. The conclusion is that not all correct theology is well-spoken. This demon-possessed girl is right in her theology, but it was designed to distract. Paul has the wisdom to set her free from the influence of the distracting spirit.

The question for us is, can an over-emphasis on correct belief sometimes distract us from what God is doing in the world? The goal of Christianity is not to get all the facts right; it is to stay in step with God. The risk we run when we overemphasize theological correctness is that we lose the usefulness of truth. Correct theology is only good if it helps us live in the way of Jesus with the heart of Jesus.

Take a moment to reflect on the past few days. Was there a moment when you stood up for a belief while hurting someone? For me, this often comes in moments of conflict with a loved one—the desire to right often causes us to damage the relationships around us. If you have a moment like this, or recognize a tendency to speak the truth without love, pray a prayer of confession and ask God to help you speak his truth in a loving spirit.

By Aaron Bjorklund