Daily Bread Acts 16
Daily Bread Acts 16
Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 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 woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he 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, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Observation:
As we see Paul being led by the Holy Spirit with Silas his partner, they find themselves in many and various situations. Wherever they go, God uses them to preach the gospel and even if the worst of situations like being jailed God in Philippi, God intervenes to use them to proclaim the Good News in dark places.
Another thing we see is that when people come to faith, their whole household comes to faith. Clearly we see when God moves to bring people into relationship with Him, he sees people in the context of their households. In these households there were bound to be children, who were probably also baptized or at least dedicated to the faith.
These scenes show us the truth that God uses all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Application:
As we are led by the Holy Spirit, God will bring us into contact with those who we might not think would be open to the Good News. When bad times befall us, we might want to think how can God use this for His glory? We also see in two of these situations (Lydia the dealer in expensive cloth, and the girl who was a fortune teller) that God uses unlikely suspects to do his bidding.
You can imagine the praise Paul had for the Lord when the one who jailed him became a believer and then washed his wounds. Once again the Philippian jailer and his whole household come to faith and are baptized. By the end of the story, the city officials learn Paul and Silas are Roman citizens and beg them to leave peacefully.
If you are in a troubling situation, how might God use it to further spread the Good News? How might your perceived enemies be the very people God is showing His love to through you? May we all be as obedient as Paul to the leading of the Holy Spirit so we might experience the adventure of following at any cost!
Prayer: God give us boldness to proclaim who you are even in the worst of situations. Guide us to those who you would want to lead to experience Your grace. May we see many households in our community come to faith and be baptized into the body of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 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 woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he 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, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Observation:
As we see Paul being led by the Holy Spirit with Silas his partner, they find themselves in many and various situations. Wherever they go, God uses them to preach the gospel and even if the worst of situations like being jailed God in Philippi, God intervenes to use them to proclaim the Good News in dark places.
Another thing we see is that when people come to faith, their whole household comes to faith. Clearly we see when God moves to bring people into relationship with Him, he sees people in the context of their households. In these households there were bound to be children, who were probably also baptized or at least dedicated to the faith.
These scenes show us the truth that God uses all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Application:
As we are led by the Holy Spirit, God will bring us into contact with those who we might not think would be open to the Good News. When bad times befall us, we might want to think how can God use this for His glory? We also see in two of these situations (Lydia the dealer in expensive cloth, and the girl who was a fortune teller) that God uses unlikely suspects to do his bidding.
You can imagine the praise Paul had for the Lord when the one who jailed him became a believer and then washed his wounds. Once again the Philippian jailer and his whole household come to faith and are baptized. By the end of the story, the city officials learn Paul and Silas are Roman citizens and beg them to leave peacefully.
If you are in a troubling situation, how might God use it to further spread the Good News? How might your perceived enemies be the very people God is showing His love to through you? May we all be as obedient as Paul to the leading of the Holy Spirit so we might experience the adventure of following at any cost!
Prayer: God give us boldness to proclaim who you are even in the worst of situations. Guide us to those who you would want to lead to experience Your grace. May we see many households in our community come to faith and be baptized into the body of Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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