Call to Gather, Pray and Worship God
Philippians 1:6
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
What good work is God doing in you? Do you see yourself as a recipient of God’s work (being saved by grace alone)? How about as a partner in God’s work? Do you see yourself as a reservoir of grace, sharing it with others in the name of God? Peter describes that opportunity this way: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10). Pray for God’s work of grace to fill you and be fulfilled in you until the day of Christ Jesus.
Proverbs for the Week
Proverbs 13:20
Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.
Paul at Houses of
Lydia and the Jailer
Our scripture story occurs in the city of a Philippi, where Paul first encounters first Lydia and later the local jailer. Driven to the area of Macedonia by a vision Paul received, they end up in Philippi sharing with whoever will listen.
Lydia does – and after baptizing her and her family, Paul and company stick around and share the gospel message with others. As a result, he also draws some negative attention – as you will see – and gets thrown in jail.
That leads to a powerful prayer session (our prayer for the week) which produces an opportunity to baptize the jailer and his household. With some odd twists and turns, it makes for a great Scripture account. Enjoy God's story for the week from Acts 16:6-34.
Acts 16:6-34
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 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. 17 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.” 18 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.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 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. 27 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. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 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.
Prayer
Father God, Paul and company did not let disrupted plans derail them; they didn’t let unwanted attention derail them; they didn’t allow unfair beatings and jail time get in the way. They let You use all of it to Your glory in their lives. They trusted You and praised You even in the midst of their trials and tribulation. Oh how I want to be like that. I want our church ministry to trust and praise like that. By Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, let this happen. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.