Daily Devotional For Monday, July 29, 2024

I hope your weekend was a good one. For most of us, we are back to work today since it is Monday. We tend to think that it is Sunday when we come together to worship and praise God. But we should do that every day. David writes this in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it” (NLT). Do you feel like rejoicing on this Monday? Do you feel like praising God on this Monday? I hope so. The way I look at it, you could be in a vegetative state in some medical facility or nursing home. David also wrote these words in Psalm 146:2-3, “Praise the Lord! Let all that I am praise the Lord. (2) I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath” (NLT). 

David had some very good days and he had some very tragic days. Will you praise the Lord until you take your last breath? Praise is less an action and more of an attitude. It is not dependent on circumstances or situations. Meaning you don’t have to be sitting in a church worship service or sanctuary to praise God. Acts 16 records the story of when Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. Instead of griping, grumbling and complaining, guess what they did? Look at Acts 16:25, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (NLT). Singing hymns? Yes. Praising God? Yes. 

How? As I said, praise and worship is less of an act and more of an attitude. Have you ever been standing in church singing and looking around at others? Are their faces lit up with joy in praise, or do they look like they wish they were somewhere else? When people look at your face, what do they see when you sing and praise God? Notice Acts 16:25 said that “other prisoners were listening to them.” Meaning — your attitude in worship has an evangelistic impact on others. It can influence someone to come to Christ or to walk away from Christ. 

Look at the rest of the story in Acts 16:26-34:

“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” (NLT).

Having been beaten for a false crime and thrown into prison without a proper trial, both Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, and were unjustly treated. While dealing with their wounds, Paul and Silas decided to pray and praise God with singing. You can imagine how their singing echoed through the prison's halls and cells. Other prisoners were probably thinking, “Who is that singing in here? Are they nuts, Crazy? No one sings in these dark, damp, diseased filled prison cells.” 

The Bible says that God caused an earthquake at the prison's location, which caused all the prison doors to be open and all the chains on every prisoner to come loose. Every prisoner, including Paul and Silas, could have escaped. But not not one prisoner did. We might understand why Paul and Silas didn’t escape, but why not the other prisoners? The Bible does not tell us but my guess is curiosity? These other prisoners wanted to know who was singing hymns in their prison cell. 

The jailer fearing the worse, moved to commit suicide. Why? Rome had a law. If a prisoner escaped, the warden or guard over them were put to death. This reminded me of something similar on the day of the Resurrection in Matthew 28:11-15:

“While the women went to tell Jesus’ followers, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city to tell the leading priests everything that had happened. (12) Then the priests met with the elders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a large amount of money (13) and said to them, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were asleep. (14) If the governor hears about this, we will satisfy him and save you from trouble.” (15) So the soldiers kept the money and did as they were told. And that story is still spread among the people even today”(NLT).

Roman law stated that the penalty for this happening was execution to those Roman soldiers, but the religious leaders wanted to concoct a lie, bribe the soldiers, their commanding officers and other Roman officials to spread a lie. It would have been a huge sum of money to do this in that day.

If everyone had escaped in Acts 16, this would have been a fitting revenge on the city of Philippi for their illegal sourcing and imprisonment of two Roman citizens. But there was something more important and significant — the salvation of the jailer and his household. To show the sincerity of the jailer, he said to Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (vs. 30). Let me tell you why this is significant. 

The Roman jailer addresses Paul and Silas as “Sirs.” The Greek New Testament word translated as “sirs” is [κύριος, kurios]. It is often translated as “lord, Lord” in the New Testament. This is the number one word used to refer to Jesus Christ. It is a title of respect indicating absolute authority. If the jailer recognized Paul and Silas as being disciples of Jesus Christ, their answer in turn, turned his attention to the proper person to fear and respect. Looking at verse 31 again, They replied, “Believe in the Lord [κύριος, kurios Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  

A lot happened in just a few short hours. Paul and Silas led the man to Chris. Then Paul and Silas, still bloodied, bruised and stinking of prison — witnessed to the man’s household, baptized the new believers and the entire group sat down to share a meal as brothers and sisters in Christ. This whole chapter shows how God can take a very bad situation and turn it into a spiritual victory. Here is another amazing thing. Rome had a law that forbade Roman citizens from practicing any foreign religion that had not been officially sanctioned by the state. Judaism and Christianity were not sanctioned religions. For this Roman jailer and his whole family to come to Christ is amazing and miraculous. 

Here Paul and Silas initially locked up in the most inner, secure part of the prison with no way out. In a cell with their feet in stocks. This satanically inspired persecution of Paul and Silas did not intimidate them but gave them boldness and courage (See 1 Thess. 2:2; Phil. 1:12, Phil. 4:22; Phil. 2:17). When Paul and Silas started singing, this provided a powerful testimony of God’s transforming grace. Paul writes in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (ESV). Paul writes this in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18, “Rejoice always . . . (18) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (ESV).

We can have joy in our lives no matter the situation because joy is one of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,(23) gentleness, self-control” (NLT). The problem with sad, miserable Christians is not their circumstances but the lack of living a Spirit-controlled life. How Christians live is directly related to their concept of God. No one expressed that truth more clearly than A. W. Tozer:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. . . . Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. . . . A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God” (Source. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 9-10).

When it came to Paul and Silas, they did not base their theology or their reaction or their response on their circumstances. Instead, they evaluated those circumstances in light of what they knew to be true about the Lord Jesus Christ. Their songs expressed confident trust that God would use their circumstances for their good and His glory. They did not have long to wait until He did. And even if their situation had become worse, it would have no effect on their attitude and reaction. 

There may be a list a mile long why the other prisoners did not escape. Possibly, they were terribly shaken and in shock over the earthquake. Maybe they were fearful of some aftershocks and felt they were safer where they were.  Maybe they feared the consequences of getting caught later. It really does not matter. For this Roman jailer, the tables had been turned. He ran and knelt before them — his prisoners. 

Questions To Consider

1. When you get bad news, is your first impulse and response to find a way to praise God? Why or why not?
2. Having the right theology of God is crucial to dealing with what life throws at you. When your circumstances change for the worse, do you blame God or get mad at Him? Why or why not?
3. If someone does you wrong, is your response like Paul and Silas?—To find a way to witness to them? Why or why not?
4. The next time something bad happens to you or your situation changes for the worse, would you find a way to break out singing a hymn or song that praises God? Why or why not?

Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 63:2-5, “Because Your love is better than life, I will praise You. (4) I will praise You as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in prayer to Your name. (5) I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods. My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise You” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, please forgive me for being so fickle and circumstantial. I want to praise You in the storms. I want to praise You when my circumstances go south and or get worse. I know people are watching me to see how I respond when things are bad. I do not want to be a bad witness for You.Thank You for Your faithfulness in calling and equipping me with everything I need for life and godliness. Grant me eyes of faith to see and understand You're moving on my behalf. I trust You with all my days and rest in Your power and provision. I will be confident in Your timing. In Jesus' name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!—Pastor Kelly