Acts 16:25-31 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 The jailer[a] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
It started with an earthquake that forced prison doors to open. A jailer’s world literally crumbling around him unto death by his own sword. In that moment of desperation, he discovered what we all eventually find – our strength will never be enough. “What must I do to be saved?” His question pierced the darkness.
For centuries, religion had made salvation complicated. Endless rules. Constant striving. Never quite measuring up. But on that night, in a prison of all places, heaven’s answer rang with breathtaking simplicity: “Believe in the Lord Jesus.”
Not “get better first” or “prove yourself worthy.” Not “try harder” or “do more.” Just believe. Just Trust. Just Receive.
In that moment, a prison became a sanctuary, and a hardened jailer discovered what countless hearts have found since – when we stop trying to save ourselves by our own severely limited resources, we quickly find the One who already has.
That same invitation lights up every dark place today: believe in Jesus.
One of the most important keys to being an effective witness for Christ is to be constantly on the lookout for open doors and open hearts.
We need to ask God for opportunities to share our faith, and we need to keep watch as God opens doors for us.
For the apostle Paul, every place he went was a potential mission field.
Even behind the closed doors of a prison Paul and Silas found open doors for sharing their faith.
First they sang hymns to God at midnight, and later they shared the story of Jesus with the jailer.
Jails have a way of hardening a person’s heart. The seamy side of life can leave one calloused and impenetrable. But the earthquake brought the jailer to his knees both physically and spiritually. He was scared, open, receptive, softened by the circumstances. Paul, Silas, saw the opportunity for a spiritual harvest.
Part of being an effective witness is being able to discern when people are open to hearing the good news. Be 100% assured that God is at work tilling the hard-packed soil of people’s hearts. The Holy Spirit is right now doing his spadework in the lives of many people around us.
That’s why we must always be ready to share the message of Jesus’ love. As 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
1 Peter 3:13-18 The Message
13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
Let grace do what all our striving never could.
1 Peter 3:15-16 Amplified Bible
15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect. 16 And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].
The fact that you’re reading these devotions suggests that you probably have some idea of what it means to be saved.
Saved is a familiar word, and yet it can mean different things to people in different places along the journey of faith.
For some, it can mean going back to church.
For others, it may mean agreeing with certain ideas in Christianity.
For yet others, being saved may mean being willing to feel guilty over sins they used to take pride in.
As God leads us, each faith-growing experience inevitably involves some kind of minor surrender—as when you face a crisis and seek direction, looking to God to sustain you along the way.
If you let God lead, guide and direct you along a series of surrenders, you’re eventually going reach a “tipping point” where something inside you realizes that you simply need to hand everything over to the God who’s been guiding you through the fog.
You can tell this has happened when you start worrying less about getting God’s help for what you want and instead start to wonder what he really wants for me and you. Instead of wanting God to find your way, you’re first seeking his way.
Have you been saved like that?
Ask Yourself:
- What does it mean to move beyond knowing about Jesus to truly believing in Him?
- How has simple faith in Jesus changed your perspective on life?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit …
Praying …
Psalm 13 English Standard Version
How Long, O Lord?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 