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Your Word for Today “and at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them (Acts 16:25). A false message has been circulated in the modern Church that if a person is in the very center of the Will of God, there will be no problems. If there are problems, so it is erroneously claimed, that means the person is out of the Will of God. Nothing could be further from the truth! The more directly that one is in the Will of God, just as Paul and Silas were when they were preaching the Gospel in Philippi, the more that Satan is going to do everything within his power to hinder. An absence of that hindrance tells us that we are not where we ought to be. A demon-possessed girl was delivered; her masters, who made great sums of money from her fortunetelling, grew incensed and had Paul and Silas arrested (Acts 16:16-21). As a result, the Magistrates of the city commanded that Paul and Silas be beaten, which they were. Under Roman law, scourging was a most brutal and cruel punishment. Many died under this torture. Paul and Silas must have been given superhuman strength to have endured it. Then they had to suffer the added torture of the stocks in the inner prison, which usually was a noisome and wet dungeon without any light. The stocks frequently were so placed that the unhappy prisoner’s shoulders lay on the wet stone floor, with his feet drawn as far apart as possible, fastened high up to the wall. After a short time, the muscles would begin to constrict, causing unbearable pain. Satan, no doubt, took this opportunity to taunt the two Apostles, telling them that they were out of the Will of God, etc. If their coming to Philippi was the Will of God, why would the Lord allow them to be treated in this manner? That question has plagued many throughout the centuries. Why did the Lord allow this terrible beating and imprisonment to come to Paul and Silas? The reasons are known only to the Lord, but He most definitely had His reasons. Had He desired, He easily could have stopped the situation. Paul may have answered this question in the Epistle to the Church at Corinth. Paul said, “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the Revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. “And He said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the Power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Cor. 12:7-9). The “flesh” is ever prominent in all of us, even in Paul. Certain problems are then allowed by the Lord in order to let us know that in the flesh there is no strength or power, and that we must depend solely upon the Lord. In fact, the greater the Operation of the Holy Spirit within our hearts and lives, the greater, I think, will be these difficulties. In the midst of it all, the two Apostles began to pray and sing praises unto the Lord. The Greek Text suggests that bursts of song broke out as they prayed from time to time. This tells us that, especially during times of great testing, and whether we feel like it or not, we should simply “pray and sing praises unto the Lord.” This proclaims faith and trust! It was midnight. “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:26). Even though it was an earthquake, it was very unnatural in that it seems to only have affected the jail. Further, it caused every door to be opened and even their iron bands to be unloosed, but without destroying the building. As a result, the jailer was saved and all of his household. Also, a Church was established in Philippi. The ways of the Lord are not always easy; however, if they are minutely followed, they always are fruitful!” —Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”: https://www.shopjsm.org/p-7294-word-for-every-day.aspx)

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