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One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 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. 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. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. (Acts 16:16-34 NRSV)
A blessing of hope and joy be yours today, dear Friend. I write this devotional after receiving word that my dear friend, Mr. Doug Smith, passed from this life to life eternal. His death goes with the promise of this passage, and I will try to address that as I write. I ask continued prayers for his widow Autumn, children Sam, Owen, and Ainsley. May God's comfort be with them during these days. Also prayers for Ms. Glenna Reese who underwent surgery in New Braunfels. May her surgery have gone well and recovery be a speedy one. I also ask prayers for the family of Mr. José Refugio Garcia, father to our son-in-law Jorge Garcia, husband of our daughter Nellie. Mr. Garcia died today, May 28th in the evening.
By the way, I am writing this on Tuesday, May 28th, which is a special day for Nellie and me as our second baby arrived on this day some years ago. So, we wish Saraí Valverde Cortez a very Happy and Special Birthday, asking that God grant her many more. We had a joyous celebration yesterday here in our home, and tonight her daughter, Saraí Evangelina Cortez will be singing a solo at the end of year concert of West Ridge Middle School with the concert being at Westlake High School tonight. Prayers also for my bride, Nellie, as she is not feeling well and we may have to miss that concert tonight.
This passage is all about power. It is also about money, which is what gets the disciples into trouble. In the realm of the unseen, what we know as the spiritual world, there are good forces, these of God and His angels at work; and the forces of evil, those of Satan and his demons. We are introduced to a manifestation of evil in this slave-girl and her ability to foretell the future. The only purpose of this was to make her owners money. I may have shared with some of you that a former associate pastor of mine was appointed to a church where the church had amassed a $900 phone bill because the outgoing pastor had been calling a 900-number for psychics. He wanted to know where he was going to be appointed next! He could have simply awaited the phone call that announces that information with outgoing pastors. He felt he could not wait and worried about what was next. My friend had to assume the responsibility for the church to pay off that large phone debt. Whether the slave-girl had the power to tell one's fortune or not, we do know the spirit in her did know the presence of God's Spirit within the disciples. "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." The irony is that this spirit knew the way of salvation but never had accepted it for him/herself. It may have also renounced it and gone the way of the devil. It was now condemned to an eternity of enslavement to evil. And it knew power, for when Paul ordered it out of the slave-girl, it left. The girl was now free from the power of this demon. That was good news for her. The bad news was for her owner, for now she did not have the ability to tell the future or fortune of anyone.
This leads to Paul and Silas to be arrested. The charge was disturbing the peace and charges of unlawful conduct of sharing customs not known to the Roman state. It was enough to order them severely flogged and then kept in prison "securely." They are placed in the innermost cell of that prison, and fastened to stocks for their feet. They were not going anywhere easily. Now, most of us would have started (or continued) complaining, but not Paul or Silas. Having the power and peace of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and spirits, they begin to sing hymns. What a joyous witness! They prayed out loud and probably sang loudly. The other prisoners were now hearing a Christian witness by hearing these prayers and songs. Imagine being in the next cell and hearing a hymn possibly like our "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," and the sweet, powerful words of that hymn? And also hearing prayers of thanksgiving to God for the ability to share His love to people, and for the freedom given to a slave-girl. These prayers and hymns were having an impact on their lives. There suddenly comes an earthquake and it was so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All the doors of the prison are now open and everyone's chains were unfastened. Many prisoners would have run for their freedom, but these prisoners, having been exposed to the Truth, simply sit and await whatever was next, for they sensed that God was at work. The jailer thought the worst, and was about to impale himself fearing the same from the government, but hears the voice of Paul say, "We are all here, Do not harm yourself." The jailer and his family present themselves for baptism and are received into the kingdom of God.
God still has power to open prison doors. My dear friend Doug suffered for too long in a prison of cancer. I truly and deeply believe that God opened the doors of that prison and set Doug free from that jail and into His loving arms. Doug, I believe, has rejoined those whom he loved who went before him into Glory. He spoke often of his grandpa who was a preacher and who shared God's love with him. I told him yesterday that not only would Jesus be the One calling him to Himself, his grandpa would be there to receive him as well. And I believe that has happened. The other prisons out there also can fall to the power of God. It could be a prison of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, an addiction to nicotine, pleasures and urges; no prison door here on earth is so powerful that God cannot fling those doors open. We have to but ask and it will be done. We know the power of salvation and we should know to accept it and live it!
PRAYER: Loving God, May Your loving comfort be with those who are mourning here and everywhere. May Your healing be with those who are hurting and ill. Our prayers of peace and freedom for those enslaved or imprisoned in jails whose doors You can open. Break the chains of addiction and set all prisoners free to enjoy the fullness of life. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! You're carrying the key that can set so many free! Use it!
Blessings of love,
Eradio Valverde
