Memory Verse
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” – Philippians 2:3
It challenges me anytime I see a large group of people coming together for a common purpose. When this happens, it shows that something is more important than their differences – something that transcends personal ambitions.
God is trying to build that same spirit of unity in us. One of the things Paul stressed in the prison epistles of Philippians and Ephesians is the unity of the church. But how do such different people act in concert? By imitating Christ and following the example he set. What an incredible unified body we’d be if everyone in the church were to follow this example. One day this will be a reality, and we’re all going to see it. But until then, God is busy building that unity among us.
We’re going to take a look at the unity of the church and discover that God truly desires for us to put aside our differences and come together as one universal Church. It’s going to require some changes on all our parts. But the result will be a sight that will do more than simply confound divisive politicians; it will change the whole world.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Singing in Jail – Day 5
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 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. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" - Acts 16:25-30
Just as God never fails to use our trials for good, God also uses our responses to turn a bad situation into a good one. The effect of Paul and Silas’ responses to their torture was so stunning that even when the prison doors flew open, the other prisoners refused to leave. Imagine that! They’d rather stay in jail with the people who could find joy in a prison cell than return to their lives outside their cells. The jailer was so moved by what he saw that he became a Christian moments later. Our trials aren’t just about us. When we see that God is using our trials to help others, it can give us the confidence to continue trusting God even though the pain is still real.
Ask God to show you how he’s used your reactions to problems and trials to help others.
Try to look beyond your own pain and see how God can use you in the midst of it.
Just as God never fails to use our trials for good, God also uses our responses to turn a bad situation into a good one. The effect of Paul and Silas’ responses to their torture was so stunning that even when the prison doors flew open, the other prisoners refused to leave. Imagine that! They’d rather stay in jail with the people who could find joy in a prison cell than return to their lives outside their cells. The jailer was so moved by what he saw that he became a Christian moments later. Our trials aren’t just about us. When we see that God is using our trials to help others, it can give us the confidence to continue trusting God even though the pain is still real.
Ask God to show you how he’s used your reactions to problems and trials to help others.
Try to look beyond your own pain and see how God can use you in the midst of it.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Singing in Jail – Day 4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. - James 1:2-4
This is one of those verses that most of us just don’t get. Why would anyone rejoice over hard times? James wasn’t some sadistic person who thought we should enjoy pain. Instead, he reminds us to look beyond our circumstances to the fact that God is always using our problems for our ultimate good. Knowing that our struggles aren’t in vain helps us to endure them a little easier. In fact this knowledge becomes a huge source of encouragement when we’re hurting. Remember, nothing that happens to you is wasted. Even if Satan intends it for evil, God will turn it around for good. This bit of truth can’t stop your pain, but it can help you find joy in spite of your pain.
How has God used past hurts to help you know?
Thank God for being present in the midst of your trials and for using them in ways you can’t see…yet.
This is one of those verses that most of us just don’t get. Why would anyone rejoice over hard times? James wasn’t some sadistic person who thought we should enjoy pain. Instead, he reminds us to look beyond our circumstances to the fact that God is always using our problems for our ultimate good. Knowing that our struggles aren’t in vain helps us to endure them a little easier. In fact this knowledge becomes a huge source of encouragement when we’re hurting. Remember, nothing that happens to you is wasted. Even if Satan intends it for evil, God will turn it around for good. This bit of truth can’t stop your pain, but it can help you find joy in spite of your pain.
How has God used past hurts to help you know?
Thank God for being present in the midst of your trials and for using them in ways you can’t see…yet.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Singing in Jail – Day 3
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. - 2 Corinthians 1: 8-11
If Paul had times in his life that made him think he was going to die, then I’m sure we’ll have our own share of difficult days as well. Think about it: Paul was very close to God, but he still had moments in which he wondered what was going on. When you face harsh circumstances, it’s normal to be afraid, to wonder where God is, and to hate the pain. But you still get to choose how you respond. Paul saw the bigger picture; he didn’t need to rely on his own power – but on God’s – to get through trials. It’s easy to try to manage on our own, but God asks us to have faith in him, even in – especially in – the midst of our pain.
Think through your latest trial and note how you responded. Did you rely on God’s power or your own?
Ask God to show you how to respond like Paul in the midst of pain.
If Paul had times in his life that made him think he was going to die, then I’m sure we’ll have our own share of difficult days as well. Think about it: Paul was very close to God, but he still had moments in which he wondered what was going on. When you face harsh circumstances, it’s normal to be afraid, to wonder where God is, and to hate the pain. But you still get to choose how you respond. Paul saw the bigger picture; he didn’t need to rely on his own power – but on God’s – to get through trials. It’s easy to try to manage on our own, but God asks us to have faith in him, even in – especially in – the midst of our pain.
Think through your latest trial and note how you responded. Did you rely on God’s power or your own?
Ask God to show you how to respond like Paul in the midst of pain.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Singing in Jail – Day 2
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. – 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7
Never forget this message from verse 3: Our God is the God of all comfort. No matter how you feel, this is God’s nature; God longs to help us and to comfort us when we’re hurting. Sometimes that help doesn’t come in the way we want, but that doesn’t change God’s nature. When you go to God for help, God will provide. Period. But note that Gods wants to comfort us so we can then comfort others. When we’ve been through a rough time and find peace in the midst of strife, we’re able to go to others who are still in the midst of the fight and show them they can survive with God’s help – just like we did. When we do this, it causes us to love those who are hurting. As we comfort others, we’re becoming more like Christ.
How has God been the God of all comfort to you?
How can you help those who are going through struggles similar to yours?
Never forget this message from verse 3: Our God is the God of all comfort. No matter how you feel, this is God’s nature; God longs to help us and to comfort us when we’re hurting. Sometimes that help doesn’t come in the way we want, but that doesn’t change God’s nature. When you go to God for help, God will provide. Period. But note that Gods wants to comfort us so we can then comfort others. When we’ve been through a rough time and find peace in the midst of strife, we’re able to go to others who are still in the midst of the fight and show them they can survive with God’s help – just like we did. When we do this, it causes us to love those who are hurting. As we comfort others, we’re becoming more like Christ.
How has God been the God of all comfort to you?
How can you help those who are going through struggles similar to yours?
Monday, November 2, 2009
Singing in Jail – Day 1
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl 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." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled 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.
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 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. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 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 family. – Acts 16: 16-34
They did what? How in the world do you find the ability to sing your favorite worship chorus when your back is on fire from your latest beating and you can’t get to sleep because of the pain? Yet here they are, responding as Christ would. And that’s really the key here. If you’re saying to yourself, I couldn’t do that, then you may be right. But how can you get to the point where you could? Not by trying really hard to sing whenever you hurt. These guys sang because that was the response that came out of them; it was their character. When we’re really hard-pressed during difficult times, what’s deep inside us will surface. Don’t try to make it happen; ask God to change you so this will be your natural reaction.
How would you have responded in this situation?
Ask God to change who you are deep down, not just on the surface.
When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 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. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 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 family. – Acts 16: 16-34
They did what? How in the world do you find the ability to sing your favorite worship chorus when your back is on fire from your latest beating and you can’t get to sleep because of the pain? Yet here they are, responding as Christ would. And that’s really the key here. If you’re saying to yourself, I couldn’t do that, then you may be right. But how can you get to the point where you could? Not by trying really hard to sing whenever you hurt. These guys sang because that was the response that came out of them; it was their character. When we’re really hard-pressed during difficult times, what’s deep inside us will surface. Don’t try to make it happen; ask God to change you so this will be your natural reaction.
How would you have responded in this situation?
Ask God to change who you are deep down, not just on the surface.
Week 29 – Singing in Jail: Paul and Silas in Prison
Memory Verse
“He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’. They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” – Acts 16: 30-31
Have you ever hit your funny bone? You know what I’m talking about, although I’m sure this isn’t the technical name for it. Often when I hit my elbow, first I feel a shooting pain, but right after I also have a desire to laugh. My arm hurts, but it makes me laugh, too. It’s weird how pain and laughter can coexist. It doesn’t make sense, but it happens.
This week we’re looking at an equally improbable event. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, but then they led a worship service from their jail cell. How can someone experience such pain yet still sing? Our reaction to bad situations is one way we show a lost world that Christ is real. When we’re able to see Christ in the midst of our pain, we find strength where others find only emptiness and despair.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if we turn our troubles over to God, then we discover that God walks with us in the fire. And when we step out of the flames in one piece, everyone marvels at the fact that God provided help in our time of pain. God can help us become people who react like Paul and Silas did. The bad news is that it usually takes a lot of tough experiences to build that kind of character. But we have to start somewhere. And we don’t have to do it alone.
“He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’. They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.” – Acts 16: 30-31
Have you ever hit your funny bone? You know what I’m talking about, although I’m sure this isn’t the technical name for it. Often when I hit my elbow, first I feel a shooting pain, but right after I also have a desire to laugh. My arm hurts, but it makes me laugh, too. It’s weird how pain and laughter can coexist. It doesn’t make sense, but it happens.
This week we’re looking at an equally improbable event. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, but then they led a worship service from their jail cell. How can someone experience such pain yet still sing? Our reaction to bad situations is one way we show a lost world that Christ is real. When we’re able to see Christ in the midst of our pain, we find strength where others find only emptiness and despair.
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if we turn our troubles over to God, then we discover that God walks with us in the fire. And when we step out of the flames in one piece, everyone marvels at the fact that God provided help in our time of pain. God can help us become people who react like Paul and Silas did. The bad news is that it usually takes a lot of tough experiences to build that kind of character. But we have to start somewhere. And we don’t have to do it alone.
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