“The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and 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 chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:22-31 NASB)
This is Saturday morning, and I could not resist staying in the same chapter of Acts that we were in yesterday. I could not refrain from encouraging you to attend church and be active in worship tomorrow. Why? As you can tell from the text, something I have declared for years, “Good things happen when church folks pray and sing.” It does not matter if life has you in shackles, show up and pray and sing at the worship service tomorrow! You might have been beat down by a bad circumstance, but show your trust and faith in God and get into the house of God tomorrow morning and be involved in the singing and the praising. You can do that knowing that even though what you are going through now, God is already working it out for your good in the afterwhile The Lord will release you tomorrow when you release your prayers and release your hymns praising Him who sits on high and remains true to His word.
In addition to you being impacted, others will be impacted by your witness! Somebody’s life may be saved! Someone’s family might experience salvation. This is truth! Enjoy service tomorrow! Get into some praying and lift up your voice in some singing! Celebrate God and celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ…tomorrow! Be blessed!
“God directs his people not simply to worship but to sing his praises ‘before the nations.’ We are called not simply to communicate the gospel to nonbelievers; we must also intentionally celebrate the gospel before them.” (Quote by Timothy J. Keller)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King