Acts 16:25-34: Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he 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, along with everyone in your household.” And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
Are you faced with a seemingly impossible situation in your family? Has Satan or sin brought division into your home? As your faith is built up through God’s Word, you will also be strengthened in your inner person. When we make a conscious decision to go before God by faith with an insoluble situation, God will, at that moment, begin to release His strength (GRACE) to empower us to hold on until the impossible becomes possible.
When we place faith in God’s Word for a particular need, our faith takes the weight and the care off our shoulders and places them at His feet. Everything that doesn’t align itself with the Word of God and His will for our lives must be brought into subjection to His authority. Now that you have given the Lord your need and are standing in faith, leave the situation on the ALTAR until the Holy Spirit can ALTER the situation.
The very moment faith entered the heart of the jailer in this portion of scripture; the Holy Spirit began to change lives. It began with the father, but quickly spread throughout his entire household. In what was possibly one of the worst nights of Paul and Silas’ lives and ministry, God chose to bring salvation to a lost household. You must look to God and not the circumstances, if you are to remain strong and committed to the faith process.
God seems to perform His best work in some of the darkest periods and places of our lives in order to show us that He is God over everything. Remember, faith will move mountains, as long as you’re standing on and speaking the Word of God over those mountains. Jesus tells us that all things are possible to those who believe. Believe today and see the salvation of the Lord in your families’ lives. —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US