Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and
I hope you guys are having a wonderful start
to the year 2026 I Hope everyone is You know
recouping from the holidays. Maybe you ate a
lot of food Maybe you got used to sleeping in
I hope that your adjustment back to just a life
in general Hasn't been quite Too rough. This
is my first week going back to work after you
know having a couple weeks off of just relaxing
sleeping in eating a lot of food and It has taken
me a little while getting used to waking up at
6 a .m. Again, so I Have been a tired girl this
week But y 'all today today's episode is gonna
be a little bit different what I usually do.
Usually y 'all we have a topic of like forgiveness
or repentance or fasting or something like that
and we're pulling from different pieces of scripture
but today y 'all today we're gonna go out we're
just gonna dissect a chapter in the Bible today
and it's a chapter from the book of Acts and
this was a chapter that I felt the Lord Lead
me to do a study on The other day the other day
I felt led to read it in the morning and then
that was just the chapter I found myself focusing
on and pulling apart and That is what today is
going to be. So today y 'all we are gonna go
through Acts chapter 16 I'll be reading some
scripture to you. We'll be stopping and dissecting
it and going on further Okay, so let's start
reading chapter 16 together. I am in the CSB
my she reads truth study Bible Paul went on to
Derbe and Listeria Where there was a disciple
named Timothy the son of a believing Jewish woman,
but his father was a Greek The brothers and sisters
at Listeria and Iconium spoke highly of him.
Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. So he took
him and circumcised him because of the Jews who
were in those places, since they all knew that
his father was a Greek. As they traveled through
the towns, they delivered the decisions reached
by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. for
the people to observe. So the churches were strengthened
in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Then
they went through the region of Fygeria and Galatia.
They had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to
speak the Word in Asia. And when they came to
Mysteria, they tried to go into Bithynia, but
the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them i want
to pause here y 'all because this is the first
revelation this is the first understanding that
the lord gave me when i was reading through this
the other day notice the wording here y 'all
that the holy spirit prevented them from spreading
the gospel from speaking the word in asia and
that the spirit of jesus prevented them from
going to Mysteria and the first thing that came
to mind for me reading that y 'all is God's rejection
is protection God's rejection is protection and
we'll see that in the next couple verses that
we read in just a moment but how many times have
y 'all because I know I have experienced it so
many times right where there is something that
we want to do there is a desire on our heart
There is a plan that we make for ourself. There
is a door that we intend on opening. If that's
a job you plan on applying for, a person you
plan on asking out, a ministry you plan on starting
up, if it's a podcast, whatever it is, if it's
a place you plan on going to school, whatever
it is, a degree you're pursuing. We have a thing
and we think this is really good. This is really
good. you try to do that thing Holy Spirit give
me the words you try to execute it and God tells
you no maybe you're praying to him for God I
want this thing please give me this thing and
he so lovingly tells you no y 'all when I was
reading this I noticed All these men wanted to
do was spread the gospel. They were like, hey,
we just want to go tell people in Asia about
Jesus. Hey, we just want to go tell people in
the Syria about Jesus. They're doing what Jesus
had called them to do, right? To spread the word,
to go out and create disciples. They are literally
doing what is good to God, right? Something that
God desires for them to do. It's honorable what
they're wanting to do And although it is honorable
and although it is good God tells them no, that's
not where I want you That's not where I need
you. I Know that there is someone listening to
this podcast episode today that has felt that
rejection as well Maybe you're going through
that rejection right now Maybe there was a relationship
that this person really looked like a man or
a woman of God and they really you know Maybe
this person encouraged you to read the Bible
Maybe this person seemed to just be really good
like and encouraging you in your relationship
with Christ and you really felt like this is
the person But in taking it to God God's like
that's not this isn't the person For you to marry
Maybe there's a career path that you're desiring
for yourself and you every time every place you're
applying at You keep getting rejected You keep
getting shot down Or it's like no matter how
much effort you try to put in towards that degree
things keep falling apart Whatever it is There
is someone here today either you are right now
going through it or you have gone through it
before everybody has faced Rejection and I can
tell y 'all it hits different when you face rejection
and you know what you're doing It's something
that like aligns with God's with scripture with
the word right like it's understandable When
God says no, you can't go out and do this lustful
thing No, you can't have that job that's willfully
sinning No, you can't have that partner that
doesn't believe in Jesus like those things those
are Normal knows to expect from God, right? If
I if I for example took a partner to God said
God I want to marry this person and God looked
at them and said they're not even a believer
There they you would be unequal to yoke this
person would you astray? That's an expected no,
right? But what about the unexpected knows the
things that we think God is for sure gonna bless
this God is for sure gonna be pleased with this
and when we take it to him we hear no There are
a lot of emotions that stir up when we hear no
from God When we're trying and we're not seeing
the result You might get angry. I know I've gotten
angry I know I've hidden points of frustrations
where I start Kind of talking a little angry
at God if I'm gonna be honest y 'all where I
said God how many more times am I gonna get rejected?
God like I have these desires and I know it aligns
with your will. Why aren't you blessing this?
Why aren't you allowing this? Why do I keep hearing
no? Why do I keep getting blocked? Sometimes
there's a sadness Right, sometimes there's like
a despair feeling that might kind of pop up where
you start thinking it's never gonna get better
or it's never gonna happen or it's never gonna
work a sadness that creeps in maybe there's a
Part of you that wants to disobey and wants to
force it Wants to try to do things your way I
know I've had that tingle in me arise before
of like I don't have to do it God's way and that's
when I have to check myself real quick and say
But you should because you love the Lord There
are a lot of feelings y 'all that stir up when
you hear no from God. But you need to hear this
today and we're gonna dive deeper in this in
the book of Acts that when God says no, instead
of just seeing it as rejection, it's important
to see it as redirection. It's important to see
it as protection and alignment. We're going to
see how God's know can actually align you with
where he needs you to be. Remember, it is in
God's character to work things out for our good.
God has plans to prosper us, not to harm us.
Okay, let's read a little bit further. It says
here, passing by Mystia, they went down to Tros.
During the night, Paul had a vision in which
a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with
him, cross over to Macedonia and help us. After
he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts
to set out for Macedonia. Concluding that God
had called us to preach the gospel to them Y
'all This was this was the second clarity I had
in reading this If Paul was in Asia If Paul was
in mystia He wouldn't have been able to just
pack up and go to Macedonia when God called him
He wouldn't have been able to, when he had that
dream, be able to just, all right, I'm gonna
drop everything I'm doing and get that boat and
go. He would have had moral obligations. He would
have had emotional obligations. Maybe he just
got to Asia, or he just got to Missy F. There's
a good chance he wouldn't have packed nothing
left. There's a good chance he would have delayed.
There could have been a lot more emotional compromises.
The moral of it is he would not have been free
to just go to Macedonia if those doors had opened.
God's no. The Holy Spirit's no. This isn't your
portion. No, this isn't where I want you. This
isn't where I'm calling you to. God's no and
God's preventing them from going there freed
them to say yes. Have y 'all ever noticed before
God blesses you with a new beginning, there's
often endings that happen first? I've noticed
a lot of times before God delivers on something.
I've been waiting for a new door There are other
doors in my life that have to close Because it's
really hard for you to receive that new thing
with both hands When your hands are still occupied
holding on to that old grid, there are a lot
of times that God will have you close that door
or release that thing first, so that way you
can openly receive the new thing. We've talked
about this in previous episodes when we talk
about pruning and when we talk about open doors
and closed doors. Oftentimes, God will make sure,
before you have that blessing coming in, He's
gonna make sure you're well and able to receive
it. There is a trend I've noticed in my life
personally y 'all. It was each time that God,
I moved around a lot in the past couple years,
and it was kind of weird how each time, Before
God would have me move, and I'm gonna be thoughtful
with the way I word this, I would start getting
dissatisfied with where I was at beforehand.
And certain doors would start closing. To where
by the time when God brought in the opportunity
to move to that new place, I was ready. I was
actually excited for it. I was actually like
looking around like, all right, God, when are
we gonna go? When are we gonna do it? Because
if I was still comfortable in that old thing,
if I was still holding on to that old thing,
there is a good chance I wouldn't have fully
accepted or maybe even rejected that new thing
that he was trying to bring in. So God would
allow certain doors to be closed. Honestly, the
way I used to look at it was God kind of nudging
me out the door. He used to have to nudge me.
You know, I've gotten a little bit better with
kind of trusting him and stepping out and closing
the door, but especially when I was very new
to my relationship with Christ, he kind of had
to shove me out the door a little bit. He kind
of had to nudge me out in the best way I can
work at y 'all. But to get back so we don't get
too far off track, closed doors and God saying
no will keep you in a space to say yes to the
right thing. Because these men weren't in Asia
and they weren't in mystia when the call came
when the dream came When they were called by
God to go they were able to get up and go and
notice how Them hearing no from God Those other
times they didn't close off Paul didn't close
himself off from here and from God. He was still
ready to receive direction You know how we talked
about emotions usually pop up when you hear no,
maybe you get kind of angry at God Maybe you
get sad there are different feelings that can
stir up But it's important that however you're
feeling to take it to God and to not turn your
back on him Because even though Paul literally
was just hearing no He didn't turn his back on
God. He was still ready to receive. And when
God pointed at him where to go, he went. Let's
keep reading, y 'all. From Troas, we put out
to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace. Y
'all, bear with me. Pronouncing some of these
towns is not my forte, okay? The next day to
Neapolis and from there to Philippi. a Roman
colony and leading city of the district of Macedonia.
We stayed in that city for several days. On the
Sabbath day, we went outside the city gate by
the river where we expected to find a place of
prayer. We sat down and spoke to the woman gathered
there. A God -fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer
in purple cloth from the city of Thyria, was
listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond
to what Paul was saying. After she and her household
were baptized, she urged us, if you consider
me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my
house. And she persuaded us. There were a couple
things I noticed when reading this, y 'all. The
first thing I noticed when reading this is God
provides. Notice how when God called them to
go to Macedonia He didn't give them a plan of
like and then when you get there you're gonna
stay with this person You're gonna stay in this
place and you're gonna do this thing and you're
gonna do that God called them to go when they
went and they didn't have Like some detailed
thought out plan and the first thing I read here
is look at how God provides They're going out
for a time of just pursuing the Lord and praying
and in pursuing the Lord their next place of
where they were staying Was brought to them.
They met the woman Lydia while they were there
speaking to many women But not only that They
wanted to go to Asia and they wanted to go to
Mystia to spread the gospel right y 'all Like
that was what they wanted to do. They get here
to the district of Macedonia and they're already
baptizing a woman in her family Those were the
main things I mainly notice is look at God's
provision and they're seeking first the kingdom
of heaven God and his kingdom Look at how God
provides when they move by faith And look at
how they are doing what they wanted to go to
Asia to do God is still fulfilling the desire
of the heart Which is to spread the gospel to
create disciples, but they're doing it in a different
place Maybe a bit of a different way than they
expected, right? Let's keep it moving Once as
we were on our way to prayer a slave girl met
us who had a spirit by which she predicted the
future She made a large profit for her owners
by fortune -telling. I want to pause here. I'm
gonna pause here real quick y 'all Those of you
who have been here with me for a while in the
podcast You know that I'm a former tarot card
reader before I give my life to Christ I was
in New Age spirituality and I was a tarot card
reader and long before I got into tarot card
reading Me and other people in my life and people
in the church growing up had identified One of
the giftings God had given me I now know it as
a prophetic gift we used to call it a bit more
of like Knowing or sensing of things that were
gonna happen. I never really had a word for it
because I didn't have biblical literacy, okay
And I am a firm believer that the devil sees
the gifts that God gives us and perverts them
to use them for the kingdom of darkness instead
of the kingdom of heaven and I know that that
was what was happening in my life. Oh personally,
I stand on that but there was a gifting that
the Lord gave me and and my ignorance and my
lack of biblical literacy and in my trauma and
in my pain I turn to tarot and I turn to new
age and I turn to all these things and there
are demonic spirits that your psychic mediums
your fortune tellers your oracle card readers
your tarot card readers go to There God is God
does not condone fortune -telling. He does not
condone witchcraft Therefore God is not going
to be talking to them through the cards through
the oracle readings. You are talking to monitoring
spirits They're talking to monitoring spirits.
These are spirits that watch your family They
may have watched your ancestors that come before
you they monitor you. Yes, they can tell you
about your last relationship They'll tell you
your favorite color. They'll tell you a private
thing with you and your grandma because they
have been monitoring and watching but do not
be mistaken Those spirit those spirits are not
from god God will never contradict himself He
is not going to have his angels The holy spirit
is not going to be consulting with you through
those cards. So any information you're getting
through those cards through those psychic mediums
is not from God. And someone may need to hear
this today. It is in scripture that you cannot
serve two masters. You will love one and hate
the other. You cannot partake in the Lord's table
and the cup of demons. You can't be Christian
and loving God and trying to align yourself with
his will and expecting blessings from him and
entertaining information from the devil. You
can't be getting information from monitoring
spirits like that and expecting that to align
with God's will and his word You cannot expect
God to bless that sin Y 'all when I left new
age I had to receive Deliverance I went through
deliverance fasting. I had to be delivered from
demonic spirits Just as this woman right in here
Now I will say that the Lord has since given
me words Obviously the gift that the Lord had
given me that the devil was perverting was not
taken away It was a gift that the Lord had me
born with we are each born with spiritual gifts
Those are things that Satan can't take away But
there are things that he will pervert and we
see here that there is a spirit of divination
And there are people who do not have the prophetic
gift That still participate in divination and
get their information from spirits And I hope
the way I'm wearing this makes sense and we might
do just a full -on episode on this sometime to
deep dive But the root of this is is if it is
in a practice That is not rooted in Christ if
it involves divination if it involves witchcraft
involves the zodiacs and the astrology and the
astronomy the information isn't from God and
there are some people and I want to say this
in the kindest way that are getting information
from these demonic spirits from these demonic
sources and then trying to like They're expecting
God to bless the plans, the plots, the schemes,
and the choices that they make based off of this
information. And that's not how God works. You
can't have both. And I just want to tell you,
whoever you are today, if God wants you to know
something, He's going to make sure you know.
But you have to be in relationship with Him.
You have to be in relationship with him There
is a Bible verse I want to refer back to real
quick y 'all and that is Deuteronomy 18 and we're
gonna start in verse 9 that says here when you
enter the land The Lord your God is giving you
do not imitate the detestable customs of those
nations No one among you is to sacrifice his
son or daughter in the fire practice divination
tell fortunes interpret omens practice sorcery
cast spells consult a medium or a spiritualist
or inquire of the dead everyone who does these
acts is detestable to the lord and the lord your
god is driving out the nations before you because
of these detestable acts you must be blameless
before the lord your god though these nations
you are about to drive out listen to fortune
tellers and diviners The Lord your God has not
permitted you to do this Someone someone needs
to hear that today, okay? That not only are we
called to not do it ourselves. You are not supposed
to be Aligning yourself with the zodiacs. You're
not supposed to be getting information from your
birth chart You're not supposed to be trying
to predict the future. You're not supposed to
be consulting mediums. You're not supposed to
be doing manifesting. You're not supposed to
be doing witchcraft. You're not supposed to be
doing spell work. You're not supposed to be doing
the pendulums. You're not supposed to be doing
the tarot cards, oracle cards. You're not supposed
to be doing any of this, the rune throwing, whatever
it is, the scrying. You are not supposed to be
doing any of this. All of this is detestable
to the Lord. But it says here, not only are you
not supposed to do it, you are not supposed to
be consulting people that are doing it. Which
means you're not supposed to be accepting prophetic
words from someone you know does, and I'm doing
prophetic words in quotation marks because a
prophecy is from God and these are not from God.
You are not supposed to be listening to a quote
unquote prophetic word from someone that you
know does witchcraft. From someone that you know
that reads tarot cards from someone that you
know Reads oracle cards from someone that you
know is consulting with other meat with other
spirits from someone that you know Isn't submitted
to the Lord Jesus Christ and you're supposed
to take every word back to God before you come
into agreement with it There are people who think
that they can get around it of well just because
I'm not touching the cards Well, just because
I'm not touching the candle just because I'm
not touching it doesn't matter God sees it the
same exact way of whether or not you are lighting
the candle or you're paying someone else to do
it both are detestable to the Lord and He will
drive you out I think someone needed to hear
this today. I'm sorry y 'all, I didn't expect
to get that heavy, but someone needed to hear
this today, okay? And that goes with the zodiacs
of reading your horoscope every day, of trying
to read your birth chart and plan your life.
There are a lot of people who think, well, if
I just pay someone else to do it, I'm fine. That's
not what God's Word says. And His Word is truth,
no matter how you try to flip it. His word is
truth. Now let's continue reading. Amen. Now
we see here back in Acts, we're going to start
in verse, we'll go back to verse 16. Once as
we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met
us who had a spirit by which she predicted the
future. She made a large profit for her owners
by fortune telling. As she followed Paul and
us, she cried out, These men who are proclaiming
to you a way of salvation are the servants of
the Most High God She did this for many days
I'm gonna pause here y 'all because what this
woman was saying was true They were servants
of the Most High God Just to back up y 'all how
I said a little bit ago monitoring spirits can
tell you about your your childhood Can tell you
about your favorite color can tell you about
that thing that you were writing out Because
they were monitoring the enemy the devil He is
the father of lies He is literally like the master
of Deception he is called the great deceiver
and what is deception? It's a lot easier y 'all
to believe lies when there's some truth sprinkled
in And that's exactly what deception is, is lies
with some twisted truth. What did he do to Eve
in the garden? He twisted the truth. He said,
surely you won't die. Your eyes will be opened
and you'll be like God. Well, her eyes were opened,
right? He told a truth in that. He twisted the
truth. He said sure that you won't die meaning
you won't drop dead right here But he knew that
it would lead to spiritual death The wage of
sin is death. So he deceived her The enemy moves
off of deception We see that she was telling
the truth but the enemy always has an ulterior
motive Right? When we look at the motive behind
this, Paul and Silas are showing up in a place
where they're about to spread the gospel and
convict people who probably don't feel the best
about getting convicted. We'll see that a couple
of verses down. So yes, this woman was speaking
the truth that they were servants of the most
high God But it wasn't to help them. It was to
expose them. It was to make them vulnerable It
was to draw attention to them where people would
get annoyed when they see them walking where
people would want to avoid them And it says here
Paul was greatly annoyed Turning to the spirit.
He said I command you in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her and it came out right away
I wanna pause right here, y 'all demons flee
at the name of Jesus. Do not underestimate the
authority of someone who is covered in the blood
of Jesus. I wanna be so clear, the authority
isn't the person, the authority is in the name
of Jesus and the faith in Jesus. It all comes
from Jesus. Apart from him, we can do nothing,
y 'all. And it says here when her owners realized
that their hope of profit was gone They seized
Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace
to the authorities and y 'all that's another
thing that really caught my attention is The
owners didn't care that this girl was just delivered
from demons. They actually didn't see Her having
demons as a problem because they made money off
of it because they were gaining something from
it. And this is gonna be a tough pill to swallow,
but someone may need to hear this today. There
are people in your life who will not encourage
you to receive deliverance, who will not encourage
you to stop sinning, who will not encourage you
to flee temptation because they are benefiting
in some way off of it. And I have seen that from
experience. I have experienced that. When I gave
my life to Jesus, y 'all, there were a lot of
people who were very upset with some of the lifestyle
changes I made. For instance, when I stopped
smoking and drinking due to, we're not supposed
to be drunkards, period, which means we're also
not supposed to be stoners. I had a 100 % sobriety
conviction. And there were people who hated that
I was sober, who... Receive joy when they would
see me make dumb decisions when I was trash or
there were people who I I didn't want to spend
time with and I would hold boundaries with when
I was sober and the only time I wouldn't Have
those boundaries or hold those things was when
I was intoxicated So my no longer being intoxicated
limited their access There are people there were
people who were upset and angry that I stopped
doing divination that I stopped being a tarot
card reader Because they felt they were benefiting
off the readings. I was giving them There were
ones who benefited off of calling me demonic
there are people who Claimed to follow Jesus
who hated that I started following Jesus because
they could no longer call me a demonic person
now I was a brother and sister in Christ and
They felt some type of way about that y 'all.
There are people who will literally Ain't you
being delivered? hate you being sin free because
they can no longer like gain something from it
but it's important that you don't let that stop
you okay you need to continue to pursue Jesus
but we see here that her owners were making a
lot of money off of what she was doing and when
they could no longer make money off of what she
was doing let's see what they do next y 'all
says here when her owners realized that their
hope of profit was gone they seized paul and
silas and dragged them into the marketplace to
the authorities bringing them before the chief
magistrates they said these men are seriously
disturbing our city. They are Jews and are promoting
customs that are not legal for us Romans to adopt
or practice. See, these people didn't have a
problem with Paul and Cyrus until they felt Paul
and Silas took away their money making opportunity
and all of a sudden these guys were a problem.
We gotta take them to the law. We gotta take
them to the authorities. The crowd joined in
the attack against them and the chief magistrate
stripped off their clothes and Ordered them to
be beaten with rods after they had severely flogged
them They threw them into jail ordering the jailer
to guard them carefully receiving such an order
he put them into the inner prison and Secured
their feet in the stocks y 'all you know my next
thought when I was reading this Was in God Knew
all of this was gonna happen and still led them
there. There are so many people and I have been
one of them Who have this like misunderstanding
and believe that if God is guiding you somewhere
opening up the door that it's gonna be painless
and sunshine and rainbows that God's Choice should
come with no suffering Like if God has appointed
you to, it's going to be easy and it's going
to be fun and it's going to be rainbows and it's
going to be a little black lead and it's going
to be all this sweet stuff. And that's just not
true. In all honesty, God will allow us to go
through suffering for a period if he knows that
there is blessing on the other side. We know
that as followers of Christ, just in general,
our lives aren't gonna be sunshine and rainbows.
We know that the world is gonna hate us if we
look like Jesus. We know that there's gonna be
warfare, moves from the enemy. We know about
all that opposition, all that hardship. We know
that our faith is gonna be tested because the
testing of your faith, it produces an endurance
in the trials and tribulations. And we know about
the pruning and all of these things. So why would
we think that God leading us somewhere would
come with absolutely no pain. God closed those
other doors and guided them to Macedonia knowing,
knowing because God is all knowing, that this
was going to happen and he still allowed it to
happen. Y 'all take a look at Job. the one who
suffered that God was very, very well pleased
with. God had even said to Satan, have you all
seen my servant Job? Like basically, isn't he
awesome? Job's suffering didn't start because
of his disobedience or because God wanted to
punish him. He's receiving all these consequences.
His friends accused him of that. But his suffering
was actually approving of his character and of
his faith. So someone may need to hear this today
as well. Y 'all see someone suffering, don't
immediately assume that they're suffering because
God is angry at them, or they secretly sinned,
or all these things. You know, sometimes people
are suffering because of the consequences of
their own actions. We can see suffering as a
result of disobedience, like in the book of Jeremiah.
Suffering is bad decision -making. You make the
wrong decision, and they're suffering. Look at
Joseph. He was supposed to wait on God's promise.
And not Joseph, sorry. It was Abraham. He was
supposed to be waiting on God's promise that
you're going to be father of nations. And he
got impatient and decided to have that kid with
Hagar. And then there was unnecessary suffering
because his wife and his wife's hand made him
always going back and forth at each other. Now
there is a lot of drama. Unnecessary suffering,
but that was suffering due to the consequences
of his own lack of judgment. But don't always
assume that that is why someone's suffering there
is sometimes a righteous God will allow a righteous
person to suffer Because he knows of the blessing
on the other side of it. Look at Joseph like
all the suffering Joseph went through But that
created him that molded him into the person he
was that day When he interpreted those dreams
for Pharaoh and he was put up in that high position
He was taking care of business. Okay. See y 'all
Keep that in mind, y 'all, about all this suffering,
all this pain that Paul and Silas are going through.
God literally led them to it. Well, let's keep
moving on. It says here, about midnight, Paul
and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.
And the prisoners were listening to them. Notice
how even in being locked up, Even in being in
prison even in suffering they were still praising
and worshiping god God is good regardless of
our circumstances. God isn't good because of
our circumstances We know that from reading the
book of joke is god is good regardless Of our
circumstances whether or not we are in the hills
or in the valleys god is still good And although
in their obedience to god they were led into
suffering they were still worshiping and praising
him And it says here that suddenly there was
a violent earthquake that the foundations of
the jail were shaken and immediately all the
doors were opened and everyone's chains came
loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors
of the prison standing open, he drew his sword
and was going to kill himself since he thought
the prisoners have escaped. But Paul called out
in a loud voice, don't harm yourself because
we are all still here. The jailer called for
lights rushed in and fell down trembling before
Paul and Silas He escorted them out and said
sir is what must I do to be saved? I want to
pause here. I Just want to pause here real quick
This man knew what he was saying was no one but
God And he saw the way that God delivered his
people from the injustice they were going through.
He saw the way that God broke those shackles.
Notice how God didn't have those people drop
the accusations first. God didn't have someone
come and lock the door. God just decided my people
are free. They're free. He didn't have to clear
it with anybody. He wasn't relying on anybody's
free will decision. God decided it and it happened.
And then that guy seeing that, that prison guard
saw Not only what God was able to do but saw
who he did it for That added legitimacy to Paul
and Silas's message, right? They're like clearly
God is with these guys. He's immediately like
what do I got to do to get saved? And it says
here they said believe in the Lord and you will
be saved you and your household and they spoke
the word of the Lord to him along with everyone
in his house and He took them the same hour of
the night and washed their wounds right away.
He and his family were baptized he brought them
into his house set a meal before them and Rejoiced
because he had come to believe in God with his
entire household y 'all Paul Paul originally
wanted to go and get people saved by spreading
the gospel and Asian mysterious but instead he
finds himself in Macedonia suffering in prison
and people are getting saved. The will of his
heart is being carried out just maybe not the
desire of his heart is being carried out just
maybe not in the way he expected it but his suffering
led to the salvation of other people because
their deliverance In suffering, that opened the
door, the opportunity for God to deliver them.
If they weren't suffering, what was God going
to deliver them from? If that woman hadn't called
all that attention to them and stirred up that
hatred, who would have been watching for their
deliverance? God allowed these things to happen
so that way their deliverance would be seen.
and that way their deliverance would make an
impact because once they were delivered the prison
guard got saved and baptized and so did his family
and that may not have happened if things didn't
play out the way that they did it says here when
daylight came the chief magistrates sent the
police to say release those men The jailer reported
these words to Paul the magistrates have sent
orders for you to be released So come out now
and go in peace. Even the magistrates They're
they're like, okay, they see this deliverance
and they're like, yeah god is with these guys
We need to just let him go Like we bid off more
than we can chew here. Let him go like let let
him go. Let him go Like just we're gonna let
it go act like this never happened. This is an
embarrassment on us We're not gonna fight it
anymore Your deliverance someone needs to hear
this today the way that God delivers you Sometimes
we'll have your enemies in such shock that they're
like, yeah, I'm gonna walk away, too Like I'm
gonna walk away. Sometimes God can deliver you
that Impactfully that even your enemies will
tremble It says here but Paul said to them they
beat us in public without a trial Although we
are Roman citizens and threw us in jail and now
they're trying to send us away secretly Certainly
not on the contrary let them come themselves
and escort us out Paul is saying they are not
getting away that easy Because what they were
trying to do is they were trying to walk away
quietly and act like they had no role in this
That it never happened and try to be embarrassment
free and Paul said nope They're gonna have to
come take accountability Paul is saying legally
they can't do what they did We legally they can't
treat us this way. They have to come and take
accountability It says here the police reported
these words to the magistrates They were afraid
when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman
citizens. I want to pause here y 'all Just as
in your deliverance sometimes can be so impactful
that the enemies are fearful The way that God
shows up for you will tell people whose child
you are. If there are any discrepancies of if
you are a child of God or not, the way that God
shows up for you can speak volumes. And when
people have been attacking you and find out that
you are a child of the Most High, that find out
that you are a servant of God, there are enemies
that will tremble when they find out the anointing
that God has on your life. And it says here,
so they came to appease them and escorting them
from prison, they urged them to leave town. After
leaving the jail, they came to Lydia's house
where they saw and encouraged the brothers and
sisters and departed. And guess what? Those magistrates
came and took accountability. They came and released
them. And what we see right here, Because we
see wickedness exposed because how many times
If this is just now when they're getting caught
and this is me just reading into scripture y
'all Reading deeper into this how many times
have these magistrates done this before have
locked up people beaten them and asked questions
later If they were so comfortable doing this
now, was this probably their first time? I don't
think so. I don't think so. And this was something
that the Lord has shown to me in life too, y
'all. That sometimes your suffering will expose
the wickedness in others. Because when God shines
his light and exposes things going on, wickedness
is exposed too. and if you're maybe you're going
through a suffering period that feels unjust
and you're like what am i getting out of this
y 'all the way that god shows up and delivers
you your suffering if it's being watched by other
people might be how other people see how you
continue to worship God and praise God maybe
the way that you respond or react to the suffering
that is a guiding light for others others can
see how you still worship and praise and you
keep your faith how you're not trying to attack
back how you're not trying to do your own justice
how you're waiting on God and maybe that's a
guideline for other people your testimony later
on shows other people how to respond correctly
to it sometimes God will allow people to attack
you knowing that they're going to ignore his
warnings so that at some point they can face
the consequences. We see that right here, that
God allowed the attackers, the false accusers,
to be exposed. They were embarrassed. They were
ashamed. So what happened in these, in Paul and
Silas obeying God? People got baptized. Someone
got delivered of Venus. A woman got delivered
of demons. Multiple people got saved, baptized,
their families baptized. We see corrupt systems
being exposed, corrupt people in power being
exposed. Look at everything God did with a yes.
And how their suffering led to blessing and these
things may not have been able to come to pass.
the suffering hadn't happened and I pray that
this is speaking to somebody today and I pray
that this is giving you hope for what God can
do in your life and maybe God has already given
you a word and this is just inspiring you and
encouraging you I pray that this is renewal for
your spirit I feel like there is a specific group
of people that are going to be listened to this
podcast that are going to be encouraged and their
spirit is going to be renewed and I encourage
y 'all to go through and read this chapter yourself
and ask God to give you clarity and ask God to
give you eyes to see and ears to hear and an
understanding and I pray that you submit your
will to him and watch what he can do with it
amen amen now I do ask y 'all I think we're gonna
go ahead and close up here I do ask that y 'all
hit subscribe wherever it is you're listening
to the podcast leave a review leave a comment
Okay? That's always helpful. And share this with
someone that you feel is needing to hear it.
Share it with that person that God is putting
it on your heart to share it with them. And I'll
see you guys in the next episode. God bless.