Today’s Bible Verse

The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?” They said, “Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live—and everyone in your house included!”

Acts 16:29-31 (TMB)

The Path of Grace

Mr. Jailer was given the assignment of watching wonder twins, Paul and Silas, while they were in prison, but little did the jailer know that he was about to have a life-altering experience.  Mr. Jailer was in the path of God’s GRACE.  Oftentimes God’s path and His plans don’t make sense to us in the natural, and at times they don’t even look or feel right.  But we can’t live according to our feelings or circumstances.  Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to lead us, guide us, and help us in every area of our life.  And for Paul and Silas, getting to where God needed them to be involved a series of detours and blockages from the Holy Spirit.  

In verses 6-7 of Acts 16, Paul and Silas wanted to journey in a different direction to minister the word, but God had other plans.  He had a special assignment waiting for them. The Bible says that “The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the LORD, And He delights in his way [and blesses his path]” (Psalms 37:23 AMP).  

It takes a surrendering of our will, yielding to the Holy Spirit, and putting our entire trust in Jesus to REALLY listen to the HOLY SPIRIT, and when we do the surrendering, God will do the amazing.  Perhaps Paul and Silas could have overlooked the voice or prompting of Holy Spirit and went about doing what they had been doing all along, preaching the gospel and qualifying it by saying, “I’m doing this for the Lord.” But this man, the jailer, and every individual they met before him would have never encountered God’s grace. There is always a miracle on the other side of our obedient surrender.  And it takes an obedient surrender to “live as we were meant to live.” 

Paul explained it this way in Philippians: “God will continually revitalize you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:13 TPT).  It has and will always be about pleasing Him in our everyday life and not just on Sundays or at Life Group, but at our workplace, at school, and home.  In Luke’s gospel, Jesus said, “But whoever gives his life to serve Me will have true life” (Luke 17:33 EASY Translation).  True life isn’t just about being blessed and redeemed, it’s about living for the CAUSE.  This story didn’t end with just the jailer being saved, but it goes on to share that his entire household got saved, baptized, and they made a decision to put their TRUST in God.  The Path of Grace is always motivated by LOVE.  (Shawn Kurihara)

Change My Story

God changed the story of the jailer and his entire family’s life because of the obedient surrender Paul and Silas had towards the Holy Spirit. Could God have chosen individuals other than them? Absolutely!  But God has chosen us to be the voice and the dispensers of His Grace for this generation. We’re not called to win the entire world by ourselves, but rather win one soul at a time.

Today’s Declaration

Today, I choose to live an obedient, surrendered life, to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to be a dispenser of His Grace.

Today’s Bible Reading

• Old Testament: Daniel 7-8; Job 21:1-21
• New Testament: John 13:12-17; Jude 1:1-7