Commissioned Work

Consider with me, the Great Commission. Gospel ministers are sent, after hearing a call. Cup your ear, dear reader, and listen: What do you hear?

Paul and Silas heard something similar to: Go here, go over there; go from town to town and share the Good News. When you are persecuted in one place, leave off, for now, and go to the next, and the next, not out of fear of insult, injury, and imprisonment, because those things are guaranteed (you will get danger pay in the end, with your reward in heaven), but because I have commissioned you to tell all who have ears to hear, that Jesus Christ, the Messiah prophesied and promised in the Old Testament, is the same Jesus that was recently in our midst, performing wonders and miracles, suffering and dying on a cross for the sins of the world, and rising again by the power of the Holy Ghost, resurrected on that third day to let the whole world know, he is the incarnate One we can trust as our King and Lord. I paraphrase, and suggest that you go directly to scripture for the elegant words to be found there. Never trust a mere human for glorious Truth, go right to God, dear one, he is the Author of life!

Consider now, another very different and opposing commission, of a foul nature. There were trouble makers everywhere the ministers of the gospel travelled. Out of petty jealousy and envy, Paul and Silas were followed, harassed, and harangued. Like stink, vile and putrid men were commissioned to follow apostles and disciples, and try to undo, the good that had been done. Matthew Henry says it best:

The persecution that was raised against Paul and Silas at Berea, which forced Paul thence. 1. The Jews at Thessalonica were the mischief-makers at Berea. They had notice that the word of God was preached at Berea (for envy and jealousy bring quick intelligence), and likewise that the Jews there were not so inveterately set against it as they were. They came thither also, to turn the world upside down there, and they stirred up the people, and incensed them against the preachers of the gospel; as if they had such a commission from the prince of darkness to go from place to place to oppose the gospel as the apostles had to go from place to place to preach it. 

He continues:

Thus we read before that the Jews of Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra on purpose to incense the people against the apostles, ch. 14:19. See how restless Satan's agents are in their opposition to the gospel of Christ and the salvation of the souls of men. This is an instance of the enmity that is in the serpent's seed against the seed of the woman; and we must not think it strange if persecutors at home extend their rage to stir up persecution abroad, Matthew Henry's Commentary, Acts to Revelation, Volume 6, page 180. 

Matthew Henry states, The New Testament is to be examined by the Old. Which brings you and I to the beginning, so that we are enabled to understand the middle and the end, of the story of humanity. 

We have God, in the beginning, and he hand crafted a man, and from him (his rib), woman was shaped. Then there is the matter of a talking snake, slithering his way onto the scene to see what trouble he could stir up. Out of envy and jealousy, that creature wanted to put enmity between God and his image bearers, and just like many a silver tongued devil, this original soul sucker, mentally manipulated Eve and Adam, to rebel against God and his commands. 

Does this not sound too familiar to you? Is it not the ancient of ancients in all story telling themes? 

When mention is made of enmity between Satan's seed and the woman's, we see the children of the Devil and the children of God through Christ as Saviour, at war with one another. I will simplify here because I simply must, since there is absolutely no need to convolute or confuse. I reiterate: The Word of God is SIMPLE, and yet, many a man has made a mess of things, when there was no mess to make. 

We have God, and he made all living creatures, and inanimate objects too, by his power. Lucifer is a created being that miserably hated being so, meaning, he preferred to bite the hand that made him, rather than glorify and sing praises to God Almighty. Think with me, how many people behave similarly? Goodness asks that we behave in honourable, compellingly noble ways, and yet, we are like dirty rascals, dumpster diving, and coating our souls in filth with our repugnant attitudes and self-indulgent behaviours, until of course, we are bitten and smited with regret and remorse. Christ purifies and washing us clean: Christ lets us know, there is another way; you can stop sullying yourself. The preachers of the gospel are like deodorizers, and a breath of fresh air, that help us cleanse our ways, and give new life to our bodies and spirits. It is always about souls for those that speak of Christ, compared to the seed of Satan that endlessly want you and I too dirty ourselves, by using our minds and bodies in the most despicable ways. 

Turn on your TV and find there every possible message that directly goes against God's will and way. Walk about your town or city, and see flags and symbols erected at schools, churches, shopping centres, that blatantly indicate rebellion against God's commandments. I don't need to be specific, do I? Rather, let us take a look at you, dear one, to see what indicators there are that you have perhaps, purposely, or inadvertently, joined forces with the enemy of your soul:

1. Do you support gay pride, and wave a flag as an encouragement for these poor, disenfranchised, misguided humans?

2. Have you voted for a man or woman that supports the freedom to choose to kill their own offspring in the womb?

3. Are you complacent with euthanasia, otherwise referred to as self-murder?

4. Do you dabble in occult activities? Taro card or palm reading, paying fortune-tellers, seance attendance, ouija board. Do you have lucky charms, and wish people good luck?

5. Are you fornicating? Are you having sex with someone, or many someone's, or living with a person and engaging in intercourse?

6. Do you have sex with someone that has the same genitalia? Meaning man with man, woman with woman?

7. How about pornography? Do you watch TV programs or movies with copulation as, Just part of the story-line or show? Do you watch pornography in secret and whenever you get the chance?

8. What about saying, JESUSSSS, or CHRIST, when you are exasperated?

9. Are you married and fantasying about someone other than your spouse?

10. Are you married and having sex with someone other than your spouse?

11. Do you lie, cheat, steal?

12. Do you get high on drugs?

13. Do you get drunk?

Man alive, I could spend the day asking questions about the sin factors that drag souls away from God when indulged, but I do not want to belabour the point, since the real message is this: There are commissioned workers, and some spread the Good News of the gospel, which is that Jesus Christ is Lord, while others follow closely on their heels, endeavouring to cause upheaval and strife, discord and disease, amongst God's people. 

God's commissionaires speak truth, with the light and love of Christ in their eyes; Satan's commissionaires speak lies, with death and eternal darkness blackening theirs. 

We have all felt the pull to the dark side. We have all said and done what God commands us not to do, and fallen short of the glory of God. And, when we didn't know better, sinning felt terrible, but we managed to acclimate, and easily excuse and repeat our sins; conversely, once we know Christ, and are washed clean of the filthy sin that soils the soul with ashy soot, sinning becomes repugnant and despicable, and course correcting to Christ becomes more natural, especially when reading The Bible is a daily habit. 

We have commissioned work, you and I. We answer to a Master, or a master. If you doubt this, then perhaps you can seriously consider the concept of spiritual warfare now, in this very moment. 

I have to go, but will return to talk with you some more on this matter. In the mean time, might I suggest you take the time to think about your soul and how valuable it is to God, and how despised it is by the Devil and his seed? 

God loves and is called Love.

Satan hates, and is devilishly diabolical. 

You live for One, and die by the other. I pray you know Jesus Christ as your Lord, this very day, dear one, and sin no more. 

Do Thyself No Harm

What if someone cried, or bellowed, in a loud voice, Do thyself no harm. Would this startle you, and have you stop in your tracks to consider, Am I harming myself, and; If so, how? The apostle Paul saved a man from self-murder by shouting out these words in the dark hour of midnight. I consider this command to be a warning, and an encouragement too, to do myself no harm. 

Here is what Matthew Henry has to say on the matter, page 171, Acts To Revelation, Volume 6: 

Paul stopped him from his proceeding against himself (v. 28): He cried with a loud voice not only to make him hear, but to make him heed, saying, Do not practice any evil to thyself; Do thyself no harm. 

Matthew Henry points out that injury to self, taking one's own life, is doing harm. He proceeds to link all self-harm, including self-murder, to sin:

All the cautions of the word of God against sin, and all appearances of it and approaches to it, have this tendency, "Do thyself no harm. Man, woman, do not wrong thyself, nor ruin thyself; hurt not thyself, and then none else can hurt thee; do not sin, for nothing else can hurt thee. 

The expression, You are only hurting yourself, comes to mind, when I think of sin and how it insinuates itself into our thinking, affecting our heart rate, and having us barrel our way right into self-stimulated trouble. Isn't self and other murder symptomatic of a sinful society? Isn't it a curiosity, that killing self, or an elderly person, or someone that is emotionally in turmoil, or a babe in the womb, is now the encouraged norm, when clearly, life is our greatest God given gift?

I think of Job and God's response to him, when Job attempted to curse the day he was born. God silenced him by letting him know, that he, God, is not to be challenged or imputed, given he is Sovereign, and chooses to give life to each living, breathing creature. How dare we, as the created, decide to harm what is not ours, including ourselves, or any other human, when every soul belongs, to him. 

Ezekiel 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 

Do thyself no harm is a matter of accountability. Might I suggest that when you do yourself injury, you pass along similar tendencies to the next generation. Is it not so, that alcoholism seems an inherited trait? Am I off-roading to imply, that physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, are learned behaviours that repeat themselves, from father to son to grandson; from mother to daughter to granddaughter? Any combination of relations can be used in this example of learned behaviours. Sin is deprivation, a dire and drastic form of deviation from God's commands, and we are promised the death of our own soul, when we indulge our inclinations, by giving in to temptation. 

I know you harm yourself dear reader. I don't need to know you personally to make this statement. We live in a carnal world soaked in sin; we are tempted to over eat, over drink, under exercise. We are encouraged to have sex for pleasures sake, and to kill would-be offspring, or put off having them, if the timing for raising a child just isn't quite right. The elderly are considered people to be suffered, temporarily, and put away from society to play bridge or paint by numbers, while housed in expensive apartments with no one visiting them, because it is their children's turn to live wild and free. We are, ultimately, encouraged to indulge our pleasures, at the expense of our health, relationships, and the ultimate price of sinking our souls into the pit ... but not by God, O no, he does not want this for any of his creatures. 

You, dear reader, indulge your own brand of self-harm. This is a matter to be investigated and discussed, either with God solo, or with a trusted Christian friend that will hear you, and love you to the cross of Christ, and right into his throne room. 

Do thyself no harm. If you belong to Jesus, you are a living stone, and the temple of the Holy Ghost:

1 Peter 2:5

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ

1 Corinthians 3:6

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 

1 Corinthians 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Do not practice any evil to thyself; Do thyself no harm. Man, woman, do not wrong thyself, nor ruin thyself; hurt not thyself, and then none else can hurt thee; do not sin, for nothing else can hurt thee. 

I have living stones that are a curiosity to me. The picture included in this piece of writing is of blooming, living stones. I had no idea this plant produces flowers; flowers are God's gift to us, dear one, crafted to delight in their unique and intricate beauty. 

Are you a blooming, living stone of the temple of God? 

How can such gorgeousness be treated crassly, ignobly, and roughly? 

You must be gentle with yourself; kind and gracious, as though you are precious and sweet, hand crafted in the image of God. No abusive self-talk or maltreatment. Allow your conscience to speak truth to your mind; course correct, recalibrating to Christ, when you have veered away; and know that sin does not have to be the boss of you, because you are a thinking, feeling, capable human being, that does not have to suffer the consequences of bad choices, when you realize, you no longer have to continue making them! 

Sin no more is not just a possibility, it is a probability, when God is your focus and The Bible is your life manual. As living stones of the temple of God, we are richly blessed and when we bloom, it is a delightful display for our God to look down upon from heavenly heights. 

Do myself ... do thyself, no harm, dear one. Sin not, do not wrong or ruin thyself, or practice evil. Do not hurt yourself, and all will be well with your soul. 

At Midnight - Part 2

When last we met, the keeper of the jail brought them out - Paul and Silas - and next, they were asked the question: Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30)

What must I do to be saved ... 

The keeper was saved from self-murder just moments before this enquiry. He had been asleep, in the dark of midnight, when there was an earthquake, doors opened wide, and shackles were loosed from wrists and ankles. All prisoners were free to leave, and yet, all remained in their cells. Paul, discerning what the guard would do to himself, cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. The keeper, called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling (Acts 16:28, 29)

This turn of events is astounding. Consider with me a prison guard, respectfully addressing prisoners as Sirs, and asking the question, What must I do to be saved? The fright of his life, along with being instructed not to harm himself, had him trembling, and brought him to his knees, before men that knew the answer to his question. 

Do you wonder too, what you must do to be saved, dear reader?

When your spirit and body part ways; when the corporal is severed from the soulful, what will become of you?

Clearly, the man knew there was more to this life, than just being in his body. One of the lessons for me from reading this account of salvation, a prison break for the keeper, is how powerful God is, and how mighty the gospel truth can be for those that hear it and believe. It helps me immensely, by giving me the freedom to share the Good News, without worrying about pulling or pushing people into the family of God. It is never human effort, persuasion, or coercion, that saves souls; it is always hearing about Jesus Christ as Lord, and for those that hear and believe, there is joyful delight. 

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, you and your house (Acts 16:31)

Does this answer to the keepers question resonate with you? 

Does it appeal to your spirit to be saved via the Redeemer of your soul?

What about your family members? Does it concern you, when you consider what they believe about life, and the after life?

And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes: and was baptized, he and all his, straightway (Acts 16:32-33)

Word of the Lord

Spoken to him and all that were in his house

He washed their stripes the same hour

Was baptized, he and all his, straightway

I promised in our last time together on this subject, an order, a structure to being saved, and what follows soon after:

1. The word of God must be spoken to a person. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)

2. The hearer, must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believe on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24)

3. There is a change of heart, and an immediate change in behaviour. In the case we are viewing, we see the keeper, the prison guard, washing the stripes, the whip inflicted gashes and slashes, on the backs of Paul and Silas. This is a sign of repentance, and a willingness to show humility in the admittance of wrong doing.. The keeper displays tender compassion for the men that had not long before, been treated violently in their innocence. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart. O God, thou will not despise (Psalm 51:17)

4. Straightway, he was baptized, he and all his. Baptism follows straightway, immediately, on the heels of salvation. How marvellous for the prison keeper and his household, to hear the word of God; to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and his Father that sent him; to have the assurance of passing from death unto life - escaping, being saved, from condemnation - now that is a real jailbreak, to say the least! - and to have their sins washed away, while calling on the name of the Lord: 

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16:16)

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord (Acts 22:16)

From here, dear reader, there is newness. There is a joy in the Lord that is unmatched and unsurpassable, by any other pleasure. To know and love God, to feel his love poured out, is a deep and abiding bond of affinity, one that cannot be broken, and lives into eternity. Only those that belong to him, know of what I speak. 

Let us take our last look into the home of the jail keeper.

And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house (Acts 16:34)

We read of a middle of the night baptismal celebration and feast, with recently sprung from jail prisoners, Paul and Silas. They are now honoured guests in the midst of new family of God members. This scene makes my nose tingle with the start of tears. In a few short hours, this band of new believers have formed an eternal bond, in Christ as Lord. The messengers of reconciliation, Paul and Silas, are richly rewarded for their steadfast commitment to sharing the gospel ... souls saved and celebrated ... what could possibly be better than this?

Praise be to God on high.

NOTE: As ministers of reconciliation, we are promised persecution. Paul and Silas were maltreated by the unsaved, but here we see what can happen in the life of one man, and as a result, what the outcome can be for an entire household, that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. What must I do to be saved ...

This, dear one, can be your story too: an unlikely prison break, where you, as former captive to the carnal world, can be set free. 

Strength Training The Soul

Consider with me, dear reader, the value of exercise. Walking is a fabulous form of physical activity, and requires no equipment. Strength training, using body weight as a form of resistance, is yet another way to get, and stay, in good shape, meaning all your body parts stay were they were originally placed, resisting the pull of gravity. 

Why don't more people engage in physical activity? Do you have an answer for this question? People get up, shower, shave, get dressed, brush their hair and teeth, make their way to work, all while using their bodies to accomplish tasks; and yet, it seems the thought of exercise is repugnant to most people, when asked about their exercise routine. Eating habits are commonly a shame filled subject: overindulgence leads to self-deprecating thoughts and feelings, with a consistent monologue of negative comments directed internally at one's own character and being. We think badly of ourselves when we feel out of control, and when we decide to do something about the situation, it is a relief when we commit, and get results. Thankfully, our bodies are designed for exertion, and if this were not the case, we would not be able to get up and go, to work, to airports, to parks and playgrounds. 

I am particularly fond of the effects of resistance training using body weight, or free weights. I have seen reconfiguring happening in my clients when they start the process of strengthening their bodies, one workout at a time. It is outstanding to see, what half an hour twice a week can do for the commit to fit clients I work with; that isn't our subject though, dear reader. What you just finished reading is a prelude, a setting up of a theme, that I am calling strength training the soul. We will intertwine the concepts since the body and soul are intricately, intimately united. 

How does one go about strength training the soul? Let's pare this theme in slices that can be easily digested. 

1. Commit to truth telling. The soul, like the body, needs to be exercised. Lies misshape, causing malfunctioning. Truth aligns our insides and outsides. For instance, if I tell myself a lie, then repeat it to you, our foundation will be shaky, and our trust factor will shift with every bit of information exchanged. Physically, if I tell myself that donuts eaten daily, or fries consumed Fridays, minus any form of exercise, will not make me fat, then I am fibbing while adding flub to my gut. If I take you along for the food fun, and we both agree there is nothing wrong with what we consume, then we are colluding with one another while encouraging unhealthy habits. Lies told, lies shared, lies unquestioned, form a web of deception that traps the pretenders and holds them captive. 

Honesty about consequences is the only way out of this type of trap. What we speak and do, ought to be true, and when we commit to truth telling, we are forced to take responsibility for outcomes, physically, emotionally, spiritually. Truth telling can be a painful experience initially: it means we no longer have excuses or romantic/sentimental explanations for things we have said and done. Truth telling is a form of confession for sins committed. It is worth the suffering of shame to come clean as a truth embracer and teller. 

2. Commit to character development. Integrity is admirable, and when someone has this character trait, they can trust themselves to be themselves, no matter where they are, who they are talking to, or interacting with. A person of integrity is trustworthy, dependable, decisive, and has a clear conscience. Doing what is right when everything is going wrong; choosing to take what is known as the high road, when retaliation and recompense are demanding to be satisfied, suggests that a person has integrity. Jesus did not bend or bow to the demands of his persecutors, nor did his apostles and disciples. I always appreciate these men of valour, these godly examples of un-compromised integrity! It does not take courage to display integrity, all one needs is commitment, to truth, and strength is gained with every flex of this spiritual muscle. 

3. Do not compromise. Man alive, this one is a challenge well worth the internal duel. Compromise is crippling, and our society with its, You do you mantra, gives us the impression that we must accept, It is what it is (another common sentiment repeated ad nauseam). I say, So be it. So be it, dear reader, is definitive. So be it is final. So be it means, that if you and I are committed to truth, committed to living lives of integrity, we will accept that not everyone feels or thinks as we do. This does not mean we agree with their "version of truth", or that we "agree to disagree", it means that we stop, look, read, interpret, comprehend, and digest the differences we are witnessing, and then decide to proceed from there, without letting loose the grip we have on truth. In other words, we do not weaken our stance and begin to limp, in order to make someone else feel more comfortable in their wobbling. 

During the covid crisis, there was much embracing of lies bought and sold. Characters were compromised and corrupted, because fraud was consumed quickly, like fast food empty calorie full meal deals, The road to truth is paved with shards of emotional and spiritual glass, strewn in front of us, like bottles broken and smashed by each of us as individuals, and each of us as parts of the collective. It is painful, soul shattering, to think of the anguish covid has caused. Our only prospect of healing the hurt is truth, un-compromised, and never sullied by insipid lies. Covid caused a cancer that festers, and it is a sign and symptom of a sickly society. Covid must not be given any quarter; it must not be granted a reprieve: covid has been cuddled and coddled, and somehow excused as a witness, despite its being the vehicle of mass murder. Compromising on this truth is unacceptable, because it is a lie told and repeated too many times, and acts as a block to the freeing of conscience. 

4. Pay attention to your conscience. We know right from wrong, and that is why we lie; I read this idea long ago, and I have to agree. We lie to ourselves and others when what we want, is not what we ought to have. I may want to eat and drink without counting the calorie cost to my body, but that is not what I ought to do. I may want to avoid and evade responsibility to God by pretending I have done nothing wrong and have no sins to confess, but that, would be a lie, and my conscience will be pricked and pester me, causing a low grade emotional fever, if I don't come clean. Conscience is a gift from God that assists in character development: conscience is our personal character strength trainer, and when listened to, those lie shards of broken glass on our path, get swept up and tossed in a garbage can, never to be seen again. When we are honest, there is a purity that starts to shine through ... grin, this is such a lovely thought, isn't it, dear reader? 

Of course, strength training the soul is not a 1-4 step-by-step process, it is more like a minute-by-minute string of choices we make, based on the circumstances we find ourselves in. The bottom line, is truth telling, without compromise, builds character, and strengthens our trust factor, giving us a sense of wholeness and integrity that is trustworthy. 

I want to be trusted and I want to trust, don't you, dear one?

Jesus is my model of excellence, and he is known as the Truth. Imagine that, being known as a truth teller ... grin again, that is a goal worth setting and embracing. 

Handsome Devils Part 5 - At Midnight, Part 1

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them (Acts 16:25)

Do you recall, dear reader, how all the trouble started? Paul and Silas were off to a prayer meeting, when Paul stopped, and in Jesus name, commanded a spirit right out of a damsel that he was holding captive; this enraged her money making masters, the ruling magistrates, and the multitude, to the point of Paul and Silas being caught and dragged to the marketplace, where they were wrongfully accused, whipped/ flogged/stricken repeatedly, after which they were thrown into the deepest, darkest, dankest part of the prison, and put in shackles. In this scene, it is midnight, and we find these men of God praying once more, and singing praises so loudly, that the other prisoners heard them! I don't know about you, but sometimes, with a paper-cut, I can feel the slice when it is brand new, and the pain persists until the wound begins to heal ... now picture Paul's back with deep red blood encrusted wounds, and Silas's back too, gouged, with flesh ripped apart by a barbarous, spiky whip, applied by a strong man whose job it is to inflict pain, and suffering following the injuries. These servants of the living God were praying and singing. Is that what you would be doing?

Many a person seems comfortable accusing God of wrong doing. Many a man, or woman, will blame God, wanting to whip him with their words, and pound him with their fists, for their hurt, their wounds, their suffering. Some, when they accuse God of wrong doing, suggest he is capable of evil, when they say things like: Why is God doing this? Why is God allowing this? If there is a God, how could he be so cruel? How, indeed, dear reader ... we have proof of his benevolence in Jesus Christ, the ManGod that, despite having the command of angel armies, never once lifted a finger to inflict pain on another, but rather, received without retaliation, the whip upon his back, and the spit upon his face, from his own creatures. God incarnate gave us a glimpse of God the Father, and to suggest he is anything but perfectly kind and long-suffering, tolerating us rather than snuffing us out for all we have said and done that is untoward, is to be very misguided, and backward in our thoughts and beliefs. 

Despite the whipping and the prison cell, Paul and Silas were completely free of all restraints. They, the apostles and disciples, were promised persecution for sharing the gospel, but this mattered not, considering Who they knew! The prison scene delights me to no end. I can hear the resonant voices of these faith filled men, singing their hearts out in unison without self-consciousness, praising God, loving their master. We are prisoners of the world before we know Christ as our King ... these men were set free in their souls, and it mattered not, where they were, who they spoke to or were accused by, they could not, would not, change their tune. 

Can you hear the singing too, dear one? Now get ready for a shake-up earthquake:

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed (Acts 16:26)

Suddenly 

Great earthquake

Foundations shaken

Immediately all doors opened

Every one's bands loosed

Who, please do tell me, can keep someone imprisoned, when God Almighty is the one, that sets us free? The masters of the fortune telling damsel, the magistrates that acted as judges in the city, and savoured the flavour of being the ruling class, and the multitude that preferred their idol demon gods and economy, over and above the one God spoken of by the apostles and disciples, wished harm upon Paul and Silas; they inflicted bodily harm, but could not touch these men where it matters the most. Here are Jesus' words of warning and encouragement, found in Matthew 10:28

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell

We return now to the prison scene, and the excitement that is astir inside that depressing place, that is now bright with hope, as captives are divinely set free of their shackles, after witnessing the opening of barred doors, following the earth shaking of the foundations: 

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (Acts 16:27-31)

At this point we must change the name of our series to At Midnight, leaving behind the Handsome Devils, as we move toward heavenly light. We see the keeper, or prison guard charged with the careful watch of prisoners in shackles, kept secure behind locked doors, suddenly coming awake to see those doors opened wide. Presuming the prisoners had left their respective cells, he was ready to self-murder, and this makes perfect sense, since taking his own life was preferable to the public humiliation of being killed for not doing his job. This, was not the first jailbreak we see in the book of Acts, and we may presume this prison keeper was well aware of what happened to the fellas that failed to keep Peter under lock and key. The Word spreads, dear one. 

How terrible it is, to punish someone that is no match for God and his power. How very vulgar, base, and vicious, the rulers were, to take the lives of guards, that were clearly incapable of holding prisoners captive, when God simply and easily, sets them free. It is kind of funny to think that man in his ridiculous self-importance, believes he can do as he pleases without repercussion, and without stoppage. God has his ways, and while there are many mysteries to marvel at, we can be clear on this: God is purposeful with all he does, and his timing is perfect. 

But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas.

I just have to laugh here. It is now past midnight, and we are in the wee hours in a prison without light. Cell doors are opened wide, and since all the prisoners are awake and loosed, with their shackles and chains dropped from their wrists and or ankles, one might presume that some would take the opportunity to leave the joint but no, Paul says, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 

1. It is dark and Paul cannot see the keeper with his drawn sword

2. They, meaning the prisoners, not just Paul and Silas, are all here

3. The keeper calls for a light, and sprang in, trembling, to Paul and Silas' cell

4. He fell down before Paul and Silas

Well now, how about that? That earthquake shook up a whole lot of fellas in a short span of time. I wonder, is it rattling your cage a little, dear reader? How are you reacting to the scene? Paul stopped a jailer, the one that placed him in the worst cell in that prison, from harming, or in other words, killing himself. How marvellous!

The keeper's reaction is precious. He goes immediately to Paul and Silas, not the other prisoners, and falls down trembling before them. His life has been spared in the darkness, and when the lights came on, he went directly to the men of God and inquired, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Dear reader, is this your question too? Are you imprisoned, a slave to your fleshly desires, your attachment to the world, and the idols you worship and adore? Do you feel the pinch of shackles, and feel the oppressiveness of enclosure, with a barred door locked from the outside, holding you prisoner in a dark and dank cell? 

Here is your open door, set you free answer, to that question of yours: 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Saved, from what? From earthly, damning trappings, from oppressors that care not for your soul and would have you killed for daring to challenge them; from life without God; from eternity in hell. Saved, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ ... you and your house! What a promise, what a gift, what a magnificent prospect!

The keeper, the guard in this scene, knew to go to God's men. The Gospel was spreading widely and rapidly, and the Good News was out. This prison guard, after laying down his sword, dropped to his knees before would be prisoners, realizing that he needed rescuing and saving, and that they had what he wanted. 

Do you, want what the early followers had; a faith that is fearless in Christ?

I do ... it is the breath and savour of life to consider being just like Jesus, whipped and yet forgiving, spit upon, while praying for the lost. A perfect example of humility in a world that wickedly spins out of control ... how glorious the overcoming can be. 

We will continue our series, At Midnight, with Part 2, but until then, I invite you to find out how this part of the grand story finishes: go to scripture yourself, and learn what happens next. There is an order, a structure to being saved, and what follows soon after ... go find out for yourself, don't wait for me, or anyone else, to instruct you on the ways of God. God wants to be with you, just you. Isn't that delightful to know?

Spiritually Inert

We have sown the wind and we reap the whirlwind ... 

You are invited to meander with me, dear reader, as I wander the halls of my memory to curate some thoughts I have about dictators, indoctrination, and obedience to miserable malevolence. 

Fornication, let us start there, shall we? We have been taught that we are animals, with urges that must be gratified, urges devoid of significance or meaning, or we might lose our minds. Masturbation, sex with strangers, sex outside of marriage, living with someone and having sex with them, multiple partners, whether there be serial monogamy or a series of one night stands; sex with him, her, it, a furry ... anything and everything goes. I have met many a female, impregnated, outside of what used to be referred to as holy matrimony. These women quickly discovered that the partner they physically meshed with while exchanging bodily fluids, was a good-for-nothing loser that cared not a whit for them, or for the child they had mutually produced. Alternatively, a woman could just terminate, meaning have the baby exterminated, as an unwelcome pest and interruption, to her messy, sexually active, life. I knew a twenty-something year old, that took the morning after pill, following nights of soaking her brain in alcohol, and sex with pick-me-up men. 

What if a person has urges, but does not indulge them, and the feeling passes? What if auto=erotism minus conscience, was not promoted as a way of self-satisfying? What if pornography wasn't so popular, and normalized? What if women kept their skirts down, their pants pulled up, and decided that their private parts weren't for public display or tampering? What if women, decided that just because they had previously had sexual intercourse, it does not mean that the broken seal is indicative of a free-for-all attitude, whenever an invitation is sent their way, or they experience an inch they believe requires scratching? It is pretty easy for a female to have sexual partners: good looks are not a requirement, willingness is all that the male needs to see, as a signal for agreement. This is why beer googles are so popular ... 

Many a poor soul bought the bull-crap sold and packaged as acceptable, that they are an animal, just like all the other creatures God hand-crafted. I tell you what, this type of indoctrination takes time, and we have arrived at a point of almost no return. The masses unwittingly obey a miserable, malevolent dictator, as he works his way through classrooms, demeaning in a deplorable fashion, in the form of wicked teachers that feel more than comfortable speaking corruption to vulnerable souls, held captive and silenced in their seats, made to listen without speaking unless spoken to. The training ground for twisting a mind, a heart, a spirit, is, IN OUR CLASSROOMS, including the UNIVERSITIES, where books are no longer available, because professors are the main source for the pushing of propaganda. 

I now meander in a slightly different direction ... come with me dear one? Capitalism, is now considered communism, and visa versa. The age old spinning of meaning to throw people off the scent of truth continues ... shock of all shocks, we need to pray for the truth to prevail, before these tangled young people fornicate and speak, and misbehave their way right into hell. 

I don't know about you, but I have had to fight and struggle my way out of the bag that invisible hands threw over me, and tried to close, so I could't breath, or think, or see. It was The Bible that had me enraged at the lies I had suffered and been force fed: thankfully I had parents that believed marriage is a life long commitment; thankfully, I always had a voice of reason and truth speaking contrary messages that ran against the current, that threatened to take me away from all that is good, true, and righteous. 

I made so many mistakes, missteps, errors in judgment. I was, and am, a moral type of person, and yet, I was a half-ing, with one foot wanting desperately to take me onto the heavenly path, and the other dragging behind, mired in carnal mud. YUCK, I say, YUCK! 

It is my aloneness, my being with God more than I am with humans, that has cleansed my soul, washing away the muck, so that I can declare, I AM NOT AN ANIMAL, just like the elephant man did! Ha, that is kind of funny, isn't it, dear reader?

The Bible teaches us who God is, who we are, and how elegant, and glorious it can be, to model ourselves after righteousness, making us shiny-shiny, and tastefully so. We are not to be like pigs, sticking our snouts in places they do not belong; we are humans, created in the image of God. We must not demean ourselves or each other. We must not accept being dictated to, or having propaganda shoved down our throats, so that it is regurgitated, and spewed back out, to coat and cover others. 

To my shock and dismay, years ago I had an elementary school teacher admit to me that she is a socialist ... I wonder, would she be okay if men came to her door, and told her that her children must remit half their part-time job earnings, while sharing their rooms with strangers, because what they have is not their own, despite working for it? My father was killing communists when he was twelve ... now a days, killing capitalists is encouraged; but then again, the devil is a spin doctor, and anyway he can get you and I to hate to the point of making murder okay, is a victory for him and his kind. 

My driving point is this: people are spiritually inert. They lack the ability, and strength to move ... they are "chemically inactive", or should I say, soulfully suffocated, and mostly dead. Morals do not play a role in the lives of most people: we see this with their foul language, their disgusting activities, and their rudeness toward one another. I watched a woman via instagram, on a plane, that was intoxicated with drugs, alcohol, or both, pulling the hair of a seated woman, in the row behind her: she started spitting, while continuing to spit insults, and it took many passengers and some staff, to get her hands off of the victim, and start to remove her from the scene. This woman clearly felt entitled to drink or take drugs to the point of publicly humiliating herself, insulting and assaulting other people, and disrupting a whole plane full of passengers that were trapped with her on board. And that, dear reader, is exactly what our school aged children and young adults are exposed to: wicked socially and morally corrupt teachers, professors, and instructors, and behaviours that used to shock us, but are now not only acceptable, but must be tolerated. 

We have sown to the wind and we now reap the whirlwind ... is it any wonder our children are confused, and our young adults wander aimlessly in a haze of marijuana and vape smoke? 

They have no purpose, because without God, they are just like tumbleweed, blown across a bone dry desert, without an oasis in sight. Even professing Christians are dry as dead bones, without any marrow to enliven them, because they do not know God through his word, but make things up about who he is and what he wants from and for us ... God Lord, we need to recalibrate to Christ, and this is an individual activity before it can become a united, arms linked assault, against the demonic forces that want to damn all humans everywhere. 

God's not there, so i don't care, seems to be the attitude, except, he is there, and here, and everywhere, all the time. If there are things you will not do in front of your parents, employers, or closest friends, or say in their presence that you are confident they would not approve of, perhaps it would be a good policy to follow, not to do or say things in front of an all knowing ever present God! 

Thanks for travelling with me. There are some things that needed to be said, and I hope they challenge wandering away from God Christians. You cannot have the world and him, you must prioritize, or lose ground, and perhaps your soul too. Apostasy is real, and disobeying our Father in heaven, is not only unwise, but dangerous in countless ways. 

I could go on, but you must go now .... hopefully right into prayer, confession, reconciliation, and his Word. 

Handsome Devils - Part 4

And the multitude rose up against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks (Acts 16:22-24).

Do recall from the beginning of this series, that there was a damsel repeating a phrase, while following Paul and Silas, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation; this had gone on for many days, until Paul put a stop to it by commanding the spirit of divination to come out of the woman, by speaking the words, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out of her the same hour. 

Think with me, what a stir this public event caused. The damsel was well know as a fortune teller; she was very popular, and we know this because her masters gained much monetarily, from her work. A possessed by a demon person is a strange sight, and there are strange sounds and behaviours too, that they seem unaware of, as though they are not themselves, or as though they have been taken over ... which of course, they have been. When this young woman was released, when she was set free from the evil spirit that used her body for its own wicked purposes, the woman became silent, not mute, silent, no longer compunctiously repeating the refrain, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. The spirit in her knew who the servants of God were, making the young woman seem very wise, as though she had intel that no one else had access to. She, or he (the spirit) using her voice, spoke truth, and yet, we do not need demons to instruct us about God and salvation, dear reader: Jesus Christ and his disciples, have done that good work for us. 

Demons are deviants, distractors and detractors, so much so, that the former masters of the damsel, went to city rulers, to the magistrates, to let them know that these men were a threat to their economy, to their polytheistic way of life, and had to been punished to the point of death, for daring to break the system, for daring to set people free from bondage by way of salvation through Jesus Christ. The image of an ant hill disturbed by a poking stick comes to mind ... the ants furiously move about to stop the wreckage: that is what happened to the mercenary masters, to the magistrates, and to the multitude that rose up against the praying men of God, and that is precisely what is happening still, because Satans kingdom cronies are enraged, and they bare their teeth, wanting to sink them into souls, especially when they hear Jesus Christ preached, especially when they hear the saints pray in unison, Thy will be done Lord. 

And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Paul and Silas were beaten, cast (thrown) into prison, and put under strict supervision to ensure they did not make a break from jail; they were put into the deepest darkest dankest place in that prison, and their feet were fastened to the floor in stocks. Do recall, the command Paul had in the name of Jesus Christ, over the spirit of divination that ruled and reigned the damsel in distress. We might ask the question: Why did Paul allow the beating, the rough treatment, the being thrown into prison, and the chaining to the floor, when he had the ability through Christ, to be commanding? This question could be followed by yet another, and another: Why did Jesus the Christ, allow soldiers to beat him, spit upon him, mock and curse him, and nail him to a cross to be left their hanging and dying? Why didn't he, that had the command of angels, smite the petty and indignant humans he had created, rather than give them the impression they could kill God? 

The scene that follows, the one we will cover in Part 5, will give us the answers to these questions, but for now, I have to give my own explanation; I feel the need to share, dear one, from my own experiences with God and man. Love is patient, love is kind ... 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things

God is not a force to be reckoned with, challenged to a dual, invited to a fight. God has the big stick; he could lift it and never drop it down on us, and we would die instantly of fright, if he so desired. But God charitably, lovingly, suffers our insubordination, our ant like self-importance. Jesus taught us to not envy or want what others have; he did not compete for supremacy with his Father, or with men. Jesus was humble during his ministry, never showing off, or standing in the lime light for praise. He didn't display vainglory, but rather, glorified God, his, and our Father, who art in heaven. Jesus was not easily provoked, did not think evil thoughts, did not rejoice in the iniquity all around him; in fact, it grieved him deeply, as it ought to grieve us similarly. Jesus is the Truth, and we are to rejoice in him, and in all truth. Jesus bore the sins of the world because they, meaning us, meaning you and me, know not what we have done ... 

Bearing persecution, believing God is Almighty, hoping in salvation, enduring much suffering, the first men of God and the last men of God that walk the earth, will always peaceably proclaim Jesus Christ as King of kings, Lord of lords, and they will not raise a fist in self-defence, but rather, be known for their fruits of labor, rather, be known as fishers of men, that serve the living God for the sake of souls that need saving. 

The enraged ants, those that belong to the devil and cling to the world as though holding on will keep them alive, have yet to be set free, and that, dear one, is why we are still here. God isn't done rescuing the lost and our work, that is if you belong to Christ too, is as ministers of reconciliation, peace makers between God and man. 

This series continues ... keep watch for the magnificent scene that unfolds in a jail where prisoners are meant to suffer and wax weary, and prison guards are meant to be oppressively cruel. 

Blame Shifting - Invisible Fingerprints Remain

In all the years of studying human behaviour and making sense of it, I have never come across the perfect descriptor for what the criminally minded do, when they avoid and evade accountability, responsibility, and ownership, for what they have said and done to injure others. Happily, the other day, I heard the short and punchy phrase, blame shifting, and with this, I had a eureka moment. It is with a marvellous sense of satisfaction that I am able to label the insidiousness that motivates and moves villains, in the direction of casting doubt and aspersions, on their victims, when in fact, they are to blame for the chaos they cause. Shifting blame does not erase the marks left by the vicious and murderous: invisible fingerprints remain, and God knows what they have done, even when humans have yet to figure out the answer to the biggest question of our day: What just happened?

Perhaps, dear reader, you have a blame shifter in your midst, one of those people that perpetually claims innocence, while accusing everyone else of nasty thoughts, slights, insults, insinuations: the blame shifter goes after integrity, suggesting character flaws where none are to be found. The shifter is adept at shooting arrows from afar to affront their human targets, and with shocking accuracy, arrows find their mark, piercing people through in surprising and clearly unexpected ways, and having them wonder, What just happened? 

Perhaps there is a dawning on your part as you piece together their wicked destructive plot. Perhaps you have been observing the blame shifter and the effects of their brutal, remorseless, sneak attacks, on anyone and everyone they deem worthy of their vicious, unwarranted, verbal, and mental, pummelling. The old expression, I got your number, comes to mind. Have you got their number now dear one? Have you figured out their wiley ways, and how much fun it is for them to triangulate, to cause emotional upheaval, to engage you in a battle of the wits so that you feel distraught, exhausted, uneasy, and defenceless? Do you get the fact that they enjoy and thrive, they come alive, when they are bringing you down, and putting you out of yourself?

If a blame shifter is doing what they do best with fantastical results, you will be in high alert defence mode as a natural response to their assaults. You, will feel insecure, while being preoccupied with the second guessing of your own thoughts, words, and reactions; you will feel the urge and need to explain yourself by using factual details in conversations with others, to prove your own innocence. It is never a good feeling to have your character assassinated, and who among us does not want to be vindicated when this occurs? NOTE: the blame shifter does not use facts, they throw blanket accusations in all directions, with the suggestion they have been maimed somehow by you or someone else ... their imagination kindles fire, and burns anyone they include in their fairytales of woe. Because you may very well be a kind, gentle, accountable person, you will look to see if you are indeed, to blame, for any part of what is taking place ... until of course, the clouds clear, your mind is free of cobwebs, and you pull that dart from your heart, and see the blame shifter as the one shooting arrows and wreaking havoc in your life. 

Blame shifters do their deeds with great fervour, and a sense that they can do no wrong, because let's face their twisted facts, they are always right. Challenging a blame shifter is a fruitless endeavour, since this kind of response intensifies their hatred and resentment, and has them frothing at the mouth with thoughts of revenge. Keep in mind, they like the back and forth, they savour the flavour of blood, and lick their lips at the idea of a fresh pound of flesh to naw on, leaving you with a hole you have to contend with and tend to. 

This is where you get to decide to break the pattern and spell, while extricating yourself from the web of lies they have spun in order to capture your attention, and your unwitting compliance with their diabolical game tactics. 

1. Ask yourself: do I trust this person? If not, how come? If I do trust them, am I willing to accept some of the things they have said, along with some of the blame, regarding their accusations?
2. Check your emotions. When you think of this person, do you feel uneasy, upset, nervous, anxious, worried, unsettled, confused, attacked, insecure, unworthy? Emotions are our early warning system, and they inform us of impact. Blame shifters cause distress and turmoil: if you are feeling this way just thinking about certain people, do know that you are dealing with a difficult trouble maker that likes to shift blame onto you and others.
3. Know that you are not the only mouse the blame shifter is batting their clawed paws at. People that play with the mental and emotional well-being of others, do their thing across the board, meaning everyone in their life feels the sting of their manipulative machinations and malignancy. You aren't special, you are just one of many on their daily cat nip menu to munch on. 
4. Triangulation is the shifters favourite weapon. The more the merrier, meaning they like to spread the suffering thickly, on as many people they can include in their plots and ploys to garner attention. Triangulation only works if you are willing to listen to reports from a third party, for instance: She said you said ... She told me you said this about her, and now she is hurt, upset, mad, sad, disappointed. Making things up, taking things out of context, adding meaning where their wasn't even a topic of conversation, are conflict inducing, mind bending ways, for the narcissistic-blame-shifter, to invite defensive outrage from their victims. I have to laugh here, dear reader: I sure do hope you are seeing the patterned behaviour by now, and thinking of the times you were misused by a person like this that you thought you could help ...
5. They don't want your input, your guidance, your help, your insight, your anything. They want to hurt and destroy you, because they have blackness in their souls that has not seen the light of Christ. Anyone that can cause such chaos, does not have good intentions, or any sign of conscience, and must be left to fend for their sick selves, which by the way, they are more than capable of doing, since their manipulative skills are so finely tuned that their is always another sucker they can draw into their web to feed upon. 
6. Consider not engaging with the blame shifter. They love attention, and if they have yours, you will feel exhausted as they drain you of your energy and life force. Blame shifters feel good when they weaken those in their immediate vicinity, and it delights them to have far reaching influence, giving them satisfaction when they realize their powers of persuasion go far and wide. Dear reader, these people are satanic and as godless as the devil himself. 
7. Stop believing you can prove them wrong by proving your own innocence. Blame shifters have incredible ways of concocting extravagant lies that eventually make them look like fools ... Why, pray tell, argue with a fool? 

As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly (Proverbs 25:11)

Handsome Devils - Part 3

And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them (Acts 16:19-22)

Seeing the damsel set free from the spirit of divination, from the stronghold that Satan had previously used to grip her being, enraged her masters. Here is what Matthew Henry has to say about them:

That which provoked them was, that, the damsel being restored to herself, her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, v. 19. See here what evil the love of money is the root of! If the preaching of the gospel ruin the craft of the silversmiths (ch. 19:24), much more the craft of the soothsayers; and therefore here is a great outcry raised, when Satan's power to deceive is broken: the priests hated the gospel because it turned men from the service of dumb idols, and so the hope of their gains was gone. The power of Christ, which appeared in dispossessing the woman, and the great kindness done to her in delivering her out of Satan's hand, made no impression upon them when they apprehended that they should hereby lose money, Matthew Henry's Commentary, Volume 6 Acts to Revelation, page 169. 

The power of Christ dispossessed the woman. She had a spirit that spoke through her, and upon command, it was compelled to come out of her, in the name of Jesus Christ. She was restored to herself ... restored, no longer animated and activated by a demonic spirit. Would it surprise you to read that multitudes of people are thusly occupied by demonic spirits, or would you in your mind and heart, feel compelled to read this as confirmation of something you already suspected to be true, but did not have the words, or understanding, to label and name? 

The craft of soothsaying, the craftiness of the masters that used the damsel to feather their nests, is utterly abominable to the Lord God. The ones that speak on behalf of the devils or demons that reside within, work against the kingdom of God. Note, Paul and Silas were going out to a prayer meeting, and Paul spoke words of salvation, and proved the power of God, when he spoke freedom in Christ to the damsel in distress. Do you see her this way too, dear one, a damsel in distress? 

The woman's freedom from the oppressive spirit was irksome to the money grubbing masters, and the prospect of losing the breadwinner, the damsel they Japanese-beetle-like-leeched off of, had them aggressively seeking revenge against The Way of Salvation, and the men employed as God's gospel workers.

Dear reader, when Christians are persecuted for speaking Biblical truth, it is the kingdom of God that is the true target. Satan could care less about who is injured and maimed as far as humans are concerned: he aims higher than little old you and me, he aims to take down God Almighty, despite the fact that he, just like you and I, is a created being, created by the same Maker that can do as he pleases at all times. It pleases God to love the foolish to wisdom. It pleases God to show us The Way of Salvation ... it pleased God to send his one and only Son, to die on a cross for the sins of the world, to save us from ourselves! 

Compare and contrast, dear one, men of God going to prayer, and mercenary masters using a damsel to fill their fists and bellies, each time she was employed to sell lies to paying patrons. Paul and Silas were caught, and dragged to the marketplace to be made a spectacle, where they were publicly accused of causing trouble, by teaching customs contrary to the accepted Roman standards. The manipulative masters incited hatred with bold faced lies, and the marketplace multitude rose up against the preachers of the gospel, and the magistrates rent, or in other words, ripped off, their clothes.

Why? What did they do that was so wrong? What caused such rage filled behaviour in the detractors, in those that opposed Paul and Silas? I am hoping the dawning of understanding is shining brightly in your mind, sending slivers of light into your heart, and brightening your soul, dear one. The kindness Paul displayed publicly toward the damsel in distress, was not appreciated by those that do not belong to God, but rather, belong to this world, and cling to what this earthy existence has for them in the way of monetary gain, and physical creature comforts. 

Soothsayers speak convenient comfort for cash ... Christians speak of salvation and The Way to the Saviour. Fortune tellers are a quick fix measure utilized by the desperate and distraught ... prayer to God the Father through his son Jesus Christ, is balm for the soul, and unmatched by any other human attempts to gain wisdom and knowledge about the past, the present, or the future. 

The hatred of the lovers of money, becomes exceedingly evident when their income sources are threatened. Those that love money speak of it often, and some will do anything and everything, to ensure they have as much of it as they can possibly grab, even if it means using other people to have their fill of filthy lucre. I do not need to prove this to you, since I am confident you know all about sex and slave trade industries, and how many a political leader, how many a magistrate, has mangled the law to accommodate the demonic forces that molest humanity, in heinous and unspeakable ways. Leches and leeches, demons latch onto humans to do the bidding of their master, otherwise known as Satan. 

Jesus said this:

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (Matthew 12:30)

You, dear one, are either for Jesus, as Paul and Silas were, or against him, as the crowd was when they yelled crucify him: the scene plays out over and over again, repeating itself with every generation of believers and every generation that goes the way of the devil. There are two ways ... The Way of Salvation, and the road to perdition. 

Which one are you on?

Keep your reading glasses close by; Part 4 of this series is coming your way.