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God the Refuge ...
Friday, Nov 20, 2014. God can be our refuge. He can be our strong tower. He is the living God, the source of life, the light. How does this work? Where to find the refuge? How to get to you, Lord?
Paul is getting there …
Often we hope that God saves us by keeping us out of trouble. And he does. I do not know how many difficult things never came to me, never touched me. But if difficult things come, how do I react? Here, we see what Paul and Silas did:
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer6 called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. (Acts 16, 25ff)
How to reach this point? …
It is a key point how to get to that point, to sing hyms in your own prisons, in your own difficulties. There is no guarantee, that your chains will open immediately. But there is a chance that God's mercy acts as we see it here in this biblical story.
It can sometimes be difficult to change our thoughts, our emotions, our mind. We do not want to pretend, we do not want to play a game to sing songs while our heart is full of grief. Only when our heart is changed, singing songs is what we should do. Only when God's spirit fills our heart, honesty and praise will come together.
It will be a matter of prayer, to be changed. I believe that it is the power of God who can change my heart. Only he can do it. Only with his help, I can sing songs in prison. And only he can open the chains. (RWEP) ... more texts