I Walk with The King

To Heavenly Land; the Kingdom of Right–the Pathway of Light…

Tag Archives: persecution


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A Song of Joy

In Acts 16:19-34, we read of a time when Paul and Silas were cast into prison in Philippi. After a beating from the Roman magistrate, they were thrown into the inner prison. That night, an unexpected sound came from their cell:

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

A song! Not a song of grief or despair, but of joy and thanksgiving to God. Notice who heard them: the other prisoners. In the darkest hour of the night, a musical expression of joy came from two unfettered hearts. We read of the impact this had on the jailer and his family (they obeyed Christ’s Gospel), but we also read that the other prisoners didn’t escape when given a chance to. Perhaps they were more intrigued by the message and power of these two men–men who had freedom even while in captivity–than what lay beyond the prison gate.

I think it gave them hope. When we find ourselves in a type of prison (circumstance of feeling trapped, illness, loss, or cage of our own making), let our attitude be one of true joy and thanksgiving to God, rather than complaint and despair. After all, our response might help reach other prisoners nearby who are straining to hear even a single note of hope.

Psalm 42:8 KJV: Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.


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Rights vs. Righteousness – Politics and Religion: Part 2

We have rights. In the U.S.A our rights are more sacred than baseball and apple pie. Our constitution contains a bill of rights. The very core of what the founding fathers believed was based on the rights of the citizenry. I don’t know about you but I’m thankful and proud to be an American and to be able to take part in the rights the constitution guarantees me.

However, I often have to remind myself of my true citizenship. I sometimes forget that though I have rights as an American citizen, my duty as a citizen of God’s Kingdom may not always align with those rights.

“ Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Eph. 2:19

As an example, let’s consider the Apostle Paul and his missionary partner Silas as they preached in the city of Philippi in Acts 16. They encounter a woman there who was possessed by a “spirit of divination.” Some local men were making a lot money by her fortune telling, and after Paul (by the power of Christ) cast the spirit out these men arranged for the arrest of Paul and Silas.

They were beaten and thrown in to prison, and what follows is a beautiful story of the conversion of the jailor and his family. The next morning the magistrates sent word to release them secretly and Paul had a few choice words to say about the matter.

“ But Paul said to them, ‘They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.’” Acts 16:37

Paul exercised his rights as a Roman citizen, but notice when he did it. He could have done this the day before and saved himself and Silas a beating. But for whatever reason he allowed their arrest and as a result a man and his family were led to Christ.

I don’t pretend to know the reasons Paul did what he did, but I do know that in some cases our rights as U.S. citizens may need to take a back-seat in favor of doing God’s will. It’s the difference between exercising our rights and being righteous.