Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Acts 16:16-22     Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. When Paul first arrived at Macedonia, his ministry was tremendously effective, because it was indeed the territory that God granted him. It didn't mean that everything onward was smooth sailing though, just like what happened when the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. Canaan was indeed the Promised Land given to Israel by God, but God never promised them that they didn't have to fight any battle in order to enter Canaan. Instead, it took battles to make any step forward. When we are pursuing our spiritual journey and our ministry, we must face spiritual warfare but we don't need to be afraid, because God had already won complete victory on the cross. Our hearts, however, must be sober because the enemy is like a roaring lion that is constantly looking for the next victim to devour. As soon as Paul entered Macedonia, he encountered attacks from the enemy. The enemy often attacks us in two ways; first, through ways that are non-aggressive. The spirit in this passage had possessed a slave girl, and her master had profited much from fortune telling. The enemy often uses evil spirit or sorcery to let people profit and seduce our hearts. Not only that, verse 17 says that the spirit followed Paul and Silas, and screamed out "these men are servants of the Most High God," which was to flatter them and make them famous. The enemy often uses this ploy to corrupt the hearts of people, making us chase after money and fame of the world while our hearts depart from God. The enemy also uses aggressive ways to attack us. Verse 19 says that "when the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities." They were then imprisoned and also beaten up. The enemy also uses circumstances to persecute us and make us frustrated, to the point that our hearts may complain and even question the goodness of God. May God help us to know how to discern the schemes of the enemy in our daily life, so that we may stand firm on the foundation of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and claim victory against the enemy each and every day!    Pray with Pastor Tong Liu     Lord, I thank you because you are sitting on the throne and you are already victorious. May your spirit come and help us today, let us understand the schemes of the enemy so that we may stand firm on the grace of Jesus Christ, and claim victory against the enemy everyday. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!