Acts 21:31-40
While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd... When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!" As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?" "Do you speak Greek?" he replied. "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?" Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people." Having received the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic.
God is truly a God who pours out His grace upon us among the Gentiles. Look at the life of Joseph in the Old Testament. He was sold into Egypt, but he had favor from his masters and was put in charge of everything at his master's home. Even when he was falsely accused by his master's wife and put in prison, he had favor from the prison guards, and was put in charge of other prisoners. Later on, he was promoted to prime minister of Egypt, receiving favor from the king of Egypt. Why is this so? Because God was with him, so he prospered in everything he did.
Daniel, too, while training in Babylon, he had favor from the chief official. When he asked to eat only vegetables and water, the chief official agreed. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. When it came to time to appear before the king, he had great favor from the king as well. In fact, this was also true of the life of Jesus. As Luke described, Jesus grew in favor with both God and men.
Therefore, no matter what environment you are in, God can open a way for you; Psalm 23 says, God has prepared a table before us a table before our enemies. Pray that God will help us, not to be discouraged and not to lose heart because He wants to lift us out of the depths of the pit, so we may be great. No matter what your circumstances are, we need to keep trusting God and relying on Him in our daily lives. He can deliver us and rescue us from all kinds of situations we may be in, and defeat the enemy. Let us at this moment, give Him thanks and praise!
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