Hope Now: 27 Days to Peace, Healing, and Justiceਨਮੂਨਾ

First century kingdom nearness

Hope comes when the kingdom comes near. It happened in the first century, and it happens today.

Paul and Silas were on their way to the place of prayer in Philippi when they were met by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit enabling her to predict the future. She earned lots of money for her owners by fortune telling. She harassed Paul and Silas for several days.

One day, Paul spoke directly to the demonic spirit in her (Acts 16:18 NIV) and at that moment, the spirit left her. But the owners weren’t happy because they realized their hope of making money from her was gone. They seized Paul and Silas and took them to the marketplace to face the authorities. They were stripped, beaten, and then thrown into prison.

The jailer placed them in the inner cell, deep into the prison, and fastened their feet in stocks so they could not move.

Paul and Silas were falsely accused, beaten, thrown in prison without a trial, and placed under high security surveillance after they brought healing to the slave girl. Sometimes, when you bring healing and hope to people, it irritates other people who benefit from these unhealthy situations.

But Paul and Silas spent their time in prayer and singing hymns to God with a captive audience of other prisoners who heard everything. Around midnight, a major earthquake shook the city, the prison, and the very cell where Paul and Silas were held, and the prison doors flew open. Everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up thinking the prisoners all escaped and drew his sword to take his own life when Paul called out to him, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:28 NIV)

We then read how the jailer falls trembling before Paul and Silas and asks what he must do to be saved. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household” (Acts 16: 29-31 NIV).

There is real transformation for this jailer. At that very hour, he took Paul and Silas to his home and washed their wounds. When his heart opened to Jesus, he experienced a deep healing and began to think differently.

Hope had arrived. The kingdom came near to this family.

Questions for Reflection:

• Has this radical transformation happened in your family?
• Does the King rule in the heart of the man in your home?
• Has the King shown up in your home?