Supernatural Turnaround

God can give us a future irrespective of how wicked our life may have been before receiving Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Apostle Paul was once Saul and he persecuted the church. However, after receiving the Lord Jesus, he then lived and died for Christ, he had 3-4 missionary trips, planted churches and influenced thousands through his ministry and even contributed about one-third of the New Testament.  

1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
 Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. 

Although Paul dwelt as a prisoner in a rented house with the soldier who guarded him while he wrote the epistle of Philippians, his letter was loaded with words of joy and encouragement. 

Acts 13:2,3 - While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Paul's first missionary trip)

Acts 15:36-41 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 
Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Second missionary trip)

Barnabas was Paul’s mentor and he had the quality of building up any broken person who came to him. Barnabas was John Mark’s cousin and therefore, he was considerate toward him and built him up in the Lord. Though he backslid in the beginning, he later stood for the gospel and God enabled him to write the brief and impactful gospel of Mark. Later, Apostle Paul himself commended that Mark was helpful to him in his ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11) You too can return to the Lord and be restored, for He is the God of Restoration and the God of Second Chances. 

 Acts 16:1-3 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
 
Timothy was circumcised mainly for entry into the synagogues because he came from an inter-caste family and the Jews were aware of it.  

Acts16:6,7 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 

So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (the Macedonian call)
 From the above verses, we perceive that their itinerary was fixed by the Holy Spirit, and they were kept from preaching the Word in the province of Asia at that time period. God does not always give us an explanation as to why He permits/ doesn’t permit certain things in our lives. However, we can progress trusting His direction because He is a good Father and works out everything for our good. 

Acts 16:11-13 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 

One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

God opened a great door for the gospel in Philippi through a woman named Lydia. Even today, in many families, it is the women who open the door for the gospel.

Acts 16:16-18 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She 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 annoyed 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.
 
We see that Paul had the discerning spirit and therefore cast out the evil spirit, because men of God do not require the testimony of evil spirits, but of the Holy Spirit. This signifies the importance of discerning the spirit in order to differentiate true and false ministers. 

Acts 16:19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

Acts 16:25-28 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
 
This incident caused them to speak the word of the Lord to the jailer and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

The Holy Spirit worked with the apostles in a manner that shook nature and the church was established in Philippi with Lydia and the jailer’s household being the former believers in that region. 

Even in the midst of severe troubles, God will reveal His works and glory. Your love song to Jesus is a strong weapon against the enemy and carries a jail-breaking anointing to liberate you. Hallelujah!