As mentioned before:
In Acts 16, Paul is given a vision:
9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A (certain) man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
Thus Paul and Silas headed to Macedonia to preach the Gospel. A certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination, a human agent of the spirit of Python, attempted to distract and misdirect Paul ever so slightly. She prophesied a truth but was motivated by the wrong spirit:
17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
18a And this she did for many days.
What she was the truth but was not appointed by Our Heavenly Father. At first I am sure that Paul’s entourage was excited about these words of encouragement that confirmed his calling for “this she did for many days”. Paul finally sensed a distraction to his mission:
18b But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
It is clear that Paul did not immediately detect the issue or he would have commanded the spirit to depart immediately. It was not until he realized that she initiated a subtle distraction that greatly annoyed him did he take action. Once he no longer had peace in his spirit did he realize the issue. Distraction from our calling causes misdirection and it is ever so subtle. Suddenly one day we wake up and realize we are focused on activities and events that have nothing to do with our calling but are now preoccupying time. We are human agents of Our Heavenly Father to bring forth the Kingdom. We cannot do this in a distracted state.
Once Paul removed her money making gift, he and Silas became targets for her owners. Now Paul and Silas are “troubling their city and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.”. The fact is that Paul and Silas upset the Babylonian system of greed, the love of money. They were then thrown in prison. The Law of Love of the Kingdom was being challenged a lower kingdom. The kingdom of Python was being challenged by the Kingdom of GOD.
Paul and Silas were given many stripes on their back and then cast into prison. They were then thrust into the inner prison with their feet in stock… maximum security. Could a maximum security environment keep Paul and Silas from their calling?
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
Our Heavenly Father will do whatever is necessary to remove the roadblocks from your calling. You must stay focused on HIM rather than the adversity before you. The adversary will test you even to the extreme, especially when you challenge his territory. His authority is subject to the ultimate authority of the Most High God and HIS Divine Court. Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned under false pretense thus they had a right to seek judgment in the Court. They prayed and won the verdict. Our Heavenly Father responded and freed their shackles. The spirit of Python lost the case. In addition, Paul led the prison warden to salvation thwarting the warden’s plan to commit suicide. The warden’s entire household was saved and baptized that night. Can you imagine the changes to the prison afterward?
Paul and Silas were the human agents selected to bring for the Gospel to Macedonia. The job may seem to be glamorous until you read of them being beaten with stripes and thrust into prison. How many of us would want that calling?
Back to the coin that represented victory over Python (from the previous blog)…
I had been carrying the coin as directed by Our Heavenly Father. I was pursuing my calling as “Treasurer” and had an opportunity to discuss some funding projects in China that would generate notable income which could then be used to fund and establish the Kingdom. An associate and I went up to Toronto to meet with three Chinese men. The leader of these men was esteemed by the community. No one would look him in the eye. He spoke little English so one of the other men translated for him. We met at a Chinese Restaurant in the Chinatown district of Toronto. This was fourteen years ago now. Our table was sectioned off with movable partitions for privacy. We began what seemed to be a twelve course meal. Both parties began assessing the other. Much tea was served so from time to time each of us would excuse ourselves to the restroom. While I was in the restroom, Our Heavenly Father spoke to me. HE said, “Take out the gold coin and give it to the leader but only after you explain in a generic sense how you were given the coin”.
I returned to the table and did as I was directed. I told the story and then unexpectedly displayed the coin and told the leader “The GOD of Heaven and earth directed me to give you this gold coin”. Immediately both associates cried out “He is the one, He is the one”. Obviously I was taken back. The atmosphere surrounding the meeting immediately changed. Suddenly we were embraced by these men and were then told the story:
The leader, let’s call him Sonny, had been in China meeting with a certain “Old Man” who has authority over a substantial portion of China’s wealth. The man I gave the coin to was his protégé. While Sonny was with the Old Man, he was led to give him a special lapel pin with a specific precious stone in it. When he did the Old Man began to weep. Inquisitive, Sonny asked the Old Man what happened. “Fifty-five years ago I was given a vision that someone would give me the pin. This would confirm that he would be my successor. He will then meet with two “white” men and one of them will give him a gift. That man has been selected to work with and have authority of the treasure of China as well.” Sonny and his associates had been waiting the arrival of the two “white” men. Little did I know that Our Heavenly Father had orchestrated the whole encounter which had begun before I was formed in the womb. I now had a covenant over the wealth of China.
I was invited to go and view the “treasury”. However I did not perceive that it was time. To this day I have not been led to go and have lost contact with Sonny. No problem. I am not concerned about it since I know that Our Heavenly Father will bring forth the manifestation in HIS timing. Had I begun working with their wealth at that time, I now see that I was not ready to walk out the calling. Just as Paul needed to go through a fourteen year training period, each of us must go through our extensive training. We must mature to the point that when we are challenged by spirits such as Python, we don’t fold under pressure. Those who are led by the love of money will pull out all stops in an attempt to maintain control over wealth. A financial calling isn’t as glamorous as one would think.
The (certain) man of Macedonia stood and pleaded must have been an angel requesting Paul, the human agent, to come and deal with Python. Paul was prepared and willing to deal with any situation that arose. He knew what he was called to do. Nothing would ultimately distract him from his calling and he was given the needed tools to deal with whatever situation arose.