Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³⁸  The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates.  They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,

 ³⁹  and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.

 ⁴⁰  They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.”  Acts 16:35-40.

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“The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.”  Proverbs 28:1

Paul and Silas were beaten with rods, struck with many blows, thrown into the inner prison, and their feet were fastened in the stocks.  And yet, they were so bold to accuse the chief magistrates of beating them in public without trial.  They were so bold to refuse to leave the prison until the chief magistrates escorted them out of the prison.  They were so bold as to not immediately flee the city, but rather take their time and visit the brethern in the house of Lydia.  They were so bold as to not “lick their wounds”, but rather they encouraged the brethern.

1 Thessalonians 2:2
“but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.”

Who can summon such courage to be as bold as Paul and Silas when we are faced with such trials and tribulations?

But, there is hope!    

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”  2 Timothy 1:7. 

Psalm 138:3
“On the day I called, You answered me;  You made me bold with strength in my soul.”

Acts 4:31
“And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”

2 Corinthians 3:12
“Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,”

“This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.”  Ephesians 3:11-12. 

Philippians 1:20
“according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”