But you know what? I love the joy set before me. I love those chocolate chip cookies. The split second they came out of the oven, they were in my mouth. But you know what? They wouldn’t have gotten there
RR: How many?
LR: Never mind. They would not have gotten there an abundance they would not have gotten there without the stirring.
And we have got to stop grumbling and griping and whining and complaining because God does not honor even though the situation may not be where you want it to be, God doesn’t honor our grumbling and griping and whining and complaining. He honors our faith.
RR: Lindsay, Paul and Silas were stuck in a dark, dingy cell after being nearly beat to death, in chains, in stocks.
LR: And what did they do?
RR: Well, I tell you what they did, they whined, they griped no, they didn’t. They began to praise God even in the midnight hour when the blood no doubt was flowing from their bodies. You can imagine the conditions of that jail cell. We’re talking two thousand years ago, the jail cell conditions there in that area of the world.
What did they do? They didn’t gripe, they didn’t whine, they didn’t complain. In the midst of that terrible condition, they began to praise God. And when they praised God, those jail cells opened up when an earthquake hit. I’ll tell you, when the praise goes up, the walls come down. We’ve got to change our attitude and get what you used to call “an attitude of gratitude.”
LR: That’s right. You know the Bible talks about being a shaking. We compare that to an earthquake today. But let’s think about that.
RR: Well, it’s just a symbol of a shaking in our lives.
LR: It said “a shaking.” And, I tell you, the Bible says, “God inhabits, lives in and dwells in the praises of his people.” When they began to praise God in the midst of that situation, those walls had to start shaking. Because I believe the glory of God came in, and I believe when the glory of God comes in, things get shaken. I believe that.
RR: The world says sometimes when things shake, bad things happen. But when God does the shaking, look what happened. Not only did the jail cell open, but the jailer and his entire family gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Now when God shakes things up, He’s shaking it up good. The world may shake things up for bad, but I’ve got news, God shakes things up for the right reason and brings miracles into people’s lives.




