Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Host Pastor Lee Day.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
Prisoner for Christ
"Even if God doesn't rescue us, we will not serve your gods." These powerful words from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego perfectly capture what it means to be a prisoner for Christ—complete surrender and obedience regardless of outcome.
In this heartfelt conversation, Pastor Lee welcomes his wife Erica to explore Paul's profound declaration in Ephesians 3:1 where he identifies himself as "a prisoner for Christ Jesus." Together, they unpack what this identity means for believers today, examining how Paul's physical imprisonments in Philippi, Caesarea, and Rome became platforms for ministry rather than limitations.
The discussion weaves through powerful biblical narratives—from Paul and Silas singing hymns at midnight while chained in an inner cell, to Jesus calming the storm after the disciples followed him obediently into the boat. These stories reveal a transformative truth: being Christ's prisoner means viewing every circumstance as an opportunity to spread the gospel, choosing obedience regardless of comfort or convenience.
Perhaps most striking is the paradoxical freedom that comes with this surrender. As Pastor Lee notes, "Paul had more freedom sitting inside those prison walls than most people walking around outside." This liberty comes from understanding that victory isn't avoiding tribulation but overcoming it through Christ's power. As Erica beautifully articulates, "Sometimes walking in victory isn't always avoidance of tribulation... we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony."
Whether you're facing storms in your health, relationships, career, or faith journey, this episode offers the encouraging reminder that God is with you in the boat. Stay in obedience to where He has called you, proclaim His promises, and discover the extraordinary freedom that comes from being a prisoner for Christ.
Hey, what's going on? Everybody? This is Pastor Lee and I am pastor of Christ Family Outreach Church, located in Amelia, virginia, and if you have not made your way out to one of our services, we would love to see you at our Thursday night recharge service at 7 pm or our Sunday morning service. Doors open at 9 30 and service gets going at 10 am, so come on out, say hey, worship the Lord and fellowship with us. Today in studio, here at the table, I have a very, very special guest. It is this person's first time on the show and she is someone very, very special to me. We have been together more years than we have not. It is the one, the only, my wife, my bride, my boo, erica.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody.
Speaker 1:How you doing boo-boo.
Speaker 2:I'm doing great.
Speaker 1:So today we are going to be talking about being a prisoner for Jesus and what exactly that means in scripture and how we can apply it in our personal lives today and even now. As I just kind of mentioned the title of this, I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that are still grinning and excited that they have heard your voice on air, because we did not let people know that you were coming on. Well, maybe a couple people we did, but so I'm sure people are elated to hear you on this episode and I'm excited to have you here too. So thank you for coming by.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:All right. So today's episode, we're going to discuss something that Paul said in Ephesians, chapter 3.1. And here it is. If you got your Bibles, go ahead and crack it open, ephesians 3.1. Paul writes For this reason, I Paul a prisoner for Christ Jesus, on behalf of you, gentiles. So Paul calls himself a prisoner for the Lord, and today we're going to talk about the meaning of that and how we can apply it, as I mentioned moments ago, in our personal lives right now.
Speaker 1:The Bible records three different times that Paul was imprisoned simply for sharing the gospel. He was first arrested in Philippi in 49 AD, and you may remember that was where Paul cast out the demon that was in the slave girl, and she was involved in fortune telling right, but with the demon no longer in her, the Bible says that her owners became angry because their hope for gain was gone. In other words, without the demon, she could no longer tell the future and therefore, by not being able to tell the future, she could not make her owners any more money. Paul's second arrest came in Caesarea for two years, and then the third arrest comes in Rome for another period of two years.
Speaker 1:Now, being a prisoner for the Lord, as Paul calls it. It does not mean that you have to be in jail or prison. Just want to make that clear right off the bat. But I think if we look at how Paul responds to being in jail, we can, without a doubt, begin to see what it means to be a prisoner of the Lord. For example, in Acts, chapter 16, verse 25, we see Paul in prison. They are placed in an inner cell for maximum security and their feet are in stocks and chains. And the Bible tells us that at the midnight hour, paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners are listening to them. So, erica, one of the major steps of being a prisoner for the Lord is, no matter where he has you in life, you've got to continue to see it as a ministry opportunity to spread the gospel, an opportunity to spread the hope, to spread love and the salvation message. It's not about our feelings, it's not about us being comfortable. It's about being obedient, no matter where we find ourselves in life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like that. I just happened to have watched a pastor on YouTube this week and I thought it went so well with what you're talking about, with being a prisoner for Christ. And it's about being obedient, no matter what the cost, right, and so no matter what it looks like in our circumstances and where we are in life. And he talked about Mark, chapter four, verses 35 through 41. And it's when Jesus calms the storm with his disciples and he tells the disciples let's go to the other side. And they get in the boat with him obediently. Right, they go willingly. And then what happens? A storm happens.
Speaker 2:And so there's a lot to talk about here, because to me it kind of parallels a little bit with Paul being in prison because of his obedience to what he's called to do, right. So here they are in a storm. The waves are coming over them and in this particular scene, the disciples were being obedient when Jesus asked them to get in. Have you ever been obedient to what God called you to do? The storm came and it seemed like God was maybe asleep in the boat. The waves were literally coming in and fear starts to take over that the boat's going to sink. What do you do in that instance. It's kind of like when he's put in jail.
Speaker 1:We know what they did right. Obviously, they get scared, they get nervous, they start crying out. They're asking Jesus hey, are you going to let us die Like? Is this going to be the end of it? Right here, Not realizing that Jesus had called them into the boat? And by him calling them into the boat, he's also calling them into the storm, right In a perfect life. I would love to say that if we were in that boat, or if we were in that maximum security, if you will, inner cell, that we would cry out to God with such great faith. But that's not always. If we're honest with one another, that's not always how everyone does it, but that's how we should do it. We should call out on the name of the Lord and be saved.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I love here in scripture. If you look at it, it's like this didn't take Jesus by surprise, right? He knew that this was coming, he had told them get in the boat, and here it even says Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion, like he was even comfortable. He was sleeping in a cushion right In the boat, and so he is perfectly in peace in the boat, knows what's going on. But because of their fear, it almost caused them to get out of obedience to what God called them to do and possibly jump out of the boat.
Speaker 2:And how many times do we look at our circumstances or the waves and miss who's already on that boat, with us being Jesus Christ? Right? So, just like with Paul, he didn't forget who was in jail with him, and so that's why he was able to focus so much in serving the Lord and spreading the gospel, even though he was in chains for Christ. And so the storm could have caused the disciples to behave in a way that could have destroyed them in a way that that storm couldn't Just like with Paul being in jail, you know, he could have looked at his circumstances and he could have chosen to maybe sneak out or escape or whatever else in his flesh he wanted to do, and that, actually, that choice could have destroyed him, versus what God had called him to do.
Speaker 1:Paul and Silas had been beaten with rods and there had been many blows inflicted upon them. So here they are they're charged with disrupting the peace. They're charged with not just disrupting the peace, but how are they disrupting the peace? By simply preaching the good news, the gospel message. They wanted to help people and they're in trouble for it, and they've done absolutely nothing wrong, right, and so now we've got to understand that they're not thinking of themselves, they're thinking you know what, no matter what type of situation we're in, we're going to give God praise right here, right now, and I just want to say to the listeners out there that that's being a prisoner for the Lord. No matter where you are, no matter your circumstance, no matter what you're faced with or what you're going through, you are going to be obedient to God, to whatever the cost, whatever the price, no matter the time.
Speaker 2:There was a quote I heard this week and it just resonated so well with me. And it said week, and it just resonated so well with me. And it said seasons of misery can become seasons God uses for a life of ministry. And right here we can see, with Paul and Silas being in prison, how God used that season in their life, that season of misery, for a life of ministry right ahead.
Speaker 2:And so storms can sometimes make us think normally what we wouldn't think. It can cause us and tempt us to contemplate things. Maybe we wouldn't normally, but when you're grounded in the word, just like Paul and Silas was right, they knew who was with them, they knew the word, they knew who Jesus Christ was. It couldn't shake them. And they knew, just like with the disciples, it couldn't shake them. And they knew, just like with the disciples, that Jesus was on the boat right. So in every storm, satan wants us to use it to influence you and me to make a decision. No-transcript story with Paul and Silas, they had two options, right they could walk in obedience or they could choose to leave or choose to escape, just like we had talked about before, and that would have actually brought the destruction of their ministry and their testimony not actually being in prison. Prison wasn't what brought them destruction right. Their own choosing of self would have caused the destruction.
Speaker 1:Fast forwarding just a little bit something Paul writes in his letter to Timothy during his imprisonment in Rome. This letter comes shortly before his death in 64 to 65 AD. And Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2, verse 9, that he has been suffering for preaching the gospel and has been bound with chains as a criminal. But then Paul writes this but the word of God is not bound. Amen, hallelujah.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:He says I have been suffering for the power of God's Word inside of me. You cannot lock up the message of the gospel that's inside of me, not lock up the message of the gospel that's inside of me. I will continue to speak the truth as long as I have breath in my lungs.
Speaker 2:Praise the Lord. I love that In John 16, 33, it says in this world you will have tribulation. So we know we're going to have tribulation in this world. Right, we may not look like we're in prison at some point of our life, but we're going to have tribulation. But victory in our life is not avoidance but it's actually overcoming. Because it says in the rest of John 16, 33, but take heart, I have overcome the world. So we're not going to avoid tribulation in life, but we can overcome it with the help of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:So sometimes, you know, some of you guys might be struggling at home because you're thinking, man, I just feel like I'm not walking in victory. But believe me, if you're following Jesus Christ, you're doing what his word says, you're praying, you're in tune with the Holy Spirit and what he's telling you to do. Sometimes walking in victory isn't always avoidance of tribulation, because his word says we're going to have tribulation. But we can walk in that tribulation in victory by overcoming. And what does the word say? We overcome by the word of our testimony.
Speaker 1:Yes, by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. I think a lot of people, erica, think that, and we've met people like this throughout our years of doing ministry. Praise God, we've been doing ministry for a long time together and a lot of people we have met throughout the years think that victory only comes during good times. They think that good times means victory, and really that's not. We go back to the story that you brought up, with Jesus on the boat, with the disciples, and they have victory in the midst of the storm, because Jesus Christ speaks to the wind and to the rain and he calls it to be still, to be silent, to be calm, and there's victory right there, right there. But if they don't end up in the storm, then they don't get the victory. You know, in order to have victory, you've got to have something that you become victorious over.
Speaker 2:Right and so.
Speaker 1:So trials when we have trials, when we have storms, then we have opportunities to have victory and we've got to realize that, going into heavy things, sometimes going into dark times, we've got to realize that the light of Christ always shines through us as believers and we can have victory, whether we're at the top of the mountain or down at the bottom in the valley.
Speaker 2:Praise the Lord, talking about someone with victory. I did want to bring this up as well. I love the story of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego and Daniel. And here we go we have three men right here who are obeying the Lord. Right, they refused to bow down to idols, they refused to bow down to the idol of King Nebuchadnezzar, and they get thrown into the fiery furnace. But if you read in verse 16, it says we don't need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 16, it says we don't need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we're thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hands, o king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, o king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of your gold you have set up. And then we all know the story of what happens, right, and I won't go into that.
Speaker 2:It's one of my favorite stories, but I do want to go through at the end, when, in verse 28, it says then Nebuchadnezzar said praise be to the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants. They trusted in him and defied the king's commands. That word trusted there in the Hebrew. That is the only time in the Old Testament that it's used, and it actually means to bathe, wash self and take refuge in. And the only way you and I can be so prisoners right for the Lord, we literally have to bathe ourselves in his word, in prayer and in praise, and take refuge in him when things get hard, and so I love that. That's just another example of men being obedient and going through tribulation and no matter and just being okay with no matter what the circumstances. At the end they're trusting completely in what the Lord has for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love back to the Shadrach, meshach and Abednego piece. I love when the response to the king is even if God doesn't rescue us from this, you know, even if God doesn't rescue us from this, and and you know, we, we pray for miracles, we pray for healings for certain people, and sometimes we've seen it take place, sometimes we have not seen it take place, and and and I love it when someone has the faith that they can say, just like, just like those three before the fiery furnace, even if God doesn't rescue me from this, I know that I have victory when all of this is said and done. I know that I have victory when all of this is said and done. Yeah, even if it looks like to the outward person that you know me dying here on this earth means I lost a battle. No, it doesn't mean you lost. You actually won.
Speaker 1:Even in death on this earth, we win because Christ defeated death. We defeat death and in our last breath here, our next breath is with our Father in glory. And so, as Christians, we have that victory. And they knew that, those three Hebrew boys. They knew that, going into the fiery furnace, this will not be the end of us, this will not be the end of us, even if God doesn't save us here. This will not be the end of us and God will give us victory. And it may not look like victory to the king's eyes, but we know that it's victory in the eyes of god.
Speaker 2:Yeah and until that answer is no, I just I just asked that you listeners just Read the word and trust in what it says, because some of you out there right now are listening and you're going through major storms and wondering where is god in all of this. Listening and you're going through major storms and wondering where is God in all of this, and I'm here to tell you don't behave in a way that could destroy you when that storm can't. God is with you in the boat. Stay in obedience to what and where he has called you. If you're in a health crisis, proclaim Isaiah 53, five.
Speaker 2:By his wounds we are healed. Do you have a wayward child? Proverbs 22,. 22, 6. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it. Is your marriage struggling? Mark 10, 9. What, therefore? God has joined together. Let man not separate. Whatever waves are coming at you right now, stay in the boat with jesus. Don't give up. Press. Press forward and remember victory is not avoidance, it is overcoming, and I love the scripture. 2 Timothy 4, 7,. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race and I have kept the faith.
Speaker 1:Yeah, paul writes something so powerful in 2 Timothy 2, verse 10. He writes therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Think about that. Paul was willing to take what came his way with these imprisonments. He's willing to take whatever comes, because he knows that even in these imprisonments he's going to be ministering the gospel, whether he's on the outside of the prison or the inside of the prison, the name of Jesus is coming from his heart and coming from his mouth. Out of the overflow, out of the abundance of our heart. The mouth speaks and Paul. Paul has Jesus in his life and Paul is proclaiming and preaching Jesus, no matter where he is, and that, my friends, is being a true prisoner of the faith. That's a prisoner of the gospel. That's a prisoner of the gospel. That's a prisoner of Jesus Christ, that, no matter where we find ourselves, we are proclaiming Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.
Speaker 1:And so he's not going to stop preaching just because preaching got him into trouble. And maybe you've been there before as a Christian, unfortunately, Maybe you've done something at work or out in public that calls people to look at you funny, or maybe got you a warning in the office at the job. But I just want to tell you keep being who Christ has called you to be, Keep being who Christ has called you to be, Keep shining the light of Christ within your life. So again I'm going to say Paul did not stop preaching just because it was the preaching that got him into trouble. He knew these people needed to be set free themselves. These people that were next to him in jail, that were watching him, these guards. Paul knew that they needed to be set free. He knew that they needed salvation. The people at your job that may look at you sideways or they may look at you funny. They need salvation, they need Jesus.
Speaker 1:And so here Paul is again, locked up again for preaching the gospel again. And some people may say this man hasn't learned his lesson. He's still preaching the word and that gets him into trouble time and time again. Why doesn't he just take his faith and be quiet, my friends, when you have truly fallen in love with Jesus, you cannot be quiet when you realize it's Christ that has saved your life and has rescued you, redeemed you, healed you, delivered you. You can't be silent about that type of salvation. You can't be quiet about that kind of rescuing.
Speaker 1:So here we've got Paul locked up again for preaching the gospel again, and he's got more freedom sitting inside of those prison walls than most people walking around on the outside of the prison. And think about that. More freedom on the inside of the jail than most people have walking around outside the jail. And it's because Paul saw that being a true prisoner for Christ means you are truly set free, and set free indeed. And they may be able to shackle him, Erica, from the outside, but they're not going to shackle him and chain him up. They will not have him as a captive on the inside. Paul was a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, and because he was, he was a free man.
Speaker 2:Yes, I love that. I just want to thank you so much for having me on this podcast today and I just enjoy doing ministry with you. I enjoy doing life with you.
Speaker 1:It's been a long time.
Speaker 2:And what a privilege it is to be able to speak to these listeners, and I would love to be able to end us in prayer, if that's okay with you Absolutely Go right ahead, baby.
Speaker 2:Dear Heavenly Father, lord, I just thank you for today. I thank you for every single listener that is listening right now, lord, and I just pray you would be with them right now in a mighty way. Lord, that you would meet them right where they're at, whether they're going through a storm or whether they're going through just a peaceful time on their boat, whatever it may be, lord, that you would meet them right where they are. God, that they would be obedient to whatever you've called them to do, whatever cost that it may cost them. And, lord, what a privilege it is to follow you all of the days of our life. We thank you, we praise you in Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen and amen, and until next time on Beyond Sunday. God bless you and remember. Remember, serve the Lord with all your heart.
