One Woman's Gift

The beginning of the church in Philippi had everything to do with God's gift to one faithful woman. Her name - Lydia.

She just "happened" to be down by the river at the place of prayer where Paul found the assembled women. And while this "worshipper of God" was listening, God "opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul". What a gift!  (Acts 16:11-40) 

But get her response! She and her whole household were baptized. And then she urged Paul, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." Not only did she urge, "she prevailed upon us". Assertive hospitality? This is one excited woman.

And even though Paul and Silas had some adventures before they made it to "the house of Lydia" the next morning, they did arrive and "when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed".  Such a promising start this was for the church at Philippi. And what wonderful grace God gave to one faithful woman.

Father, we ask for the same gift of an open heart to Your word. We desire to be faithful and even excited about You.

In A Stormy Boat?

Whew! I sounds like there is a blow-up at the end of Acts 15. (Acts 15:22-41)  It all starts when Paul suggests to his pal Barnabas that they go back to their church planting cities and see what's going on.

Barnabas wants to take John Mark with them but "Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work". And then we get the shock!

"There occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus." Whoa! These two godly missionaries were quite human.

The grace I read here is that even with conflict and relationship problems, the men continued to trust God and serve Him. "But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord." In fact Paul was doing mighty works. "And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." He had enough trust in God and peace to keep serving Him despite troubled times. 

Lord, we need Your grace to continue loving and serving despite human conflicts and trials. Just like You could even sleep in a storm tossed boat (Mark 4:38), give us faith to trust the Father through our storms. 

On Adoption

How do you like being adopted? I don't guess we think about it too much. But God does and has. In Acts 15:1-20, Peter says clearly, "Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe." We are chosen!

Paul goes on to say in Romans 8:15, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!'" How often our hearts are drawn to cry out to Daddy!

Yes, God chose to take us into His family just because He loves us. He then sent Jesus to pay the adoption fee. "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

So Jesus is now our big brother, and we have all the privileges of living in the family of God.

Lord, show us what being Your daughter really means!

An Open Door

Can you believe the perseverance and courage of our missionaries? Paul had just been stoned in Lystra and dragged out of town - supposedly dead. "But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe." Acts 14:20-28

I think I would have taken a day off! At Derbe they preach and make "many disciples". Then they go back to that same dangerous Lystra and Iconium (where they had been run out of town). There they were "strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God'." I'll say there were tribulations! 

But a fascinating key to their perseverance is revealed as they get back to home town Antioch. "When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles." That open door was huge to Paul!

In Colossians 4:3 Paul asked the Colossians to be "praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ". Paul clearly hoped for, asked for, and rejoiced in open doors for the Good News.

Lord, we ask You to open doors in front of us today that Your love and truth can find a home in the lives of those You love so much.

Faith for the Impossible

Whew! Our missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, barely escaped stoning in Iconium. But then in Lystra they began preaching again. One poor man started hearing them who had been totally crippled from birth. Never ever taken a step! (Acts 14:5-19)

It's when this cripple was carefully listening to Paul that "he (Paul) had fixed his gaze on him (the cripple) and had seen that he had faith to be made well...."  Whoa! The wonderful power of God to increase our faith as we truly hear His word. 

Then Paul said "with a loud voice, 'Stand upright on your feet.' And he leaped up and began to walk." 

The people could hardly believe their eyes! They now thought that the apostles must be gods and started calling Paul, Hermes, and Barnabas, Zeus. The priest of Zeus actually brought oxen and garlands to have a sacrifice in the new "gods" behalf.

Oh dear! Things were getting so out of hand that the apostles ripped their clothes and ran into the crowd crying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God". Our guys were barely able to keep that mob from going ahead with awful sacrifice.

Then, to top it all off, those old jealous Jews from Antioch and Iconium actually showed up and "having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead".

What an adventure! But the part that really grabbed me is that the man you'd call a cripple had the faith to obey, leap, and walk as he heard good news from Paul. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

Lord, help us to hear and obey. We want faith for the impossible!

God's Stamp

Paul and Barnabas had been run out of Turkish Antioch. It seems that "the word of the Lord spread through the whole region." (Acts 13:42-14:7) So jealous Jews incited even the respected God-fearing women and town leaders to expel the missionaries. It wouldn't do if some of the Jews' precious traditions were abandoned.

But the persecution didn't get these disciples down. They went on to Iconium and "were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."  In the new city they evidently spoke with such power that "a great number of Jews and Greeks believed". Even though opposition arose there also, "Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders". 

What an encouragement to have such corroboration of their message! We all love seeing prayers answered. It's like God's stamp of approval. 

Lord, teach us how You want to put Your stamp on the work we do for You.

Free, Indeed

God did it! He kept His word. He always does. 

Paul said in Acts 13:32-41 that he was preaching "the good news of the promise made to the fathers". And even though the rulers in Jerusalem recognized neither God in the flesh or Jesus' fulfillment of the prophecies read every sabbath; even though these same rulers tried to stamp out their own savior, God was faithful. 

As Paul later said, "God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus".

Of course, they had all tried to get salvation the hard way -  keeping all those rules given by Moses. But the sins were now even more obvious. 

So Paul continues, "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses..."

What joyous news. Jesus is the way to be free, indeed. Despite the incredible price, God had given His very best so we go free. God had kept His promise for all eternity. Let's daily praise His amazing love.

Paying Attention?

I have been slow to understand the importance of fearing God. That quality is the basis of Paul's first recorded sermon. To these Jews in Antioch he says it twice: "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen" and "Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God ...". Acts 13:13-41

We would do well to ask our loving Father to teach us who He really is. So often we worship a watered down perspective of God. When He describes Himself to Moses, the words are few. He just says, "I Am". Do we get it?  He is absolute, sovereign, the Ruler of all.

You know ... really important people we pay attention to. It's the guy that has the authority. We would do well to pay very close attention to what God says - especially in His word. He really means what He says. 

The bible is not optional light reading - if we have time. It is a guide to keep us from a very painful trip through this life. ("Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105)  And even better  - He will show us the road of incredible blessing. ("You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11)

Oh, what love! The wonderful result of paying attention is that as we get to know Him, we find ourselves loving Him more that we ever thought possible. 

Oh Lord, help us to know You -  the real You, Tear down the painted, fake, unworthy gods in our lives. We want to know You.