My Bible ready this week has been in the life and ministry of Paul, and yesterday I began reading Acts 16. I read through verse 10 and was very impressed I guess you could say with what I read. I was reminded of Steve, Shari, Jay and Denise out in Arizona and the work they are doing for our God....I truely believe after reading this scripture that they are the current day church of Acts. What a great thing to be in a world like today!
Verse 5 says "The churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." If you have read or heard about ANYTHING that is going on out there in Vail, then you would know that they are growing and being strengthened daily! My prayers for them now is that they would continue with this growth....that each day someone would come to know Christ because of the work they are doing.
Verse 7 says "The Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to..." (this is referring to Paul trying to enter Bithynia)
I'm reminded here of when they were first beginning their process of moving out west, and their first thoughts were that they would be moving to Las Vegas to help specifially with that church there. God had different plans and just as verse 7 states, the spirit of Jesus didn't allow them to go. Hence the reason they are now in Vail.
Verses 9-10:
During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we (Luke, Silas, Paul, and Timothy) got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Once again, these verses spoke to me about the willingness of those 4 to get up and go. I'm sure Jay and Steve both dreamt about people out there begging for help. They have described the city of Vail many times as a lost and dying city. One that is so dark, crying out for help. I can't help but think about those who have already began that relationship with the Lord because of their service. They each "got ready at once" and left....they had concluded that God called them to preach the gospel to those people.
Moving forward.....
Verses 14-15 says One of those listening was a woman named Lydia.....The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message...when she and the members of her household were baptized she invited us to her home.
Have you heard the stories of all the FAMILIES there getting saved?? Need I say more?
and finally...
Verse 20 says They brought them before the magistrates (after they had been arrested for sharing the gospel) and said "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar..."
WOW, how great would it be if the people of Vail said that those at Grace Fellowhip were "throwing our city into an uproar"!!!!!
I suppose I'll close by saying that it is great all the things Steve, Shari, Jay, Denise and even their children are doing in Vail...and those who are about to be there serving, and those who are serving along side of those. That is wonderful, being missionaries for our Lord.
But my question is....what if we, wherever we are in life, started "throwing our cities into an uproar" ?? What if we lived a life of missionaries everyda? I know that we all know that;s what we're SUPPOSSED to do, but when will we begin doing it? God is a God who is big enough to save people. He just needs workers to share his name with those around us.
That's it for now...there are more thoughts bouncing around in my head about this.....those I will dwell on later.
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