In Acts 18, Paul visits Corinth and Ephesus, where he continues to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. He is again opposed and insulted by some Jews in Corinth and was ready to dust off his sandals and move on to Ephesus. But, then the Lord spoke to him in a vision, "Do not fear, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will harm you because many people in this city belong to me". That must have been quite the timely encouragement that Paul needed, for he stayed in Corinth another 18 months teaching the word of God. Then Paul left Corinth for a short stay in Ephesus, debating again with the Jews in their synagogue. He told them when it was time for him to move on, "I will return again , God willing". This phrase, "God willing" is a favorite phrase of mine that appears a few times in scripture. Someone once said that one sure way to make God laugh is to tell Him your plans for the future. At the end of Acts 18, a man named Apollos is introduced. He is described as an "eloquent speaker who knew the scriptures well". It also says that Apollos "talked with great enthusiasm and accuracy about Jesus", though he apparently was only familiar with the teachings of John the Baptist. When he was confronted with the knowledge of Jesus' life, crucifixion, and resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, he humbly listened and learned. This eloquent orator and scholar did not hesitate to become the student in order to explain the ways of God more completely and accurately. Acts 18 ends by characterizing Apollos as having "proved to be a great benefit to those who, by God's grace, had believed".

Pride is a side-thorn for many of us who desire complete knowledge and ability to speak eloquently. I pray that the desires and motivations of my heart would be purely for God's glory and his purposes; and, if God willing , He would allow me to "speak with great enthusiasm and accuracy" for the benefit of those he has gracefully called to Himself.

In Acts 17, Paul visits Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, proclaiming again to the people that Jesus is the Christ. Many were persuaded and believed, but some Jews were opposed and stirred up the crowds against them. Sound familiar? The Berean Jews responded with "great eagerness" and "examined the scriptures to see if what Paul said was true." Many of the Berean Jews then believed. On the other hand, in Athens, where some philosophers met with Paul, there was much skepticism. Paul addressed their idolatry and explained that man cannot build or create a dwelling place for God in gold, silver or stone images. Paul explained further to them about Christ's resurrection and a few believed. Wouldn't evangelism and witnessing be a lot easier if everyone responded like the Beareans? Many of us would never have come to Christ, though, if the good news was only preached to those "eager" to listen and learn.

In Acts 16, Paul visited a few of the new churches again, encouraging them in their faith and "instructing them to follow the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem"(v.4). They had planned to travel next to Asia and Bithynia , but the Holy Spirit did not permit them. Instead, Paul was directed through a vision to leave at once for Macedonia, and concluded that "God was calling them to preach the Good News there"(v.9). Paul and Silas met with a group of people on the riverbank outside the city, where they regularly gathered for prayer. The Lord opened the hearts of some of those listening. There was a fortune-telling demon-possessed slave girl who shouted to the people, "these men are servants of the Most High God and they have come to tell you how to be saved". The shouting of this slave went on for days, until Paul commanded the demon to come out in the name of Jesus and it left her. The slave's masters had hoped to become wealthy from her fortune-telling, so they became very angry and convinced the city officials to beat Paul and Silas and put them in prison for "teaching illegal customs". That night , while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God in the prison, there was an earthquake and their chains fell off and the prison doors opened wide. The guard became afraid that the prisoners had escaped, but Paul said "we're all here!". The guard was very relieved and asked them, "sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul explained, "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved". Paul and Silas shared the word of the Lord with him and his household and they believed and were baptized. The guard brought them into his own house and prepared for them a meal and they all rejoiced together in God. The next morning, the city officials told the guard to set them free.

Is there a "Macedonia" that God is leading you toward in your neighborhood, at work, or even in your family. God enables us to witness profoundly to not-yet-believers simply by praising Him, despite our circumstances. Wouldn't it be incredible if a co-worker or neighbor came to you and asked, "what must I do to be saved?"

Acts 15 addresses the rising dispute among the newly converted Jews regarding whether following the old customs and traditions were required, including circumcision. In a meeting of the apostles and elders, Peter said "God knows people's hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit.. He cleansed their hearts through faith. Why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved ... by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus." James also spoke before the leaders, quoting prophesy from the old testament book of Amos, "... so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord, including the Gentiles--all those I have called to be mine. " The apostles and elders demonstrated that preserving unity in the body of Christ is important, and that false teaching or divisive issues should be thoroughly addressed without delay. The leadership of churches are called to shepherd the body in a protective manner (from inappropriate burdens of false teaching) and in a loving/caring manner ( v.36 "let us go back again to each city where we previously preached, to see how the new believers are doing").

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas travel first to Iconium, and then to Lystra and Derbe. At each city, they preached "boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders"(v.3) and great numbers of Jews and Gentiles believed. However, there were also some Jews that turned the crowds against them. While in Lystra, the people were so amazed by their preaching and healing, that they thought Paul and Barnabas must be gods and began to offer sacrifices to them. The apostles stopped them right away, shouting "Why are you doing this? We too are only men, like you."(v15). Later, the Jews again caught up to them and turned the people against them. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, nearly dead. It seems ironic that they earlier tried to present sacrifices to Paul as a god and then turned around and nearly stoned him to death in rebellion to his teaching of the Lord. Amazingly, Paul resumed preaching and encouraging the large number of new disciples in Lystra and Derbe.

I pray for humility and courage like Paul demonstrated in this chapter. I confess that I often allow people to compliment and praise my good works without saying "What are you doing? I too am only a man, like you". I also confess that I often put too much value in trying to win the approval of people. For Paul, even his numerous miraculous signs didn't earn him the approval of much of the crowds. But, Paul gave God the glory and needed only God's approval to remain steadfast in his courageous missionary journeys.

Acts 13 introduces Paul's missionary journeys and describes the events in Antioch, Cyprus, and Perga. As Paul and his companions moved from one area to the next, they preached without regard to Jew or Gentile. They encountered opposition most everywhere they went, Jews who tried to turn people away from the faith in Christ. But, large assemblies of Jews and God-fearing proselytes were amazed at the teaching of the Lord and believed. Acts 13:16-41 outlines the sermon that Paul preached, as to the history of their ancestors and the life and ministry of Jesus, including his death and resurrection. Paul summarizes in conclusion, " Therefore let it be know to you 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". He follows this by quoting prophesy from Habakkuk, which says that some will never believe these truths though they are clearly demonstrated to them. Next, we see an example of this fulfilled in v.45, when the Jews had heard and saw what was happening, "they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming."

In contrast, then the Gentiles heard these things, "they began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (v.48)". The end of this chapter in Acts describes how the Jewish leaders instigated persecution of Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their area. But, Paul and his companions "shook off the dust of their feet" and moved on. I think there is a connection here to the prophesy from Habakkuk. Apparently, the shaking of dust from the feet represents removing further responsibility for those who refused to listen. When is it appropriate for us to do this? Do we give up on some people at some point after a time of persistent witnessing? Hmmmm. Maybe "giving up" is not the right words here, but rather we should remember that it is God who changes hearts and draws people to Himself anyway.

I don't know, but He does. What do you think?

Acts 12 tells of King Herod's persecution of Christ followers, namely James and Peter. When Peter was arrested and imprisoned, Herod placed sixteen soldiers to guard him ! Maybe Herod had some concerns about the power of Peter's God. It says that the brethren prayed earnestly without ceasing unto God for Peter. Then it happened. Even 16 soldiers were not enough to hinder God's work to free Peter. Peter finds himself outside of the prison before he realized that it wasn't just a dream (that an angel of the Lord had released his chains and led him past all the guards). It must have been quite a remarkable revelation that God had actually delivered him from Herod. He then went to a house where many of the brethren had been praying for his deliverance. When a servant had opened the door and told the brethren who had arrived, their initial reaction was unbelief. They couldn't believe it was really Peter. They said to the servant, "you're out of your mind"(v.15). She insisted and they then said, "it must be his guardian angel". Peter kept knocking and when they finally let him in and saw that it was truly him, v.16 says they were "astonished".

These people had earnestly and unceasingly prayed for Peter's release, yet when God answered their prayers, they had a really hard time believing it was true. Can you relate to this? I (unfortunately) can too. I think that often when things work out according to our prayers, we fail to acknowledge and give God the glory and thanksgiving He deserves. Once the brethren finally acknowledged that Peter was really standing before them, Peter told them how the Lord had brought him out of prison and he asked them to "tell this to James and the brothers." Peter demonstrates that we should affirm God's activity in our lives by acknowledging answered prayer and sharing our praises to God with the body of Christ.

I think. He knows. What do you think?