Day 325

On the Road Again for Christ

Read: Acts 16-18

Paul and Barnabas get ready for a second missionary journey. Gracious Barnabas wants to take the quitter Mark along, but Paul refuses. Sad to say, they part company. Tensions have always existed in the church. May God heal those that exist today. God overrules sin, and the result is that two missionary teams go out instead of one. Paul takes Silas along.

An event occurs which changes the course of history. Paul wants to continue to work in Asia, but the Spirit calls him to Europe. He lands in Macedonia, the northern part of Greece. Lydia, a businesswoman, is converted quietly, and the Philippian jailer is converted dramatically. He proves the reality of his conversion by washing the wounds he had inflicted. Have you hurt someone? Do everything possible to compensate for that hurt.

They moved on to Thessalonica, where they are charged with turning the world upside down, which in reality is turning it right side up. At Berea people show the right spirit by “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (17:11 ESV). God will bless you as you read the Bible every day seeking to find the will of God. Having had a disappointing experience in Athens where the people thought they were too intellectual for the gospel, Paul preaches at Corinth noted for its immorality.

PRAYER
Father, help us to reach both up-and-outers and down-and-outers with the gospel. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.