This week’s Scripture: Acts 16: 6-40
My Thoughts: Though Lydia lived a long time ago there are a lot of life lessons we can learn from her. That’s what we
will be doing this week!
Lydia was someone I would have liked to have known and worked beside. Lydia seemed strong and competent, warm, openhearted and caring. I would have learned a lot about priorities, prayer, worship, and keeping God first in a busy life as well as managing a thriving business, maintaining what must have been a huge home and without hesitation, offering my home to a crowd of strangers.
There isn’t much written about Lydia but I learned a lot about her life and character. As I read about Lydia for this week the fruit of the Spirit popped into my mind: The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians 5: 22 NIV).
I could see that Lydia’s life was a remarkable example of someone living in the Spirit!
We are introduced to Lydia on the Sabbath at a gathering of women in prayer. There was no synagogue for worship in the city. The women would gather for prayer and worship a little ways outside the city by the river under the open sky. I can imagine the women gathered in prayer discussing what they had heard about and read from the Scriptures. They probably recited many prayers together not realizing that this day would be different than any other for one of them.
Lydia didn’t fully comprehend who she was worshipping. She believed in and was a faithful worshiper of the one true God but her mind had not yet been opened to the Good News. Paul, searching for a place to pray, sat down, and spoke to the group of women. As a result, Lydia experienced the joy of a brand new faith and would never be the same.
Isn’t it exciting that the Holy Spirit guided Paul to Philippi and upon his arrival he met one special woman at an open air prayer meeting! God is always up to something!
Are you in the right attitude with the right heart, open and ready for God to use you? That is the challenge that I see coming through Lydia’s story today. Being right with God is a life lesson; one that needs attention every day, not just today.
Scripture I am thinking on today: But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
(Luke 8:15 NIV)
Pray Using Your Own Words: Ask God to open the heart of someone who needs to hear of the hope found in the Good News. Ask Him to help you be open to His asking you to be His messenger to anyone who needs to hear and see Him. Let your eyes and heart be filled with God. Thank God for people like Lydia, who came before us to teach us the importance of being faithful in prayer and worship.
Blog Comments: Please leave your thoughts on the blog comments. You can also email me using the contact info on the right column of this blog.
My Thoughts: Though Lydia lived a long time ago there are a lot of life lessons we can learn from her. That’s what we
will be doing this week!
Lydia was someone I would have liked to have known and worked beside. Lydia seemed strong and competent, warm, openhearted and caring. I would have learned a lot about priorities, prayer, worship, and keeping God first in a busy life as well as managing a thriving business, maintaining what must have been a huge home and without hesitation, offering my home to a crowd of strangers.
There isn’t much written about Lydia but I learned a lot about her life and character. As I read about Lydia for this week the fruit of the Spirit popped into my mind: The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
(Galatians 5: 22 NIV).
I could see that Lydia’s life was a remarkable example of someone living in the Spirit!
We are introduced to Lydia on the Sabbath at a gathering of women in prayer. There was no synagogue for worship in the city. The women would gather for prayer and worship a little ways outside the city by the river under the open sky. I can imagine the women gathered in prayer discussing what they had heard about and read from the Scriptures. They probably recited many prayers together not realizing that this day would be different than any other for one of them.
Lydia didn’t fully comprehend who she was worshipping. She believed in and was a faithful worshiper of the one true God but her mind had not yet been opened to the Good News. Paul, searching for a place to pray, sat down, and spoke to the group of women. As a result, Lydia experienced the joy of a brand new faith and would never be the same.
Isn’t it exciting that the Holy Spirit guided Paul to Philippi and upon his arrival he met one special woman at an open air prayer meeting! God is always up to something!
Are you in the right attitude with the right heart, open and ready for God to use you? That is the challenge that I see coming through Lydia’s story today. Being right with God is a life lesson; one that needs attention every day, not just today.
Scripture I am thinking on today: But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
(Luke 8:15 NIV)
Pray Using Your Own Words: Ask God to open the heart of someone who needs to hear of the hope found in the Good News. Ask Him to help you be open to His asking you to be His messenger to anyone who needs to hear and see Him. Let your eyes and heart be filled with God. Thank God for people like Lydia, who came before us to teach us the importance of being faithful in prayer and worship.
Blog Comments: Please leave your thoughts on the blog comments. You can also email me using the contact info on the right column of this blog.
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