Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 101
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they left, for everyone knew that his father was a Greek. Then they went
from town to town, instructing the believers to follow the decisions made
by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.
So the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day.
Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and G
alatia,
because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in
the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia,
they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of
Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through
Mysia to the seaport of Troas.
That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece
was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help
us!” So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that
God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island
of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at Neapolis. From there we
reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman
colony. And we stayed there several days.
On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where
we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak
with some women who had gathered there. One of them was Lydia from
Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshiped God. As
she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul
was saying. She and her household were baptized, and she asked us to be
her guests. “If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord,” she said,
“come and stay at my home.” And she urged us until we agreed.
One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl
who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of
money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest
of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they
have come to tell you how to be saved.”
This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned
and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.
Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul
and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.
