7-Day Devotional: Torn Between Two Worlds – Embracing God’s Gifts Amid Unmet Longings

Here I Am X Waha

Acts 10:9-33 | When God Has a New Way

EquipHer Vol. 12: "From Success to Significance"

God in the Midst of Depression

Spiritual Warfare

Journey Through the Gospel of Matthew

Ready as You Are

OVERFLOW

Gideon

New International Version

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 <div class="p">36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, &#8220;Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.&#8221; 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.</div>
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 <div class="p">1Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Vision of the Man of Macedonia</div><div class="p"> 6Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, &#8220;Come over to Macedonia and help us.&#8221; 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.</div><div class="s1">Lydia&#8217;s Conversion in Philippi</div><div class="p"> 11From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district#16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain. of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.</div><div class="p"> 13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul&#8217;s message. 15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. &#8220;If you consider me a believer in the Lord,&#8221; she said, &#8220;come and stay at my house.&#8221; And she persuaded us.</div><div class="s1">Paul and Silas in Prison</div><div class="p"> 16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, &#8220;These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.&#8221; 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, &#8220;In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!&#8221; At that moment the spirit left her.</div><div class="p"> 19When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates and said, &#8220;These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.</div><div class="p"> 25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone&#8217;s chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, &#8220;Don&#8217;t harm yourself! We are all here!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, &#8220;Sirs, what must I do to be saved?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31They replied, &#8220;Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved&#8212;you and your household.&#8221; 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God&#8212;he and his whole household.</div><div class="p"> 35When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: &#8220;Release those men.&#8221; 36The jailer told Paul, &#8220;The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 37But Paul said to the officers: &#8220;They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia&#8217;s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.</div>
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 <div class="p">1When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. &#8220;This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,&#8221; he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.</div><div class="p"> 5But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason&#8217;s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.#17:5 Or the assembly of the people 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: &#8220;These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar&#8217;s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.&#8221; 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.</div><div class="s1">In Berea</div><div class="p"> 10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.</div><div class="p"> 13But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.</div><div class="s1">In Athens</div><div class="p"> 16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, &#8220;What is this babbler trying to say?&#8221; Others remarked, &#8220;He seems to be advocating foreign gods.&#8221; They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, &#8220;May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.&#8221; 21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)</div><div class="p"> 22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: &#8220;People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship&#8212;and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.</div><div class="p"> 24&#8220;The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28&#8216;For in him we live and move and have our being.&#8217;#17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides As some of your own poets have said, &#8216;We are his offspring.&#8217;#17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus</div><div class="p"> 29&#8220;Therefore since we are God&#8217;s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone&#8212;an image made by human design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, &#8220;We want to hear you again on this subject.&#8221; 33At that, Paul left the Council. 34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.</div>
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 <div class="p">1After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.</div><div class="p"> 5When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, &#8220;Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.</div><div class="p"> 9One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: &#8220;Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.&#8221; 11So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.</div><div class="p"> 12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13&#8220;This man,&#8221; they charged, &#8220;is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, &#8220;If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law&#8212;settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.&#8221; 16So he drove them off. 17Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.</div><div class="s1">Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos</div><div class="p"> 18Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as he left, he promised, &#8220;I will come back if it is God&#8217;s will.&#8221; Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.</div><div class="p"> 23After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.</div><div class="p"> 24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor#18:25 Or with fervor in the Spirit and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.</div><div class="p"> 27When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.</div>
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 <div class="p">1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, &#8220;Did you receive the Holy Spirit when#19:2 Or after you believed?&#8221;</div><div class="p">They answered, &#8220;No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3So Paul asked, &#8220;Then what baptism did you receive?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;John&#8217;s baptism,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p"> 4Paul said, &#8220;John&#8217;s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.&#8221; 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues#19:6 Or other languages and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.</div><div class="p"> 8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.</div><div class="p"> 13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, &#8220;In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.&#8221; 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, &#8220;Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?&#8221; 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.</div><div class="p"> 17When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.#19:19 A drachma was a silver coin worth about a day&#8217;s wages. 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.</div><div class="p"> 21After all this had happened, Paul decided#19:21 Or decided in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. &#8220;After I have been there,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I must visit Rome also.&#8221; 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.</div><div class="s1">The Riot in Ephesus</div><div class="p"> 23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: &#8220;You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: &#8220;Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!&#8221; 29Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul&#8217;s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.</div><div class="p"> 32The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: &#8220;Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 35The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: &#8220;Fellow Ephesians, doesn&#8217;t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.&#8221; 41After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.</div>
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