HEARING GOD’S VOICE
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Opening Prayer
Lord, open my mind and heart now to learn from your Word. Use it to work in me and then through me, not only for my good, but for the benefit of others around me.
Read ACTS 18:1–11
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
In Corinth
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There 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, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what ways can you be an encouragement to your church leaders and to those you see as mentors but have no official title?
Paul’s next stop, Corinth, was the political and economic center of Greece. It was also on the way to Rome. Paul stayed in Corinth for about 18 months (a long stay) and was thus able to draw the believers into a more established and mature network. Ministries can be short or long and will achieve different results. Aquila and Priscilla, Paul’s hosts, were, like him, tent makers. Paul could tell the Corinthian church that he worked for his living and was not a financial burden.1 Tent making is important—you work to meet your needs and preach in your spare time. This was one way in which the college student ministry grew in India, as graduates became tentmaker ministers.
The arrival of Silas and Timothy enabled Paul to give himself to the ministry more fully (v. 5). Was it this that caused the Jews to turn against him? Paul decided to focus on the gentiles,2 and a house church seems to have started in the home of Titius Justus. The synagogue ruler, Crispus, and his wider household all came to faith. We may think our witness goes unheard, but God can use our efforts to change hearts. God spoke to Paul and encouraged him to go on preaching, in spite of the challenges, because the many believers in Corinth would protect him (vv. 9, 10). We, too, need God’s guidance every step of the way. He will guide us through our daily devotions, speakers, sermons, and Christian books—and through the ‘still small voice.’3
I have heard God’s voice several times in guidance. In 1971, during the Union of Evangelical Students of India’s Missionary Conference, God told me in an audible voice, ‘This is my place for you in my ministry,’ thus leading me into the literature ministry.
Apply
Pray for missionaries in hard places where business as mission is necessary for them to serve where God has sent them.
Closing prayer
Father, I ask for your clear guidance in my life and ministry; help me to hear your voice.
1 2 Cor 11:9 2 See also Acts 13:46 3 1 Kings 19:12, ASV
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