October 5

It’s the weekend! Time to regroup and prepare your heart for a time of corporate worship. 


Isn’t it funny how we have expectations or a picture in our minds of how something is going to go or how it looks? That was my experience in Greece. I had this idea of what it looked like when Paul was making his way from town to town, but I was not even close. 


Greece is very mountainous with it highest point Mt Olympus that has snow 10 months out of the year and thirteen others exceed 6,000 feet. It’s in the shadow of these rugged mountains that Paul first entered the country into Macedonia (the upper most part of Greece) and headed to Philipi. 


Philipi was established by Philip II, the Father of Alexander the Great in 360 BC. It was very much a Roman city and many people even spoke Latin. Philip conquered Macedonia for the strategic location and for it resources—timber and the gold. So this town of Philippi was a busy, commercial town with a lot of money. 


When Paul and his companions arrived there, Luke described it as “the leading city in the district.” They were here several days. Since there was no Jewish synagogue in Philippi, on the Sabbath, Paul and his friends headed outside the city to Gangates River. Here they found a group of women who believed in God and had met there to pray. After Paul preached that Jesus was the Messiah, Lydia (a single, working woman) believed and her entire family was baptized. 


This was the beginning of the church of Philippi to whom Paul later wrote the letters. He loved this group of believers and to them he stressed joy in spite of it all. 


“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians‬ ‭1:4-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬


Lord God of heaven and of earth, thank you for blessing your servant Paul with the determination to forge mountains in order that the Gospel might take root. We pray today Lord that this good work you began in us will continue to its full completion. Teach us to be more like you and forgive us when we doubt or stray. Thank you for never giving up on us and for seeking us wherever we may be. What a great God you are and what a marvelous comforter you provide. We love you and worship you right now. Amen and amen. 


Love you dear one,

Pam


Pictures of the remains of Philippi and of the Gangates River where Lydia was baptized are on Facebook.  

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