Acts 16:14
By Ken
“The Lord opened her (Lydia’s) heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
In keeping with Luke’s observation that Lydia’s open heart was a work of God, many observe that this and Luke’s other accounts in Acts should rightly be titled “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” rather than “The Acts of the Apostles.” But alongside this wonderful truth of God’s initiating and completing work is His calling work among us to go, speak, disciple, baptize, and teach.
In this 16th chapter of the “Acts of the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Luke suddenly changes from using the pronoun “they” (Paul, Barnabas, Mark, Silas, etc.) to “we”: “immediately we sought to go into Macedonia” (after trying to enter “Asia” and “Bithynia”); “we made a direct voyage to…Philippi;” “we remained in this city some days;” “we went…to the riverside;” “we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.” And then it says, “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”
I urge you, like Dr. Luke, to change the stories of the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” in your world from “they” to “we.” Join a Paul, or a Silas, or a Luke in your church, “seek to go,” go immediately and directly, let God direct and redirect you as you go, stay long enough to speak repeatedly where people gather (by the river, in the market, in homes, and even in the synagogue), and watch God open hearts, just as the Lord did by the river in Philippi. God opens hearts when we open our mouths!
By Ken
“The Lord opened her (Lydia’s) heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:14)
In keeping with Luke’s observation that Lydia’s open heart was a work of God, many observe that this and Luke’s other accounts in Acts should rightly be titled “The Acts of the Holy Spirit” rather than “The Acts of the Apostles.” But alongside this wonderful truth of God’s initiating and completing work is His calling work among us to go, speak, disciple, baptize, and teach.
In this 16th chapter of the “Acts of the Holy Spirit,” Dr. Luke suddenly changes from using the pronoun “they” (Paul, Barnabas, Mark, Silas, etc.) to “we”: “immediately we sought to go into Macedonia” (after trying to enter “Asia” and “Bithynia”); “we made a direct voyage to…Philippi;” “we remained in this city some days;” “we went…to the riverside;” “we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.” And then it says, “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”
I urge you, like Dr. Luke, to change the stories of the “Acts of the Holy Spirit” in your world from “they” to “we.” Join a Paul, or a Silas, or a Luke in your church, “seek to go,” go immediately and directly, let God direct and redirect you as you go, stay long enough to speak repeatedly where people gather (by the river, in the market, in homes, and even in the synagogue), and watch God open hearts, just as the Lord did by the river in Philippi. God opens hearts when we open our mouths!
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