Sunday’s message from Jay Mijares was about “The Woman of Lydia”, from Acts 16:13-15.
In their travels, Paul and some of his companions came to Phillipi, an area that was too small for a synagogue. The people instead went out to the river to read scripture on the Sabbath. Being near water represented a ceremonial cleansing for the faithful.
They found a group of women gathered there, including Lydia, a successful woman who sold purple cloth. However, she wasn’t obsessed with her occupation and she was already a worshiper of God. Paul and his group had a conversation with the women and (v.14) “The Lord opened (Lydia’s) heart to respond to Paul’s message.” She and her household were all baptized and she invited Paul and his companions to her home.
It’s significant to note that Paul didn’t “preach” to the women -- they had a conversation. During that conversation, God opened Lydia’s heart, not Paul. She was transformed and her mind was opened to spiritual truths from God, but it wasn’t Paul’s doing. As we read in 1 Corinthians 3:7, "Therefore he who plants is nothing, neither is he who waters anything, but God who gives growth.”
Anyone can speak His words; God will do the rest. It is His story that we’re in, after all. We are only one petal on one flower, in one field among many fields. We simply fade into the background of His glorious work.
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