Came home... drove a little to pick up a package at the FedEx store (we've been there a LOT this week! I didn't even know where it was before and now I know several different ways to get there! (Okay, 2, but whatever. =P))
Came home.... went on a walk... then I sat and talked to Kaytee for a long time. And it was great. I love her to death. I hope we can get coffee soon because I miss coffee! =)
NIPTO me thinks!
Acts 16:11-24
11From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
Luke is writing this. And was apparently there. Because "we put out to sea." Not "they." So, yeah. The traveled... stayed somewhere for a few days. Ya know.
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 named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.
On Saturday (their sabbath) they went outside of the city to the river where people would be coming and going (and where there was a place of prayer, apparently. Or maybe not... because they "expected to find a place of prayer" there... so maybe they didn't. I don't know!)
So they went out of the city and sat down and started to talk. They told about Jesus. I'm assuming.
One of the people listening was Lydia. She made/sold purple cloth (expensive! Think... royalty.) in Thyatira. She believed in God and God worked in her heart and she responded&believed what Paul said.
15When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
She, and everyone in her household, was baptized and then she invited them to stay in her house.
(I wonder if they were worried about a place to stay before she invited them... probably not, but something that could've been a possibility.)
16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.
This is such an interesting section! They were traveling some more and came to a place of prayer. They were talking and a slave girl who was considered a fortune teller came up to them and started following them proclaiming that they were God's servants. She followed them for days. Paul got so fed up that he went up to her and told this "future predicting spirit" to come out of her. And it left her. And they went on their merry way. I'm assuming :) (I'm assuming a lot, aren't I?)
19When the owners of the slave girl 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, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice."
Wow. Way to read ahead, Abby. Not.
They didn't go on their merry way. The people who owned that slave girl were angry because she wouldn't make them money any more. So they grabbed Paul&Silas and took them into the center of town. They made them go to the authorities and basically got them into trouble for 'disturbing the peace.'
22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The crowd joined (mob mentality much? (Nice alliteration too =P))
So the people in charge had them beaten. And then they threw them into prison and the guards were instructed to watch them very carefully. So they were put into the inner cell and their feet were in stocks.
Sounds pretty grim... But I'm going to be done for tonight. Hah. Sorry. You can keep reading if you want. And I'll try to blog tomorrow morning. We have a lot of stuff going on tomorrow!
Goodnight people of the interwebz!
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