Tuesday 11 December, 2012

6 But Paul and Barnabas found out about the plan. They escaped to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding area. 7 There they continued to preach the good news. Paul Preaches in Lystra 8 In Lystra there sat a man who couldn’t walk. He hadn’t been able to use his feet since the day he was born. 9 He listened as Paul spoke. Paul looked right at him. He saw that the man had faith to be healed. 10 So he called out, “Stand up on your feet!” Then the man jumped up and began to walk.

Three things strike me in this passage. The first is that all the believers thought well of Timothy and so Paul wanted to take him on a ministry trip with him. Imagine being so well thought of that the apostle Paul wanted you to tag along! I need to

aim to live my life in such a way that others around me, especially other believers, think well of me – that is – that I am a good example to others and encourage them.

Secondly, Paul circumcised Timothy so that he would not offend cheap levitra professional the Jews he was travelling to talk to. I think that when we go on mission trips and even locally we need to aware of the culture of the area. While we should never go against what God says, dressing or eating or whatever in a way that honours the people we are ministering to is a great principle to follow.

Finally, when the simple principles of God were presented in the churches Paul and Timothy travelled to, the churches grew in both faith and numbers. We need to make sure that we are presenting God’s truths in an uncomplicated but also uncompromising way, so that we too see this growth.

Written by Megan Cornell