Daily Devotional

(Note: In our study tours of Greece, we usually trace the footsteps of the apostle Paul recorded in Acts, Chapters 16 through 18—“Paul’s Second Missionary Journey.” I invite you to join me in a series of devotionals related to that portion of Scripture. This week we look at Acts 17.)

There were a few of you hard-core Star Trek lovers—call Trekkies—who known well the original mission statement of the Starship Enterprise: “Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!”

Acts 17 contains the report of Paul’s second missionary journey to Thessalonica (1–9), Berea (10–15) and Athens (16–34). It is easy to get caught up in the travel details but don’t miss the real news.

• His Motivation: Paul allowed the Holy Spirit to provoke his spirit and move him to places he had not planned to go (cf. 16:9–12).
  
  
• His Method: He reasoned from the Scriptures; not his own opinions, speaking to anyone who was present, anywhere they gathered.
  
  
• His Message: The only true God, our Creator, made us to seek and even “grope” for the Crucified and Risen Lord before He returns to judge all mankind.
  
  
• The Negative Reactions: They formed mobs, accused them of upsetting the whole world, punished the new converts, saw Paul as an “idle babbler,” proclaiming strange deities. Many were just professional listeners, not truth-seekers—religious worshipers but still very ignorant.
  
  
• The Positive Responses: Some were immediately persuaded; others wanted to study further. Some wanted to hear more later; others received the word with eagerness. Some were delivered in all three places. The team heads off to Corinth and beyond (Ch. 18).

God is on the move, as much today as He was then. Is the Holy Spirit provoking us to minister in places we had not planned—or refuse—to go? If necessary “to boldly go where no man has gone before!”

Acts 1:8 - “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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