August 13, 2020, Acts cont..., Proverbs cont....

 Good Day!

Acts 13

Barnabas and Saul 

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them, John also called Mark. Now in the church of Antioch there were prophets and teachers; Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. 

Cyprus

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. 

They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergious Paulus. The Proconsul an intelligent man, sent for Barnabus and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the Sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun. 

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. 

Saul is sometimes called Paul and in other times he is Saul.

Proverbs 2

The Moral Benefits of Wisdom

My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you, 

turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding-

indeed, if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding. 

and if you look for it as for silver

and search for it as for hidden  treasure, 

then you will understand the fear of the Lord. 

and find the knowledge of God. 

For the lord gives wisdom. 

from his mouth come knowledge

and understanding. 

He holds success in store for the upright.

he is a shield to those whose walk

is blameless, for he guards the course of the just

and protects the way of his faithful ones. 

Then you will understand what is right and just 

and fair--every good path. 

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant 

to your soul. 

Discretion will protect you, 

and understanding will guard you. 

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, 

from men whose words are perverse, 

who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 

who delight in doing wrong

and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 

whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman. 

from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 

who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 

Surely her house leads down to death

and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 

For the upright will live in the land, 

and the blameless will remain in it;

but the wicked will be cut off from the land

and the unfaithful will be torn from it. 

Have a great day!