Good morning! How are we faithing? Two thousand years ago there were Apostles spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and if you sit back and think of how things were then it is amazing that the Word even spread at all. There were idol factions, most were actually, and the synagogues. Where the Apostles preached was a hard "set in their ways" people. The jews were so into law obeying they missed the love God had for them. Jesus was sent to redeem them and they were so hard nosed to not even see scripture telling them of the time they lived in. Imagine Paul walking into a synagogue preaching with the Holy Spirit power. Imagine the push back they met and yet they stood firm.

  Act 13:4-12  Then these indeed sent out by the Holy Spirit went down to Seleucia. And from there they sailed to Cyprus.  And when they were at Salamis, they announced the Word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as an assistant.  And when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain conjurer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-jesus;  who was with the proconsul of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. He called for Barnabas and Saul and asked to hear the Word of God.  But Elymas the conjurer (for so his name is, if translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.  Then Saul (who is also Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him  and said, O son of the Devil, full of all deceit and all craftiness, enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?  And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you. And you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a while. And immediately a mist and a darkness fell on him, and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. Then, seeing the thing happening, the proconsul believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. 

Read the rest of this chapter of acts. Imagine it all going down...wow...

Heavenly Father, We pray your mercy flows through us to the lost. Help us be courageous witnessing. Help is never to fear what others may do or say to us. We want to spread your Word and the redemption story to the lost. Lord we praise you and thank you for this peace that passes all understanding. In Jesus name, amen