Life goes into overdrive when you find yourself in a new situation. I enjoy working with grad students from other nations, since they have a wide-eyed enthusiasm for their experiences in our country. It is a peak moment in their lives. Paul, whose life had orbited between Tarsus and Jerusalem, found his initial foray into Europe to be a similar landmark experience. As you can read in Acts 16, in Philippi he encountered a formidable business lady at a "place of prayer."[1] A demon-possessed fortune-teller. Roman officers with whips. Prison. An earthquake. A family's conversion. And the opportunity to humiliate Roman magistrates. Definitely a memorable visit!
Paul's initial convert, Lydia, was a business lady in the import/export textile trade. In his later missionary journeys, this church provided financial support to Paul's ministry. Someone was accustomed to transferring funds between jurisdictions. Let's read Paul's feelings towards this church, written from jail:
- Php 1:3 Sizi hatırladıkça Tanrım'a şükrediyorum.
Php 1:4,5 İlk günden şimdiye dek Müjde'nin yayılmasındaki işbirliğinizden dolayı her duamda hepiniz için her zaman sevinçle dilekte bulunuyorum.
Php 1:6 Sizde iyi bir işe başlamış olan Tanrı'nın bunu Mesih İsa'nın gününe dek bitireceğine güvenim var.
Php 1:7 Hepiniz için böyle düşünmekte haklıyım. Her an yüreğimdesiniz. İster zincire vurulmuş, ister Müjde'yi savunup doğrulamakta olayım, hepiniz benimle birlikte Tanrı'nın lütfuna ortaksınız.
Let's look at a few words:
- İlk -- The first
- günden -- day from
- şimdiye dek -- to now / even
- Her -- Every
- an -- moment
- yüreğimdesiniz. -- you all are on my heart. A lovely compound word! yürek: heart. -im- : my. -de- : on. -siniz: you (plural) are.
[1] When ten Jewish men could be gathered for a minyan, formal worship took place. Else, informal prayers were offered at a "place of prayer."
No comments:
Post a Comment