Well this weeks blog post is, as you could tell by the title, about Paul's (aka Saul's) second mission. We can read about this in Acts chapters 16 and 18.
A small list of the places that Paul visited on his journey (from Bible Map 13):
- Corinth-Epistle to the Corinthians
- Philippi-Epistle to the Phillipians
- Thessalonica-Epistle to the Thessolonians
- Ephesus-Epistle to the Ephesians
In Acts 16:6-10;18:9-11 we learn about how the Holy Ghost spoke to Paul and his companions. On there way to Asia the Holy Ghost forbade them to preach the gospel there. The spirit also "suffered them not." The spirit also gave Paul a vision to go to Macedonia.
The Spirit has always directed the missionary efforts. It is interesting to experience when you are teaching and the Spirit just takes over and you don't remember what was actually said during the lesson. One way that I will strive to allow the Spirit to help my missionary efforts by praying for a missionary experience every day.
The next question I want to pose is why was Paul so effective? Let's read Acts 16:9-33.
- He immediately followed the Spirit's promptings
- He prayed and sang praises unto God
Paul always did everything he could to teach the people. It didn't matter where he was. I can learn that we need to make the best of our experience and look for the missionary moment. The jailer is a true convert because he truly wanted to know how he can be saved and followed through. Let's compare Mosiah 4:9-10 with Acts 17:30-31. Mosiah helps clarify that in order to fully repent we need to forsake our sins. What can we do to better prepare ourselves to share the Gospel? I think the main thing is to study the gospel, and when we are prepared the Lord will place people in our path.
