Below is a transcript of our YouTube Page.  Enjoy reading along while you watch:

Scripture Reference here

Lydia isn’t a popular person in the Bible.  She seemingly doesn’t do much. However, her actions and attitudes saved her house and helped the servants of God. Lydia was a merchant lady visiting Phillip (Acts 16: 12). Paul and Silas happened to be in the area and went to the river to teach on the Sabbath (13). She heard their message and worshiped the Lord and her heart was opened to the Lord (14). Like Cornelius in Acts 10, she had respect for and relationship with God. However, God wanted her to come into the New Covenant with Him. She attended (listened) to what Paul (the messenger of God) had to say. She was open to hearing from God and His messenger.  She received the message and did something about it(was baptized with her whole house; 15) .

She went beyond just the experience of salvation, though.  She offered Paul and Silas (the servants of God) shelter (16). She knew the dangers the city posed to godly people.Sure enough, Paul and Silas found themselves in trouble. They were arrested, humiliated, beaten and imprisoned. God delivered them and they went right back to Lydia’s house before moving on with their mission (40). They knew they could trust her.  They received comfort in that home and strength for the journey ahead.
 
Lydia came to God before Paul ever came to her.  She had committed herself to living a Godly life even though she was from a city that was known for idol worship and immorality(Rev. 2:18-29).  Phillip was a similar place.  Yet she had maintained some level of connection with God.  It shows us that no matter where you live or what is around you, living for God is possible and God doesn’t forget you in those situations.  The question is, when God comes around, will we notice enough to come and connect with Him?  Or will we get too busy with everyday life or the circumstances that surround us?  Lydia didn’t let her work or her situation prevent her from engaging with a person speaking Truth.

God sent Paul to the exact place Lydia was at.  He started to preach things that were familiar to her, but with newer information.  He talked about God, but also about a Savior named Jesus and New Covenant that anyone could be a part of.  She didn’t reject this information, but received it and was baptized.  It may not be as foundational as salvation, but God does want to speak some things into our lives.  The reality is, though, a lot of Christians have a certain level of understanding that they aren’t open to receiving new information.  We have things figured out and we are doing just fine with it.  However, God wants to give us something deeper.  Something more.  Something new.    Lydia could have rejected Paul and stayed with what she had already.  However, her current relationship with God and desire for greater relationship with Him drove her to listen when God’s messenger showed up.

Lydia did something about what she heard.  She was baptized and so was her entire family.  This was the primary action for what she had heard.  When God shows up and has something to say, there will always be an obvious and primary action for us to take as a result of His word to us.  It may be to seek salvation.  It may be to start a fast.  It may be to give of our money or resources.  It may be to get involved in a ministry or to connect with a person who needs God.  Whatever the action is, God will make it plain and simple to understand.  Will we do that task?

Lydia did more than just the obvious, though.  She took Paul and Silas in to give them shelter, fellowship and comfort.  Even after these two men were made fugitives and convicts, she welcomed them in to her home.  She wasn’t concerned about what the public thought, she wanted to help the men of God.  Nothing of what she heard from Paul at the river side indicated she do this.  She just felt it within herself to do it.  There is a deeper level of action to take some times.  An action that isn’t even expressed directly by God.  However, he has put things in us from birth that we are naturally drawn towards.  When we start listening and doing the will of God, those innate things start to conform to where our heart and mind is being led.  What talent, gift or affinity do you have?  Will you let that be given over to serve and act for God when you start to listen and obey Him?  You might find that God has a plan to use you in special and unique ways that only apply to you. 

If we will start to come to Jesus, He will find a way to come to us.  Once we have connected, God will speak exactly what we need to hear so we can progress in relationship with Him.  When we take those obedient actions, though, we may feel a pull to go beyond for Christ.  Will we be like Lydia and go the extra mile?  It might not even feel like it’s much to us, but it will be to God and those he leads us to help.
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We hope you have been blessed by this installment in the Come Hear Do series.  Until next time, God Bless and Keep Searching. 

Come, Hear, Do.

Three Simple Verbs.

And yet those words can transform your life completely.

In Luke 6:47-48, Jesus Christ says “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was found upon a rock."

When we come to Jesus, we find ourselves in a place to hear what we should do, how we should do and where we should do it. 

Jesus is waiting on us to come to Him.  Will we make time for Jesus, even when it seems an inconvenience to us?  Will we sacrifice extra time at work trying to get ahead so we can make it to church or a Bible Study?  Will we give up our recreation and down time to get alone with God in prayer and His Word?  Will we give up a couple of meals to fast so we can get into better connection with Christ when we read His Word and pray?  These sacrifices, small and great, can result in closer connection to God and a better opportunity to grow in relationship with Him.

Once we have come to Christ, will we open our ears to hear what He has to say?  Often, our prayer time is a one sided conversation where we tell God what we want expecting Him to simply say yes and then move on with our daily routine.  Even with reading His Word and fasting, it can be one sided.  We read the Bible to get our understanding of God’s voice, bringing our thoughts and ideas to the forefront.  God’s Word is His voice to us.  When we bring our voice into the equation, it’s like talking over God as He tries to speak.  We fast expecting to get God to open the windows of heaven and pour down the blessings.  Instead, we must humble ourselves and open ourselves to what God wants to really do in our lives.   God wants to speak to us.  When we finally give him the time of day, will we let him speak what He desires for us to hear?

Finally, once we have heard from God, will we do what He prescribes?  Rarely does God speak and not provide us with a subsequent command or action to take.  How wonderful, that God doesn’t just want to speak great and profound things.  He also gives us something to do with those words.  When we pray, will we silence our voice and sit in His presence and allow Him to direct us to what we must do?   When we read His Word, will we let the voice of God direct our steps to enact the Bible into our every day lives?  When we fast, will we do so in a way that humbles our flesh and opens up our spirit to serve Christ in all that He requires? 

If we want to build our lives (the house) on solid rock (relationship with Christ), we must come to Christ, hear what He wants to say to us and then go and do it.  That’s the digging. The rock isn’t always something easy to see.  It takes work to find and uncover truth.  Thankfully, we have a Master who will lead and guide us in that work and discovery. 

Over the coming weeks, we will be examining specific events and teachings in the Bible that require just this: to come, to hear and to do.  Our hope is that all who take hold of these lessons will advance their relationship with Christ and find themselves prepared for every trial and tribulation that life brings. 

​God doesn’t guarantee an idyllic life.  He simply promises us the ability to live this life to the fullest and to overcome everything that we face as we progress in our relationship with Him.  We hope you join us on this journey. 

Until next time, God Bless and Keep Searching.

Check out our YouTube video introducing this series below and head over to our Channel to Subscribe for the latest updates.

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BOTT returns and TWTL has all of the coverage you'll need to stay up to date with the events occurring at the conference.  First off, let's get you up to speed with who is speaking:

Tuesday Night: David Bernard and Anthony Mangun starting at 7pm

Wednesday Morning: Vesta Mangun, Terry Shock, Wayne Huntley at 9:30am

Wednesday Night: Rema Duncan and Aaron Bounds at 7pm

Thursday Morning: Forum featuring Tim Gaddy, Stan Gleason, Mickey Mangun and Tim Zuniga, moderated by Michael Williams; J.H. Osborne and Danny WHitley at 930 AM

Thursday Evening: Michael Williams at 7pm

All of these sessions and speakers will be covered in detail by TWTL Ministries.  We will be in the building providing regular updates. Here's How we plan to provide our unique and in-depth coverage.

Pre-Session Podcasts:  One hour before each session, we will upload a podcast with our thoughts heading into the session.  For example:  Tuesday Night's 7pm session will be preceded by a 6pm podcast.  You can get access to all of our podcasts here.

Live Blogging All Sessions:  We did this last year with some of the day sessions and found it to be pretty popular. This year, we will live blog all sessions right here on our Compass Page.  We will update the post as the session progresses.  As such, we recommend you refresh the page on your browser every 15 minutes to get the updates as they are posted.

Post-Session Podcasts:  After each session, we will upload our reaction to the entire session via podcast.  We will go over what was spoken in the session, the move of God that resulted and any and all thoughts we get from attendees.  We will try to get these Podcasts uploaded as soon as possible, but they will definitely be uploaded by the following morning.

Post BOTT Podcast and Review:  We will have both a podcast and a written review of BOTT 2019 uploaded by Monday, January 28.  We'll provide our final thoughts, observances and what we look to do with what we have learned. 

We can't wait to provide all of this content and hope that it helps connect you all to this great event and blesses you greatly.  See you in a few hours!

We recap this classic BOTT message and bring the ideas put forth to today.  It proves to be a timeless message that should convict and challenge us to involve ourselves in the Kingdom of God.