For In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being…

 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter." 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.—Acts 17:22-33

I love this entire passage.  Every time I read it and go through some of the cross-reference verses my respect and admiration for Paul grows.  Truly, he was a master evangelizer who loved and desired very much to reach the people he ministered to with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  My favorite verse is verse 28 where Paul quotes two Greek poets.

“for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'”

David Guzik says that “Paul did not quote these men because they were prophets or because all their teaching was of God. He quoted them because these specific words reflected a Biblical truth, and by using them he could build a bridge to his pagan audience.”

I am so glad he did...this verse from the time I first read it 25 years ago until now has ministered to me almost daily.  Such a precious truth.  I am in Christ. It is in Him that I live and move and have my being.  I am His offspring.  I am safe...my refuge is in Him who Paul said made the world and everything in it. He is my dwelling place.  I can only fall as far as His everlasting arms.

Blessed be the LORD my Rock,

My lovingkindness and my fortress,

My high tower and my deliverer,

My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,

Happy are the people who are in such a state;

Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!—Psalm 144:1;2;15