Neville Goddard on Acts 16:13-15 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 16 in context

Scripture Focus

13And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

Acts 16:13-15

Biblical Context

Paul and companions go to the river where women gather; Lydia, a seller of purple from Thyatira, hears and her heart opens; she and her household are baptized and she invites them to stay.

Neville's Inner Vision

Imagine the river-side gathering as a map of your inner life. The sabbath is the stillness of your mind, the place where prayer is constant because you are in communion with the I AM. The women are the facets of consciousness listening for truth. Lydia, a seller of purple, embodies a refined perception aligned with nobility and beauty; when she hears the word, her heart is opened by your awareness. The Lord opening her heart is your I AM awakening to the truth that you already possess what you seek. Faith appears not as effort, but as a shift of identification into the state in which you are already loved and provided for. Her baptism and the baptism of her household symbolize your adoption of this new state across every thought, feeling, and memory. When she invites them to stay, you are inviting the Self to reside in daily life. What follows is a simple, luminous practice: dwell in that opened state, and let the outward scene reflect the inner conviction you now claim.

Practice This Now

Sit quietly by the river of stillness, assume you are already faithful to the Lord, and feel the opened heart as your present reality. Then invite your inner household to rest in this state and say, 'It is done.'