Bible League: Living His Word So Philip got ready and went. On the road, he saw a man from Ethiopia. He was a eunuch and an important official in the service of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was responsible for taking care of all her money. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship.— Acts 8:27 ERV Obedience is a response to what one has been commanded; it is fulfilling the instruction or the command. Obedience is being compliant with the general authority. In Hebrew, the word "shema" means to hear and obey. Philip was a missionary whom God used greatly to influence the birth of the church in the book of Acts. He reached the unreached communities of Gentiles. Being a missionary or an evangelist requires obedience to Christ. In Acts 8:26, an angel of God tells Philip to get ready and go south on the road leading to Gaza. Immediately, Philip complies with the directive from God's angel. The angel bears the command from God; hence Philip does not need any confirmation to get permission, the mandate was already at hand! In Acts 1:8, the apostles had waited for the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and now they were being scattered across countries because the persecution had erupted in Jerusalem (v. 1-4)! Philip started in Samaria, where he met Simon the sorcerer and now, he heads to Gaza where he meets the Ethiopian treasurer. From there, he went further to Azotus and Caesarea telling people the Good News about Jesus Christ (v. 40). In our verse of the day, Philip got ready. At times we are not ready, and that is why training and equipping of the children of God is imperative. Philip and other Apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit, as Acts 1:8 says: "But the Holy Spirit will come on you and give you power. You will be my witnesses. You will tell people everywhere about me - in Jerusalem, in the rest of Judea, in Samaria, and every part of the world." As children of God, we are empowered to minister the Good News! Philip exemplified a faithful servant that obeyed Christ. He got ready and went! The angel did not accompany him, the Holy Spirit was with him. Verse 29 says, "The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.'" What a companionship we have, when we have partnered with Christ, to fulfil the Great Commission! The Holy Spirit is our teacher and is with us (Luke 12:12). Philip met with a man who needed an understanding of the Scriptures. The understanding of Scripture led the Ethiopian to Christ! In 1 Timothy 2:4 we read, "God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth." Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Philip accomplished the mission of God because he was obedient. God orchestrated a saving mission that took Philip to obey and the Ethiopian to understand Christ, through Scriptures. Philip did not ask who he would meet on the road, nor did he have a map. Beloved, all that we are doing may not make sense to us; however, God knows it all! Today, we live in a world of digital communication, and you can know the country or place before your departure. Let us continue to obey Jesus' mission call and listen to the Holy Spirit as He guides us to all the truth. Philip kept going from one place to another because he obeyed without reservations-can you be a Philip in our contemporary world? By Christopher Thetswe, Bible League International staff, South Africa Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingIsaiah 7, 8, 9 Isaiah 7 -- War and Tribulation; The Coming of Immanuel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 8 -- Uriah and Zechariah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 9 -- Unto Us a Child Is Born; Judgments upon Israel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Galatians 4 Galatians 4 -- We are not children of the handmaid, but of the free woman NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.Insight What did Paul mean when he said that our bodies belong to God? Many people say they have the right to do whatever they want with their own bodies. Although they think that this is freedom, they are really enslaved to their own desires. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit fills and lives in us. Therefore, we no longer own our bodies. “Bought . . . with a high price'' refers to slaves purchased at auction. Christ's death freed us from sin, but also obligates us to his service. Challenge If you live in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building's rules. Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate his standards for living. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Zechariah 11:2 Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen.When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are startling the air. May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard--let us not trifle; it is furbished, and the edge is sharp--let us not play with it. He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore, and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound thereof. Be ready, servant of Christ, for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects him. See to it that thou be faithful in his work, for the grave shall soon be digged for thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the days of your terrestrial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care which shall be rewarded with the gracious commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant" Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 15:54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.1 Corinthians 15:57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:14,15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, • and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Romans 6:8-10 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, • knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. • For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |