Good Morning Friends,
“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go
south to the road – the desert road -- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important
official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This
man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his
chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to
that chariot and stay near it.’ --- The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please,
who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with
that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts
8:26-29, 34-35)
The apostles weren’t the only ones who had
amazing stories to tell of how God worked in their lives and through them to
touch others.
Philip was one of the men selected to take care
of the widows in the church. He and the others made sure that the distribution
of food to them was done fairly so that everyone got the same amount and their
needs were met. But that’s not where Philip’s ministry ended. He was also a powerful
preacher of the good news of Jesus Christ.
One of the principles you can draw from this
passage is that God puts His people where He needs them. The Ethiopian was ripe
for the gospel. He was seeking God but having difficulty understanding what God
meant and how to apply it to his own life. So, God sent someone to him to
explain the way to have a relationship with Him.
There is a promise in Jeremiah and the
Ethiopian is an example of how God fulfills it. “You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:14) The principle is that
God seekers are always satisfied. It’s not that a person can find God on his
own, just by doing an intellectual search. Rather, it is that when a person
takes even the tiniest step toward God, seeking Him, that God orchestrates His
servants to provide someone to share Christ with them.
God brought Philip and the Ethiopian together
because the Ethiopian was ready to listen to the gospel.
One key to effective evangelism is to be
sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in your own life, ready to go where He
sends, and talk to anyone He brings into your path. You may be someone else’s
Philip. How thrilling that would be for you -- how life-changing that would be
for the other person!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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