March 13: Following His guidance.
HIS PROVIDENCE.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.--Acts 8:35
The person who picked me up from the airport at the European country where I had come to preach that weekend had been a supporter of our ministry for a few years and had arranged for this special event to take place. When I asked him how he found out about Jesus 101 in the first place, I was speechless! He told me how one day he was listening to an internet broadcast, when suddenly the programming was interrupted, and our program came on. He was about to turn it off, but lingered for a few seconds, got interested in the Scriptural topic, and the rest is history. I don't believe this was a coincidence but a providential event.
We often hear such testimonies about how people throughout the world discover our media ministry. I am convinced that God is always at work behind the scenes. Some call these events coincidences, but I believe otherwise. In Acts 8, the story is told of the Ethiopian man who was a court official of the queen of the Ethiopians (verse 37). He had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way back, reading in his chariot from the prophet Isaiah. Suddenly, Philip ran up next to the chariot and asked him if he understood what he was reading (verse 30). He was reading Isaiah 53! This chapter is called the "proto-gospel," because it is the prophecy about the suffering Servant, explaining the death of Jesus on our behalf. The man needed someone to explain this prophecy, and Philip, filled with the Spirit, was right there, ready to preach Jesus to him from this very Scripture (verses 30-35). The Ethiopian official could have called Philip's presence a coincidence, but we know better; because in the first four verses of the story we are told how God, in His providence, had orchestrated this meeting. Philip was given divine direction to take this particular road (verse 26), and to go up to this specific chariot (verse 29). God is always providentially guiding our lives, and He desires our ultimate redemption. If you truly desire to do God's will, you can be assured that He will providentially and clearly provide the guidance you need.
My Response:_____________________________________________________
HIS PROVIDENCE.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.--Acts 8:35
The person who picked me up from the airport at the European country where I had come to preach that weekend had been a supporter of our ministry for a few years and had arranged for this special event to take place. When I asked him how he found out about Jesus 101 in the first place, I was speechless! He told me how one day he was listening to an internet broadcast, when suddenly the programming was interrupted, and our program came on. He was about to turn it off, but lingered for a few seconds, got interested in the Scriptural topic, and the rest is history. I don't believe this was a coincidence but a providential event.
We often hear such testimonies about how people throughout the world discover our media ministry. I am convinced that God is always at work behind the scenes. Some call these events coincidences, but I believe otherwise. In Acts 8, the story is told of the Ethiopian man who was a court official of the queen of the Ethiopians (verse 37). He had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way back, reading in his chariot from the prophet Isaiah. Suddenly, Philip ran up next to the chariot and asked him if he understood what he was reading (verse 30). He was reading Isaiah 53! This chapter is called the "proto-gospel," because it is the prophecy about the suffering Servant, explaining the death of Jesus on our behalf. The man needed someone to explain this prophecy, and Philip, filled with the Spirit, was right there, ready to preach Jesus to him from this very Scripture (verses 30-35). The Ethiopian official could have called Philip's presence a coincidence, but we know better; because in the first four verses of the story we are told how God, in His providence, had orchestrated this meeting. Philip was given divine direction to take this particular road (verse 26), and to go up to this specific chariot (verse 29). God is always providentially guiding our lives, and He desires our ultimate redemption. If you truly desire to do God's will, you can be assured that He will providentially and clearly provide the guidance you need.
My Response:_____________________________________________________
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