Christ Church Daily Devotion Dec 12 2023

In this Daily Devotion, Philip receives a message from an angel to go to a desert road. On his way, he meets an Ethiopian eunuch reading the book of Isaiah. Philip explains the scripture to him and shares the good news about Jesus. The eunuch asks to be baptized and they stop the chariot to do so. The main idea is that Philip obediently follows God's leading, even when it means leaving a comfortable place of ministry. The personal worship option is to pray for a heart that is fixed on God and willing to follow His will. Welcome to Christchurch's Daily Devotion for December 12, 2023. Today, we will be reading from Acts, Chapter 8, verses 26 through 38. 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 the Kendake, which means Queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way, Om was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it. And Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading, Philip asked. How can I, he said, unless someone explains it to me. So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of scripture the eunuch was reading. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent. So he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth. 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. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized? And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. There are some really great things in this passage. But just focusing on one thing, you see the submissive attitude of Philip. Philip had been experiencing very fruitful ministry, yet he now needed to go to the place of the next place of ministry the Lord had for him. We see that in verse 26. Philip's response to the Lord and his command is wonderful. So he got up and went, you see that in verse 27. This sounds so simple, but how difficult this can be when we find ourselves in a place of ministry or in life that is exciting or just comfortable. We really don't want the Lord to give us a change of direction. We convince ourselves the Lord would never direct us to leave that place and go to a place of uncertainty for us. But clearly, as with Philip, the Lord has things in mind that we may know nothing about. Philip left one place of ministry to reach another the Lord had prepared for him. From verse 29 through 31. Today's personal worship option, Lord, I pray my heart would be so fixed on you that I would respond as Philip did to your leading, not letting comfort, fear, or the opinions of others hold me from your will. Let me just walk with you today. May I experience your presence in all that I face. Amen.