Good morning everyone. Today’s meal is more a banquet than anything else. Please take the time to read it in its entirety so that you will get the complete picture the Lord is trying to paint.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Father, what do You require of us? Have mercy on us. Help us to have a reverent fear of You, to walk in all Your ways, to love You, and to serve You with all our hearts and with all our souls. You are the remedy for our souls; the cure for all our pain, hurt and wrong; the solution for every problem. You are Rapha, the healer. You are great and greatly to be praised. We lift Your name on high. Shine through our lives. In JESUS’ name we pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
REDEEMING THE TIME
Acts 8:26-40
But as for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go over to the road that runs from Jerusalem through the Gaza Desert, arriving around noon.” So he did, and who should be coming down the road but the Treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and was now returning in his chariot, reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the chariot.” Philip ran over and heard what he was reading and asked, “Do you understand it?” “Of course not!” the man replied. “How can I when there is no one to instruct me?” And he begged Philip to come up into the chariot and sit with him. The passage of Scripture he had been reading from was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before the shearers, so he opened not his mouth; in his humiliation, justice was denied him; and who can express the wickedness of the people of his generation? For his life is taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Was Isaiah talking about himself or someone else?” So Philip began with this same Scripture and then used many others to tell him about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to a small body of water, and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! Why can’t I be baptized?” “You can,” Philip answered, “if you believe with all your heart.’ And the eunuch replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” He stopped the chariot, and they went down into the water and Philip baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch never saw him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself at Azotus! He preached the Good News there and in every city along the way, as he traveled to Caesarea.
Many times I’ve heard people say they can’t participate in an event, a service, or activity for God because of the time it will take away from their job. God has called each of us to be good stewards of our time and our resources. It is just as important to learn how to say yes as it is to say no, and we must be faithful to our employers if we do not have freedom to take time away. However, many times I sense that some believers justify a lack of obedience under the guise of stewardship.
Philip was one of the first businessmen who was given a commission to preach the gospel. He was in the city of Samaria preaching when many miracles began to take place and the crowds came to see what was happening. Then in the midst of this great move of GOD, an angel of GOD spoke to Philip and told him to leave Samaria and go to a desert road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. Imagine how Philip must have questioned the logic of this decision when he was seeing such results in Samaria. But Philip was obedient to the angel. Along the road, he met an Ethiopian eunuch who wanted to have the Scriptures explained to him. Philip explained the Scriptures to the Ethiopian, who was the treasurer of Ethiopia under Queen Candace, and led him to the Lord, then baptized him in a nearby lake. A few moments later, Philip was supernaturally transported many miles northwest of his location to Azotus, where he preached Christ along the way toward his final destination of Caesarea.
So often we think that if we give our time outside our work life, our work will suffer. God redeemed the time for Philip by supernaturally transporting him to the next place he was to be. God always blesses those who serve Him. He can redeem lost time for those who willingly give of themselves for His purposes. Do not fall into the trap of believing that God can’t redeem the time you give for Him. If He calls you to give outside your normal work life, be assured He can make up that time. I have heard countless examples of believers who experienced God’s supernatural financial provision for time given for the sake of the gospel through unexpected business or unusual income that resulted after they made the commitment to take time away from their work for service to God.
GOD desires that we respond as Philip did in order to be used by Him in the life of another person. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit so that you can go and speak when He says go and speak. Do not fear the consequences of what that might mean if it requires leaving your work interests for a time. God will make it up. He always takes care of those who are obedient. He is more concerned about obedience than the bottom line.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
If a house should be taken for us by a friend, and we were told it was ready, and that the lease and all the necessary papers were duly attested and signed, we should not ask how we could get into it. We should just pack up and move in …. God says that He is our dwelling place, and the Bible contains all the necessary papers, duly attested and signed. And our Lord invites us, nay more, commands us to enter in and abide there. In effect He says, God is your dwelling place, and you must see to it that you take up your abode there. You must move in.
Hannah Whitall Smith
WITH HOPE AND FAITH; follow us on the foundation community site: http://facebook.com/therelationshipfactory
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION & THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY