S. Acts 8:26-38 (NIV)
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 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.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 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?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
O. Philip listened to the Lord and went where he was told to go. He made himself available and then recognized an opportunity to tell this Ethiopian about Jesus. The Ethiopian would subsequently be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. This happened because Philip listened to the voice of the Lord and recognized an opportunity to share Jesus.
A. I will continue to practice listening to the Lord’s voice and being aware of opportunities to share the Good News about Jesus. Further, I will continue to teach this to people that the Lord bring into my sphere of influence, that is, the discipline of listening for God’s voice, following through with what He asks us to do and being aware and sharing with people He brings me into my awareness.
P. Thank you Father for this word today. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to be listen to the Father’s voice, to be ready to share Jesus with others and then to follow through in connecting with those that You bring into my pathway (sphere of influence). In Jesus’ name.
