The early church had one big assignment - go everywhere preaching about Jesus. So what did they do? They stayed in Jerusalem. To stimulate their obedience, God allowed persecution to happen in the city and finally, the Christians scattered and took the gospel beyond their comfort zone. Philip headed for Samaria where thousands came to know Jesus in his first few weeks of preaching there. It was a rather successful crusade. Then God told Philip to do something that made absolutely no sense at all - leave the vast throngs of new believers in Samaria and go out into the desert. (Read the story in Acts 8:26-40.) Um, what? Really? Gaza? No mans land? But why? God had in mind for Philip to share Jesus with one single guy traveling from Jerusalem to his home country of Ethiopia. As it turns out, history now tells us that this chance encounter in the desert equipped this one Ethiopian to return to his homeland and share the gospel, giving rise to the Ethiopic Church, which helped to preserve the Scriptures when they were being banned, burned, and buried elsewhere in the Empire. That one conversation you will have with that one hurting person today may make the difference for a family, a neighborhood, or a whole town. You wont know the influence of your witness until the judgment seat someday when Jesus looks at you and declares, Well done, good and faithful servant. That is, if youll obey His leadership and share your story along the way.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:43:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015