March 13, 2013 … Obeying The Spirit

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 72

Passage of the Day: Acts 8: 26 [NLT] …  
26 As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  
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Contextual Study of today’s passage: Acts, Chapter 8 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 3: 5-6 : [Yes, again! ] …[NLT] …  
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths. 

Reference Passage #1: Romans 12: 1-2 : [Doing life - in worship – God’s way, not the world’s ] …[NLT] …  
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. 

My Journal for Today: Please go back and study the 8th chapter of Acts and read of how Phillip, a Spirit-led and gifted preacher, who, along with Peter and John, were having a big time in Samaria, healing and seeing big numbers delivered into the loving arms of Christ; and God’s Spirit led Phillip individually to take a very different course and head toward one specific place and one specific person, an Ethiopian Eunuch, Whom God led, through Phillip, to Christ.

 Hillman, in his devotional entry for today, uses this story to illustrate the reality that we, as saved disciples of Christ, need to be sensitive to the Spirit of God, Whom now resides in us as transformed believers in Christ. And sometimes, as happened with Phillip, God’s Spirit may lead us to head in a direction which seems counter-culture and illogical. Phillip could have easily gotten caught up in the excitement and frenzy of new conversions in Samaria; but when God called him to head South, even without knowing exactly why or what God had in store for him, Phillip obeyed; and he was led to just one, the Eunuch from Africa, who was saved, by Phillip reading from the text of Isaiah 53.

This story is in Acts and Scripture, I believe, to show us the truths from two other passages which I end up quoting as references often from my memory bank as directives from God’s Spirit to Christian disciples, … the two I have copied above – AGAIN – for your consideration - Proverbs 3: 5-6 and Romans 12: 1-2. And both of these passages instruct us to pay attention to God’s Spirit in our lives and – as did Phillip – avoid listening to the world or our own flesh and worship God by obeying the Spirit, Who will lead us in the direction HE wants us to go for God’s glory.

Remember the commands of Christ from Luke 9: 23 and Acts 1: 8 (if you don’t know these by heart – PLEASE – look them up!). We’re to avoid selfish leanings and become God’s witnesses in the world by following CHRIST, not by being led by Satan, the world or our own deceitful hearts (see Jer. 17: 9). And when we do as Phillip did, God will lead us to be His witnesses and others just might see Christ’s light shining in and through us [see Matt. 5: 16]; and perhaps we’ll have an opportunity to let the angels in heaven celebrate the conversion of one, like the Eunuch, in our own lives.

Maybe you have a family member or a co-worker whom God’s Spirit is leading you towards as His witness; and you have been chosen as God’s Spirit-guide to lead that one, as Phillip did the Eunuch, into God’s family. If you’re clearly feeling that leading from God’s Spirit, … as the old Nike motto says, “Just do it!” Do it for Christ and in His Name!!

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You are leading me today; and I will follow. … Amen