Philip and the Ethiopian Acts 8:34-39

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.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

 

What hinders your connection with Father God?  In the last post we discussed some reasons we can become disconnected from God - being too busy to study the Word, pray, and worship God.  Sometimes we just we don't know how or what to do.

 

According to Acts 8, Philip is lead by the Holy Spirit to connect with the eunuch as he was reading in the book of Isaiah about Jesus’ sacrifice. Philip asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man said how can I understand unless someone explains it to me. So the man invited Philip to come in, sit with him and explain the scripture. Phillip connected this man to God.

 

In the book, Reconnect, Joan shares how to reconnect to God’s heart so you can begin to grow in Him. Why are we disconnected?  Is it an issue with our hearts? Joan answers these questions as she looks at the conditions of our hearts on many levels. The Holy Spirit assesses our hearts and unlocks and exposes any hidden traps of the enemy.  In this book, you will learn the great benefits of reconnecting your heart to God's heart. So come let us reason together and reconnect back to the one who truly loves us, God, our Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

You can purchase Reconnect by visiting joanmurrayministries.org.

Thought Of The Day

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

God Where Are You?

Psalm 13:1-6 (NIV)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

Are you feeling disconnected From God?  Does God seem distant?  What to do.

God is omnipresent, which means He is everywhere at all times.

That means He is in your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, car, workplace, and your prayer closet.   He is ever present in your joy and your sorrow.

When you pray what does it sound like?  Is it more about you and your wants?

God wants more than that from you and for you.

 God wants your praise and thanksgiving in good and bad times. Did you know that God loves you and He is always with you?

Are you too busy to spend time with God? Do you know that’s where your power to defeat the enemy comes from?

How would your life change if you believed that God is everywhere at the same time so you are never alone and that He loves you?

He is always available to you through the WORD - PRAYER - PRAISE - WORSHIP.

Would you like to open up dialog with God?

Start with a set time in His presence.  Don’t ask for anything, simply thank Him, then be silent and listen to Him.

You will be amazed by His overwhelming presence and peace.

In the next few weeks I would like to share with you from an excellent book, Reconnect, by the author of this blog, Joan Murray.  This book will help you to reconnect to the One who loves you so much He provided away to undo what Satan did in the Garden of Eden.

Get connected today!

Why The Ten Commandments?

Deuteronomy 5:2 – 3 – The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

God gave the Ten Commandments as a covenant to His people and for various other reasons.

The purpose of the law was to reveal the God of the law.

When you focus on the lawgiver you find delight in obeying his commands.

God revealed his greatness and His glory at Mt. Sinai when the law was given.

He wanted to remind us He is a Holy God.

God’s law gives us a gauge by which we should live and conduct our lives.

God wanted to write his words/law on the heart of every believer.

God’s law was meant to give us long lives full of purpose, greatness and humility.


Do you know that the law is given because of God’s love for you?

Listen, Hear and Obey

Deuteronomy 5: 1 – And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

Hear O Christians – this call is still going forth for believers to listen, hear and obey.

The Israelites were to listen with a hearing that leads to obedience.
They were to listen attentively, to understand, heed and obey.
They were to learn the meaning of God’s laws and were to obey them. They were to have no other gods before Him.

Ten Commandments:
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth.
3. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God Am a jealous God.
4. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
5. Keep the Sabbath day - six day thou shalt labor, and do all thy work.
6. Honor thy father and mother.
7. Thou shalt not kill.
8. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
9. Thou shalt not steal
10. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

The first four commandments deal with our relationship to God.

The 5th - moves us from focusing on our relationship to God to focusing on our relationship with others (Mark 12:28-34).

The 6th – Reminds us that God is the giver of life and only He has the right to take it.

The 7th – Calls for sexual purity and the honoring of marriage as God’s appointed way.

The 8th – God is concerned with the way we treat others.

The 9th – God forbids all form of lying, whether on the witness stand in court or with friends and neighbors.

How are you doing with these commandments?

Are The Ten Commandments For Today

Deuteronomy 4:1 – Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statues and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.

How many of us could recite the Ten Commandments that God gave us to live by?

Are we living each day based on these commandments?

Moses’ introduced these commandments in his second sermon to the Israelites before they began their conquest of the Promised Land.

They were camped east of the Jordan River.

Before the people entered into battle, they needed to know what they were fighting for.

They were in a battle for more than their homeland; they were fighting to fulfill their faith covenant with God.

In his sermon, Moses recited the 10 commandments that were written by the finger of God because of His love for His people.

The Israelites and us must understand that just knowing and teaching the 10 commandments is not enough. As believers, we must all live by them as we develop a relationship with God and others.

The question is - how many of us know the Ten Commandments? Keep reading the next blogs for the answer.

Are the Ten Commandments for today?

Supporting One Another

2 Timothy 4:16 – At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.

Paul concludes His writing to Timothy by sharing some personal remarks about supporting one another.
· He needed Timothy to come see about him because Demas, his keeper, deserted him because of his love of the world.
· Luke was with him but he wanted to see Mark who was helpful to him in ministry.
· He warns Timothy to be on guard against Alexander who harmed him.
· He reminded Timothy that God will always repay the evil that is done to those who serve Him.
· Paul’s helpers had deserted him when he stood before his accusers but God faithfully stood by him.
· The Lord stood by Him and strengthened him and the message was fully given to Gentiles.
· He told Timothy that God would rescue him from every evil and take him safely to Heaven.
· He was exhorting Timothy to stand firm no matter the difficulties he faced.

Paul knew his destination and he was prepared to meet his Lord so he overcame all difficulties to obtain a reward.


Do you have a good support base?