Go to GAZA!

Posted : 11 Aug, 2014 03:22 AM

You ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

� James 4:15



The book of Acts tells the story of Philip and how the Lord was blessing him in Samaria as he preached the gospel. Everything was going well. People were coming to faith.



Miracles were taking place.



Then God told him to go to the desert. And not only did God tell him to go to the desert, but He told him to go to Gaza, to a desolate road that was rarely used. And not only did He tell him to go to this rarely used road, but He told him to go at the hottest time of the day. Essentially God said, "Go out to the middle of the desert to a deserted road in the middle of the afternoon, and I will show you what to do next."



Let's read about it:



Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian



26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, �Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to GAZA.� This is desert.



27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, �Go near and overtake this chariot.�



30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, �Do you understand what you are reading?�



31 And he said, �How can I, unless someone guides me?� And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:



�He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away,

And who will declare His generation?

For His life is taken from the earth.�



34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, �I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?� 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.



***YES, this ancient prophecy in Isaiah 53 was uttered by God about the death of the Son of God 2000 years before the existence of Islam and the birth of Jesus on our planet!***



And the eunuch said, �See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?�



37 Then Philip said, �If you believe with all your heart, you may.�



And he answered and said, �I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.�



38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

Acts 8



Sometimes the will of God doesn't make sense. We may plan to do a certain thing, but God may intervene. He might have another plan. The idea is that we should remember God in our plans, and we should also remember He may change our plans.



Often in his writings, the apostle Paul would refer to the will of God for his life. He told the believers at Ephesus he would return to them for renewed ministry if God willed. And he wrote to the Corinthians that he planned to visit them if the Lord willed. That is important for us to factor into our plans as well. We always should remember, "If the Lord wills."



Sometimes the Lord will lead us differently from where we would like to go. But what we must come to recognize is that the will of God is perfect, and we should never be afraid of it.

Post Reply