Winged Migration“Now when they come 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. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.” (Acts 8:39-40) The 2001 French film Le Peuple Migrateur or Winged Migration is a documentary on migratory pattern of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents. While it is normal for birds to fly, the Bible in the Book of Acts records a supernatural instance of winged migration. Philip was one of the first businessmen who was given a commission to preach the gospel. He was in Samaria or the modern day West Bank preaching when many miracles began to take place and the crowds came to see what was happening. Then in the midst of this great outpouring of God, the angel of God told Philip to leave Samaria and go south to a desert road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. Philip must have questioned the logic of this command when he was seeing such results in Samaria, but he was obedient. Along the road to Gaza, he met an Ethiopian eunuch who wanted to have the Bible explained to him. Philip explained the Book of Isaiah to the Ethiopian, who was the treasurer of Ethiopia under Queen Candace, led him to salvation, and baptized him in the water nearby. After he rose out of the water, Philip was supernaturally transported on the wings of the Holy Spirit many miles north of his location to Azotus, where he preached the gospel of salvation of Jesus Christ in every city along the way toward his final destination of Caesarea. Many of us have heard people say they cannot read the Bible, participate in an event, a service, or activity for God because of the time it will take away from their family or business. Imagine how lame this excuse sounds to God when He has called each of us to be good stewards of our time and resources. We may think that if we give our time or read a spiritual email, our business will suffer, but God redeemed the time for Philip by supernaturally transporting him to the next place he was to be. God always blesses those who serve Him, and He can redeem lost time for those who willingly give of themselves for His purposes. Do not fall into the devil’s lies of believing that God cannot redeem the time you give for Him when you pray, give thanks, or study His Word. There have been countless examples of people who experienced God’s supernatural increase for time given for the sake of the gospel through unexpected business or extraordinary income that resulted after they took time away from their business for service to God. God desires that we respond as Philip did in order to be used by Him in the life of someone else. Listen to the Holy Spirit and do not fear the consequences of leaving your business, friends or family for a time. God will make it up supernaturally and abundantly, for He always blesses those who are obedient to Him.Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
|