“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Acts 8:4-5 Philip is a great example as we consider the way the Lord leads His people and places them exactly where He wants them, In Acts Chapter 6, along with the other Deacons chosen to minister in the church at Jerusalem the Bible tells us he was “full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,” As the church grew in Jerusalem, so did persecution, causing them to scatter to other places. Philip went to the…
“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” John 6:9 Let us pretend that we are part of the crowd that has followed Jesus because of His miracles. As we look around us, we see about five thousand men, plus women and children. We watch as a small boy edges close to the front. He is near enough to hear when Jesus talks with Andrew and Philip about the need to feed the people. He hears their argument that it would take a great amount of food, and there was not any place near to buy it, even if they had the money. Let us call this young lad, Jonathan. We watch as he pulls out the little lunch his mother had given him before he left that morning. He is hungry but realizes he would not feel right eating it if others did not have anything. So hesitantly, he steps up to Andrew and tells him he is willing to share what he has with others. Andrew, possibly feeling a bit doubtful, takes Jonathan with him and tells Jesus what he has. Can you imagine the…
“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.” I Kings 17:14 God often chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. A Serious Situation The Bible does not reveal this woman’s name, it only says that she was a widow with a child. She had no means of support and apparently, no family near to help her. Checking her pantry, she found only a little bit of flour and enough oil to make one last small cake for her and her boy. She went outside and gathered enough twigs to make a fire and met with a stranger. A Bold Request When Elijah asked her for a drink and something to eat, she must have felt very embarrassed to tell him she only had enough food for one more meal for her child. Knowing her situation, he had the nerve to request that she make a cake for him first. He assured her that if she did that, her supplies would last until the famine was over. A Miracle She believed the words of Elijah and…
“For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 The Book of Esther is a fitting example of how the Lord knows the future and puts people in places where they will be used for His purpose. Mordecai had taken his orphaned cousin, Esther, into his home and raised her as his own. The Bible describes her as fair…
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” Romans 8:28 The Bible is filled with amazing stories of how God chose people for a specific purpose, and how He carefully provided the necessary resources to bring His plan to completion. Impossible Odds In Exodus 2 we are introduced to Baby Moses, born at an inconvenient time. Pharaoh had decreed that all the Hebrew baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile River. But God had a plan for this little boy far in the future and He had set the people in place to protect him. A Creative Solution His mother, Jochebed, kept him hidden for three months and then she devised a way to fulfill the king’s order and yet save her child. She wove a basket of reeds and coated it with slime. Wrapping her precious boy in a soft blanket, she whispered a prayer, laid him inside, and set the basket afloat. An Unlikely Deliverer It was no coincidence that the daughter of Pharaoh was walking near the river that day. God always puts people in place, to bring…
“But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk.” I Corinthians 7:17 The Message reads “And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey, love, and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life.” Have you ever asked yourself the question: “Why am I here?” Perhaps you look at your circumstances and think that you would be better off somewhere else. Maybe you have thought that if you had a different family, lived in a different town, went to a different church, or had a better job, you could do so much more for the Lord. The Lord has a purpose and a plan for each one of us. We may not always understand why He leads us in the way He does. Sometimes we may wonder how different life might have been if we had made different choices. As we look back on the path we have walked, we realize that the Lord had a big picture in mind. He knew what would happen in the future, and so led us…