Led by the Spirit: Journey Through the Book of Acts Part 1Sample

Day 12: When He Speaks

One of the most underrated qualities of a disciple of Christ is obedience. This is probably because obedience sounds unglamorous, unexciting and unoriginal. In fact, many associate obedience with weakness, timidity, naïveté, and servitude. Yet in the Book of Acts, obedient believers obeyed the voice of the Holy Spirit when He spoke. As such, they were used powerfully by the Spirit of God to smash old barriers and break new ground for the Gospel. Ordinary believers became heroes in the faith because of their unconditional obedience to God.

Philip the evangelist obeyed God to leave a flourishing ministry in Samaria (Acts 8:4-8, 12) for the desert of Gaza (Acts 8:26-27a). Today, many of us may struggle to exchange our fruitful service for a ministry on harder ground. Perhaps we should learn from Philip, who had no qualms leaving his achievements behind to head for the wilderness when the Lord told him to.

Do we let our accomplishments stand in the way to start all over again in an unfamiliar territory when God speaks? Perhaps we rationalise, “We can’t go when we are still needed here.” The truth is, there are needs everywhere, and we do not have to be the ones to meet a specific need. We must let the Spirit, our Commander-in-chief, decide how and where to deploy us. A good soldier is not one who wins every battle but one who obeys orders and is faithful at his post.

Wherever God sends us, there is always an opportunity to serve when we are sensitive to the Spirit. God directed Philip to go to the desert, where he met an Ethiopian eunuch who was a Gentile follower of the Jewish religion (Acts 8:27b-28). Because Philip acted on the Spirit’s orders, he managed to share the good news to the eunuch, who received the Gospel with joy (Acts 8:36-38, 39b).

Some may think there is a dichotomy between believers who are “Word-based” and those who are “Spirit-conscious.” The former meet God and serve others with their intellectual understanding of the Word, while the latter do so through their intuition and experience of the Spirit. However, Philip’s story shows us that such dichotomy should not exist. He was both full of the Spirit (Acts 6:3-5) and well-versed in Scripture. We must be both Word-based and Spirit-conscious if we want to encounter God and be effective for Him.

Reflect

• When God speaks, what can prevent you from obeying Him? What are some of your weaknesses that the devil can exploit to stop you from following the Spirit’s lead?
• Like Philip, we are sent by God to participate in His redemptive mission in the world. But sometimes, instead of living as a sent people, we live as if we are just trying to survive. What can help you to remember that you are sent by God on His mission to draw others to Him?