A SPECIAL APPOINTMENT

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PHILIP

Read Acts 8:26–40; Isaiah 53:7–8

            Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."  Acts 8:26 NIV

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            God had a special appointment for Philip on a desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza.  Though he didn't know it, he was to meet with the chief treasurer for Queen Candace of Ethiopia. This man was sitting in his chariot reading aloud from the book of Isaiah the prophet.

           Philip approached and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me? …who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"(8:30b-31a, 34bNIV)

           The passage read, "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice…For his life was taken from the earth." (Acts 8:32–33 NIV)  Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. (8:35)

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            Philip didn't know why he was told to go to the desert, but God had a specific reason for sending him there. Lord, when I am worried, help me to trust Your leading for our family, knowing that You have a purpose for our lives, and perhaps that purpose will be to influence and encourage other people along the way.

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            Then…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. Acts 8:38-39 NIV