And we start talking...
Fast and Pray 12 Aug 2009
Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Philemon 1:6 (New International Version)
6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Acts 8:26-40 (New International Version)
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a]eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"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.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."[b]
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"[c] 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When 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. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Siyuan:
Looking at Acts 8:29-30, the specific command of the Holy Spirit to Philip was NOT to share the gospel, but to merely “go near” it. Yet Philip took the initiative to ask - bear in mind it is an official he is speaking to - and to share the good news to the eunuch!
We often ask God for promptings to share. We commit our fears to God. But we fail to initiate sharing to the people! You see, the Holy Spirit didn’t need to prompt Philip to share - he’s like a gospel-machine on autopilot mode!
All the Holy Spirit need to do is to lead him to the right person and he’ll just go ahead and share without hesitation! Let’s really be courageous and make evagelism a lifestyle like Philip!
Matric is nice, but it’s not over. People still exist after matric season, and where there is people, our mouth cannot stop sharing!
Philemon1:6 talks about sharing our faith…WITH ONE ANOTHER! Even as we share to non-believers regularly, let’s really learn to share our faith with one another. I don’t mean play monopoly deal, share teaching points only - those are great (especially if I win LoL) but we need to go further to share our convictions and our daily walk with God!
It’s been quite some time since someone in the group shared to me about their blessings, testimonies, life lessons or QT! That’s not healthy considering we meet at least 3 times per week (Service, CG, some random meet up) ! Really hope to hear more from you all so that we can all be sharpened and build up!
God reminded me too in Luke 8:37 during my QT:
Luke 8:37 (New International Version)
37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
Often we judge non-believers and unchurched as stubborn towards the Truth. On the other spectrum, we sympathetically try to clarify their doubts. The two rationales mentioned are valid in most situations, but the verse indicates that they also have certain fears when they come before Christ.
Let us pray that God will specifically soften their hearts specifically by answering their deepest fears and releasing them from bondages so that they may confidently receive Jesus!
Lord, remove the stumbling block of fear from their hearts that they may be assured and come to know You! Amen!
Shawn:
From Acts 8:20-46, we can delightfully see that God works wonders in our lives, and as long as we follow and obey his commands, He will deliever. This can be evidently seen from the (v29)29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." Hence we see Philip obeying to the Holy Spirit's command and stay near the chariot, what happens for the rest of the passage, we see God really working through Philip who merely obeyed the command.
I can really attest to this wonder of God. As most, if not all would have known, my sister converted during the first ESS. As a brother (or a Christian), I will not readily agree that I am a good testimony of God, and neither did I share anything extensively to my sister throughout my walk with God for the past two years. What I merely did was just to invite my sister to the ESS, and I really prayed, during my bus-ride to service that God will touch her with the drama and the teaching. Similar to Philip (who just went near the chariot), I just invited my sister to service, and allowed God to do His work in her. God is faithful, and He really delivers.
Our harvest will be fruitful, if we are faithful.
Ben Tay:
Acts 8:26-40
One attitude that can be learnt here is the pursuit in understanding the WOG. I look at the fervor of the eunuch in wanting to fully understand what the WOG is trying to say. When presented an opportunity for him to learn, he gladly accepted it.
Next, this passage shows the importance of knowing the WOG. One will never know when the WOG will be used, in what context etc. It is always very good to have a bank of not only the knowledge of the WOG; but, also own a bank of the experiental touch from God. Knowledge is power, experiences last forever. Knowing the WOG helps to build faith - TRUE FAITH. True faith is unshakable by external forces. It leads to Godly repentance and the embracement of God's commands and decrees.
Another thing that I took home from this passage is that we can always take the initiative to share our QT, thoughts on verses to each other. Instead of waiting for people to ask for help, why not offer help to study verses together?
Philemon 1:6
Storing up a bank of the knowledge of God is useless unless it is put into actions. Allow the logos to be rhema. Allow it to come alive within you through the Holy Spirit that convicts. There are so many ways to share our faith. Am I doing it?
Not only does sharing our faith gives souls an opportunity to enter the KOG, it also encourages and strenghtens out faith. How many times have I shared and felt worse than before? NONE! Sharing of my faith never left me drained. It has always reminded me of who I am without Christ, and His transformation power that lives within me.
Courage is something that I lack at times in sharing the truth too. God, I do not live for others. I live for You. As You have mentioned "Be strong and courageous", I don't want to look at things from this naked eyes that I have. I want to put on Your lens. Help me see through what's beneath the skin and bones; souls.
6I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Acts 8:26-40 (New International Version)
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a]eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
31"How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"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.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."[b]
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"[c] 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When 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. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Siyuan:
Looking at Acts 8:29-30, the specific command of the Holy Spirit to Philip was NOT to share the gospel, but to merely “go near” it. Yet Philip took the initiative to ask - bear in mind it is an official he is speaking to - and to share the good news to the eunuch!
We often ask God for promptings to share. We commit our fears to God. But we fail to initiate sharing to the people! You see, the Holy Spirit didn’t need to prompt Philip to share - he’s like a gospel-machine on autopilot mode!
All the Holy Spirit need to do is to lead him to the right person and he’ll just go ahead and share without hesitation! Let’s really be courageous and make evagelism a lifestyle like Philip!
Matric is nice, but it’s not over. People still exist after matric season, and where there is people, our mouth cannot stop sharing!
Philemon1:6 talks about sharing our faith…WITH ONE ANOTHER! Even as we share to non-believers regularly, let’s really learn to share our faith with one another. I don’t mean play monopoly deal, share teaching points only - those are great (especially if I win LoL) but we need to go further to share our convictions and our daily walk with God!
It’s been quite some time since someone in the group shared to me about their blessings, testimonies, life lessons or QT! That’s not healthy considering we meet at least 3 times per week (Service, CG, some random meet up) ! Really hope to hear more from you all so that we can all be sharpened and build up!
God reminded me too in Luke 8:37 during my QT:
Luke 8:37 (New International Version)
37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
Often we judge non-believers and unchurched as stubborn towards the Truth. On the other spectrum, we sympathetically try to clarify their doubts. The two rationales mentioned are valid in most situations, but the verse indicates that they also have certain fears when they come before Christ.
Let us pray that God will specifically soften their hearts specifically by answering their deepest fears and releasing them from bondages so that they may confidently receive Jesus!
Lord, remove the stumbling block of fear from their hearts that they may be assured and come to know You! Amen!
Shawn:
From Acts 8:20-46, we can delightfully see that God works wonders in our lives, and as long as we follow and obey his commands, He will deliever. This can be evidently seen from the (v29)29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." Hence we see Philip obeying to the Holy Spirit's command and stay near the chariot, what happens for the rest of the passage, we see God really working through Philip who merely obeyed the command.
I can really attest to this wonder of God. As most, if not all would have known, my sister converted during the first ESS. As a brother (or a Christian), I will not readily agree that I am a good testimony of God, and neither did I share anything extensively to my sister throughout my walk with God for the past two years. What I merely did was just to invite my sister to the ESS, and I really prayed, during my bus-ride to service that God will touch her with the drama and the teaching. Similar to Philip (who just went near the chariot), I just invited my sister to service, and allowed God to do His work in her. God is faithful, and He really delivers.
Our harvest will be fruitful, if we are faithful.
Ben Tay:
Acts 8:26-40
One attitude that can be learnt here is the pursuit in understanding the WOG. I look at the fervor of the eunuch in wanting to fully understand what the WOG is trying to say. When presented an opportunity for him to learn, he gladly accepted it.
Next, this passage shows the importance of knowing the WOG. One will never know when the WOG will be used, in what context etc. It is always very good to have a bank of not only the knowledge of the WOG; but, also own a bank of the experiental touch from God. Knowledge is power, experiences last forever. Knowing the WOG helps to build faith - TRUE FAITH. True faith is unshakable by external forces. It leads to Godly repentance and the embracement of God's commands and decrees.
Another thing that I took home from this passage is that we can always take the initiative to share our QT, thoughts on verses to each other. Instead of waiting for people to ask for help, why not offer help to study verses together?
Philemon 1:6
Storing up a bank of the knowledge of God is useless unless it is put into actions. Allow the logos to be rhema. Allow it to come alive within you through the Holy Spirit that convicts. There are so many ways to share our faith. Am I doing it?
Not only does sharing our faith gives souls an opportunity to enter the KOG, it also encourages and strenghtens out faith. How many times have I shared and felt worse than before? NONE! Sharing of my faith never left me drained. It has always reminded me of who I am without Christ, and His transformation power that lives within me.
Courage is something that I lack at times in sharing the truth too. God, I do not live for others. I live for You. As You have mentioned "Be strong and courageous", I don't want to look at things from this naked eyes that I have. I want to put on Your lens. Help me see through what's beneath the skin and bones; souls.
Labels: Our Reflections
WOOHOO! I LOVE JESUS! 11:52 PM
