Springs in the Wasteland
Only three more days of July. The close we get to August the more I am reminded of summer's ends and school's beginning. Soon, I will have to change my livejournal colors back to fall... sigh.
A spider just lowered itself between my face and the computer screen. It was almost comical how identical it was to little miss muffit. However, I didn't scream. I didn't even jump. I have officially lived in the basement too long. I just picked it up by its string of web and put it on the ground.
Pastor Denny challenged us to read the Bible every day for 6 weeks straight in order to form the habit. So I decided to start in Acts. Acts is probably my favorite book in the Bible because it is learning evangelism and the Christian life hands on through the apostles.
Anyway, today I read the story of the Ethiopian Eunich. My literature classes have taught me how to pay attention to detail. so the first thing I notice is that The Spirit of God led Philip down a "desert road." Never paid that attention before, but this year God has driven the idea of "desert experiences" into my mind and heart and so the word popped out. I then notice that the man the Spirit sent Philip to talk to was first Ethipian (definitely not Jewish) and second a eunich (kinda weird). So God has sent Philip down the desert road to talk to a strange foreigner who is reading from Isaiah about Christ. This opens up a perfect opportunity for Philip to share Christ with the ethiopian. So the Ethiopian (lets call him Ed) accepts Christ and is overjoyed. Just then there is a spring of water and the Ed says, "Hey here's some water, I should be baptized!" This is more than happenstance. When I first read this story I chalked it up as a God-incidence. God had them travel to water so he could be baptized. But in reality, this is somewhat miraculous... after all, this is a desert road. springs in the desert... it reminded me of a verse. Then I remembered. The verse is in Isaiah! Exactly 10 chapters before the Messianic prophecy that Ed was reading in his chariot! It says...
"Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
I can see Philip saying " Yeah, ya know all those ancient stories, all the laws about "the Chosen People" and the Gentiles and how to live with foreigners..... God is doing a new thing!!! The risen Jesus sent His Spirit to me to tell me to walk down this desert road to tell you, a Gentile Eunich about the new thing that He did on the cross. Hey look.... A spring in the wasteland! "
A spider just lowered itself between my face and the computer screen. It was almost comical how identical it was to little miss muffit. However, I didn't scream. I didn't even jump. I have officially lived in the basement too long. I just picked it up by its string of web and put it on the ground.
Pastor Denny challenged us to read the Bible every day for 6 weeks straight in order to form the habit. So I decided to start in Acts. Acts is probably my favorite book in the Bible because it is learning evangelism and the Christian life hands on through the apostles.
Anyway, today I read the story of the Ethiopian Eunich. My literature classes have taught me how to pay attention to detail. so the first thing I notice is that The Spirit of God led Philip down a "desert road." Never paid that attention before, but this year God has driven the idea of "desert experiences" into my mind and heart and so the word popped out. I then notice that the man the Spirit sent Philip to talk to was first Ethipian (definitely not Jewish) and second a eunich (kinda weird). So God has sent Philip down the desert road to talk to a strange foreigner who is reading from Isaiah about Christ. This opens up a perfect opportunity for Philip to share Christ with the ethiopian. So the Ethiopian (lets call him Ed) accepts Christ and is overjoyed. Just then there is a spring of water and the Ed says, "Hey here's some water, I should be baptized!" This is more than happenstance. When I first read this story I chalked it up as a God-incidence. God had them travel to water so he could be baptized. But in reality, this is somewhat miraculous... after all, this is a desert road. springs in the desert... it reminded me of a verse. Then I remembered. The verse is in Isaiah! Exactly 10 chapters before the Messianic prophecy that Ed was reading in his chariot! It says...
"Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
I can see Philip saying " Yeah, ya know all those ancient stories, all the laws about "the Chosen People" and the Gentiles and how to live with foreigners..... God is doing a new thing!!! The risen Jesus sent His Spirit to me to tell me to walk down this desert road to tell you, a Gentile Eunich about the new thing that He did on the cross. Hey look.... A spring in the wasteland! "