Daily Bread - FEB/16/07
Acts 8:39 - "And when they came up from the water the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away and the Eunuch saw him no more so he went on his way rejoicing."
The book of Acts records a constant display of the extraordinary power of God in the church and the life of the believers. In this event in the ministry of Philip, the word "harpazo" is used which may be translated "seize, catch away, or snatch away." This is the same word used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which speaks of the time when the Lord Jesus returns to meet His saints in the air, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
These events in the life of Philip communicate to us how that the ministers of the church lived by the direct influence and direction of the Holy Spirit. The same display of power that was in the life of Jesus when He and His disciples were translated should still be observed in the many different miraculous ways of Jesus' ministry today (John 6:19-21; 14:12).
When God's ministers are so under the control of the Holy Spirit that God translates them from one place to the other, then there can be little question as to the realty of God. The church is supposed to have a reputation for great exploits and the demonstration of the power of God so that the world around us can fear and tremble at the awesome reality of God. It is essential that we as the saints of God return to such holy communion with God that we live more in the heavenly than in the earthly (Colossians 3:1-4; Ephesians 2:6; 3:10; Hebrews 11: 16; 6:4).
The great exploits and power of God were demonstrated in many different ways in the lives of those in the Old Testament as well. Among other things Enoch, Elijah, and Ezekiel are examples of those who were translated by the Spirit of God (Hebrews 11:5; 2 Kings 2:11; Ezekiel 3:14). Evidently, it was somewhat common for Elijah to be translated by the Spirit to different locations, and the nations around him trembled at the awesome power of His God that was displayed in His life (2 Kings 2:16; 1 Kings 18:12).
Blessings,
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org
About Me
- Carol L
- San Diego area, California, United States
- I started this blog back in 2005, but in 2006 began dedicating it solely for the purpose of posting email messages called, Daily Bread, sent out Monday through Saturday by my pastor, Mark Spitsbergen. These daily emails contain fresh revelation that Mark gets from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit for that day for the church that God has called him to pastor, Abiding Place. 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6), and He says, "The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life." (John 6:63). For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
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