Daily Devotional For Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Good morning Southside! Have you ever had one of those moments when you knew the Lord was speaking to you? God is not limited in how He speaks to us. The key is to know when He is. In the Book of Acts, we have the story of the Gospel breaking out from a Jewish world to now a Gentile world. Look at Acts 8:26-29:
“But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ This is a desert road. (27) So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, (28) and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. (29) Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot’” (NASB).
You know Jesus’ words in John 3:16 and Luke 19:10. This is proof that the Gospel has a global and inclusive message to anyone of all races, ethnicities, cultures and languages. In this instance, an angel of the Lord directed Philip to go south. Philip, without one single question being asked (or at least recorded by Luke or delay), got up and went immediately. God had already set everything up. All Philip had to do was obey God. God had already handled all the details—set up the appointment, timed the arrival of the Ethiopian, and told Philip which chariot and what to do. After this encounter Philip would be whisked to his next assignment.
Ethiopia is south of Egypt. This eunuch was obviously a very dedicated follower of Judaism. He has gone up to Jerusalem. This would have been a great distance for him to do this and this shows his passion to serve and love the God of Israel. Ethiopia, called Cush, in the Old Testament, was a country Israel had contact (see Psalm 68:31; Jeremiah 38:7). The fact a scroll of Isaiah, says he was a follower of the God of Israel. “Candace” was a title for the monarch of Ethiopia, somewhat the way “Pharaoh” was used in Egypt and “Caesar” in Rome. The fact that this court official was in charge of her entire treasury shows that he was an extremely high-placed and well-trusted member of the government.
“New Testament scholar Bruce B. Barton writes this: The law prohibited a eunuch from entering “the assembly of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 23:1), but Isaiah 56:3-5 speaks of eunuchs being accepted by God. In Greek writings, however, “eunuch” may have been simply a governmental title as opposed to the usual meaning—a man who has been emasculated. The distance of Ethiopia from Israel underscores the tremendous commitment of this individual to come to Jerusalem to worship. And how this trip of this faithful worshiper was rewarded! The fact that the official was seated in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah are clues to his importance and wealth. Because the eunuch was seated, he must have had a hired driver. To own a scroll of the Scriptures (handwritten and thus rare) likewise indicated wealth” (Source: Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary, “Acts,” p. 145).
Philip responded to the voice of the Lord to meet this Ethiopian Eunuch. Bear in mind that the angel didn’t tell Philip why. Furthermore, Philip didn’t know whom he would meet. From a human perspective, the new orders didn’t make sense. He was instructed to leave his extremely successful ministry among the many populated villages of Samaria for a lonely road in the remote hill country, a two-day journey south. Acts 8:26-40 shares a fascinating story of how God used Philip to introduce another man to Jesus. It begins with an angel telling Philip to travel a certain road. When he sees a man sitting in a chariot and reading the words of Isaiah, the Spirit tells Philip to go to the man and ask him if he understands what he is reading.
Philip explains Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus, and by the end of the story, the man is baptized, and the Spirit takes Philip away to his next ministry assignment. God wants us to call upon His Spirit for help. We often will call on everyone and everything else before we ask God’s Spirit for His help. We depend on social media to tell us where to go and GPS to tell us how to get there. Let’s begin to trust God’s Spirit and ask for His direction. He will lead us exactly where we need to go. The only question is: when God speaks to us to go, will we?
Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:
“Being an effective witness for Christ is neither easy nor natural. God knows that. He understood the problem so well that He instructed the followers of Christ to remain still until they received divine power to help them achieve the difficult and to accomplish the supernatural. Only then could they become His witnesses at home, across town, and around the world (Acts 1:8.)
Most of us struggle with our responsibility to be effective witnesses for Christ. We’re hampered by fear, mostly of the unknown. We’re discouraged by ignorance, worried that others will ask questions we can’t answer or that we won’t “get it right.” And—let’s face it—we’re held back by indifference; we just don’t care enough about others to tell them the most important news they’ll ever hear. So, we ease our guilty consciences in all sorts of clever ways while avoiding the Lord’s most direct command: “Be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8) – Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Acts,” p. 151).
The fact that this Ethiopian official was reading in his chariot, implies that he had a driver. This shows how powerful an official he was in the Ethiopian government. If you read all of Acts 8:26-40, you will see that this Ethiopian Eunuch gave His life to Christ and was baptized. With his high position in the Ethiopian government, God had a wonderful witness through this man to the Ethiopian people. There is always a bigger picture for God that we often cannot see and may never see.
Assignment: Ask God this week to lead you to someone who needs the Gospel shared with them or someone who is struggling in their faith. I am praying that for everyone who reads this devotional, God will do a “Philip Maneuver” on them as well. Just like with Philip, who had to travel a great distance by foot downhill 2,500 feet from the hills of Jerusalem to the coast where Gaza is. So, you have to ask yourself, is the soul of someone going to hell worth some inconvenience to you? Which scares you more – you fear that God might send you to witness to a lost person or the fear that if you don’t, they might go to hell? It is not the fear; it’s what you do with it? So, what will you do with your fear?
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (ESV).
Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, thank You for being my refuge and strength, my ever-present help in times of trouble. I praise You for sending Your Holy Spirit to be my comforter, counselor, helper, intercessor, advocate, and strengthener of my soul. In times of need, may my first response be to turn to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly