Today I want to share with you something the Holy Spirit showed me many years ago about prayer and walking in the Spirit from Acts.21:8-11. The moving of the Holy Spirit is caught not taught. In other words it is practically worked out, not theoretical. It will really change things in your life including the way you process information.
You will go on to experience being taught things we as followers of Jesus must cherish and develop in order to have longevity in our Christian walk.
Now let me first of all introduce you to Philip the deacon from Acts.6:5. He comes into the picture when a crisis arises and the Apostles decide they cannot afford to leave their prayer time to solve food issues. Philip is selected as part of the team of seven men appointed to take care of this problem that has arisen.
It is certainly a very good thing to look at the requirements the Apostles give to choose who is fit for this task.Acts.6:3. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; 4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
This criteria the apostles demanded became a very salient lesson to me when I realized that the Apostles did not ask for all those who had expertise in catering and food production to appoint them, because they would be conversant with dealing with these kinds of matters and issues with food and people.
They wanted men trained in the Holy Spirit to use Godly wisdom and understanding to stop this whole issue which was seeking to invade the unity in the Holy Spirit the body of believers was experiencing.
I want us to look primarily at the person of Philip who had no title or position of preeminence in the Church because this often represents most of us who through our relationship with the Holy Spirit get an opportunity when a crisis arises to be called upon for a God solution.
This is why I say it is so important to see the progression in the life of Philip starting here and where the Holy Spirit has him positioned years after because of his commitment to being full of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians.5:18.
You will see no politicking and foul play in the life of Philip but a continuous communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit which results in him being selected for solving God issues and bringing the miraculous into play in the Kingdom of Jesus. The peace of God always prevails in an environment where the Holy Spirit rules.
Always endeavour to seek to be the candidate chosen by the Holy Spirit for God’s jobs to carry out on the Lord’s behalf. Do whatever you need to do to always be filled and full of the Holy Spirit and no one will ever be able to stop what God has purposed for you to do on earth. Let’s go on and dive further into the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of Philip. This issue of food distribution is solved through the intervention of the Holy Spirit and Philip is a part of that team.
We next find Philip mentioned in Acts.8:4-8 which reads 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. 6 And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city.
Philip comes back on the scene after the Kingdom believers are scattered and there are problems and difficulties because no one seems to know what to do after the scattering takes place. However Philip who we now know only operates on the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit launches a Kingdom campaign into Samaria on his own and has phenomenal success as this scripture points out.
We know for a fact that he heard from the Holy Spirit about this mission because in John’s gospel chapter.4:34-38 we read these words from Jesus in Samaria: Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’?
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured; others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours.”
Philip you would notice was not present at that moment but the same Holy Spirit who spoke through Jesus was and he brought that which Jesus had spoken to Philip to be the vessel used to bring to pass the salvation of souls in Samaria and give Jesus His reward for those wonderful sheep Jesus had said were on the verge of being grafted into the Kingdom.
It is odd that the Apostles though present at the time when Jesus spoke had made no plans to secure Samaria though Jesus had clearly spoken of the imminence of the harvest of Samaria.
Well the Holy Spirit was going to use Philip because he was ready and willing to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He guided him to go and reap the harvest for the Kingdom. This is the willingness the Holy Spirit wants us to have so He can accomplish God’s plans speedily through our prompt obedience.
Just take a few moments to selah on this reality and ask the Lord how many times you have been slow to take the action the Holy Spirit required of you to take harvests for the Kingdom. Repent and turn from that period of disobedience and commit your heart to following fully every instruction the Holy Spirit gives you so you can bring Jesus the harvests due Him of men turning to serve Him.
You will say this is so impressive how Philip walks with the Holy Spirit but there is more to this ability he walks in which I am going to share. Philip also because He is focused on being full of the Holy Spirit is also consistently being emptied of self.
Therefore for that reason he is not so enamoured by the results in Samaria that he decides to start his Church there and milk all the attention and position of notoriety he receives. To then pursue building up his reputation as a great Evangelist who holds large crusades.
What we see is Philip under the guidance of the Holy Spirit handing over the reins of this campaign to the Apostles who come to see how greatly the Lord has moved and fulfilled what Jesus had spoken to them in John.4. Philip then goes instantly again on the leading of the Holy Spirit to a desert area with no clear indication of what this new mission would entail. Acts.8:26-30
Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is ]desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?
You will notice that once Philip moves on the word to go towards the desert the Mission becomes clearer and Philip has a conversation with the Ethiopian eunuch in his carriage as he is returning to Ethiopia have taken this time to seek the Lord and his answer was with Philip which was about to happen.
My dearest brethren let us be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His moving so we are ever present to bring God’s answer on time to peoples prayers. Philip was so much on time that as the Eunuch asked the question as he read the scripture from Isaiah, Philip was available to give him the answer from the Lord instantly. Just imagine what that did for the Eunuch trust in the Lord he had chosen to follow.
Philip then baptized him and he returns to Ethiopia in the joy of the Holy Spirit with a new relationship with the Lord which could now grow and bring forth revival into Africa and spread the Kingdom into all the world as Jesus had declared would happen. Just take some time and meditate on Acts.8:31-39.
You will be gloriously changed as you ask the Holy Spirit to work that level of spiritual accuracy in your life and make you a candidate for the miraculous of the Holy Spirit being manifested through you as it was in Philip’s life.
This reality of walking in the Holy Spirit’s glory zone comes from continuous communion time and conversation with the Holy Spirit about Jesus’s program and plan for each day in the Kingdom process. We always want to make sure we are in step with the Holy Spirit and not lagging behind sorting out our unwillingness to just trust and obey His leading and guidance.
This study on the Holy Spirit in the life of Philip continues on as the Ethiopian Eunuch comes out of the water filled with joy. Philip is then transported to his next mission ground by the Holy Spirit and we find him again accomplishing some ministry work for Jesus in another area. Acts.8:39 & 40.
I asked the Holy Spirit when He revealed this truth to me of Philip’s surrender to Him and ability to walk the paths of the Lord that I would be granted grace to experience this level of union with the Holy Spirit and always be found on the cutting edge of anything the Lord is doing. I thank the Lord that He has granted me this grace, to experience the working of the Holy Spirit.
However no matter what I have received and experienced, I press on further for a deeper revelation of the knowledge of God and more miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit. This is to make men marvel at the absolute Might, Power and supremacy of the Person of Jesus and turn from evil to serve Him.
I can now conclude this discourse focusing on the life of Philip as recorded in Acts.21:8-11 where we met him again years on and he is still in close communion with the Holy Spirit and now has his four virgin daughters who prophesied all day and kept full of the Holy Spirit. Agabus the Prophet loved visiting his home because the Presence of the Lord saturated that home. Where people honor the Holy Spirit there is always a greater measure of Power released.
Philip trained his daughters to love communion with the Holy Spirit and the result is the prophecies of the Lord manifesting daily in that home. Philip’s home had more of the Holy Spirit working there than the Church which started in Jerusalem which had become a monument.
The whole interest of that family was God totally centred and God surely blessed and multiplied out His abundant goodness in their lives. As the Holy Spirit revealed this scripture to me it became so clear why Philip had such precise direction in the Holy Spirit because his daughters and himself spent all day seeking the will of the Lord and executed obedience promptly so there were no gaps or laps in their results due to human failure.
This is the place I believe the Holy Spirit wants us walking over years without any drop in our spiritual intensity so the Kingdom of Jesus is not hindered from manifesting on earth.
I pray today that as you have become privy to this important revelation of the progression in the Holy Spirit you will wholeheartedly embrace the grace supplied through these words and embrace the necessary changes you will need to make, to be in this position spiritually to experience these kinds of astounding miracles and God harvests in such unique ways that startle Nations. Thus bringing God’s ancient plans into reality in the eyes of men faithfully and truly.
Start by daily giving the Holy Spirit more time and watch how your life will be promoted in the realm of the Spirit which will manifest in signs, wonders and miracles to glorify the name of Jesus. Position yourself to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit who will guide you into all truth.
Then He will begin to reveal to you events of the future and how to navigate difficulties so you are never caught in the schemes satan raises against you. You will begin to see all enemy attacks melt like wax at the Presence of the Lord exuding from your union with the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit today I ask you in Jesus name to create a new walk in the life of those who choose to follow this path of communion with you and cause them to experience the true reality of all Jesus wants for their lives to manifest.
Give them a new sense of accomplishment as you guide and lead them to accomplish things that would take fifty years to manifest to be done in weeks so they come into the reality of just how great the resurrected Jesus really is and how He sees them as His co-heirs of all things. Grant this prayer I declare in Jesus name. Amen.