Daily Manna 22 April
KEY VERSE: “And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?” – (Acts 8:30)
READ: Acts 8:26-40 (KJV)
26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
General Douglas MacArthur, in his book, Reminiscences, shared his experience as a student at US Military Academy, West Point. “The first session was studying the time-space relationship later formulated by Einstein as his Theory of Relativity. The text was complex and, being unable to comprehend it, I committed the pages to memory. When I was called upon to recite, I solemnly reeled off almost word for word what the book said. Our instructor, Colonel Fieberger, looked at me somewhat quizzically and asked, “Do you understand this theory?” It was a bad moment for me, but I did not hesitate in replying, “No, sir.” You could have heard a pin drop. I braced myself and waited.And then the slow words of the professor: “Neither do I, Mr MacArthur. Session dismissed.”
Like General MacArthur, the Ethiopian eunuch too did not understand what he read, but Philip did. The Ethiopian was reading a passage from the book of Isaiah about the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Philip did not leave him in the dark. He started from the passage he was reading to tell him about Jesus.
Creating time to read the Scriptures is very important in these last days. True devotional life begins with the desire to read the Scriptures. But reading with comprehension is equally important. That is where attendance of regular fellowship can be handy and profitable. There are many “Philips” around who will always help when we make it clear enough that we need further explanations from the Bible. Many other Christian literatures and even daily devotionals like this volume in your hand can be good sources of illumination to difficult passages.
With the help of the Holy Spirit and willing people like Philip, you can understand the Bible and make the best of your devotional time with God every day.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: With the Spirit’s help, you can understand what you read.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Romans 4-6
Thank you for studying today’s Daily Manna – Understandest Thou What Thou Readest? – by Pastor Enoch A.
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Daily Manna 22 April 2021
