Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Acts 6
Set – Job 2; Acts 6
Go! – Job 1-2; Acts 6-7
Acts 6
1 Things were going well, and the number of disciples was growing. But a problem arose. The Greek-speaking believers became frustrated with the Hebrew-speaking believers. The Greeks complained that the Greek-speaking widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. 2 The twelve convened the entire community of disciples.
The Twelve: We could solve this problem ourselves, but that wouldn’t be right. We need to focus on proclaiming God’s message, not on distributing food. 3 So, friends, find seven respected men from the community of faith. These men should be full of the Holy Spirit and full of wisdom. Whomever you select we will commission to resolve this matter 4 so we can maintain our focus on praying and serving—not meals—but the message.
5 The whole community—Greek-speaking and Hebrew-speaking—was very pleased with this plan, so they chose seven men: Stephen (a man full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a Greek-speaking convert from Antioch). 6 These men were presented to the apostles, who then prayed for them and commissioned them by laying their hands on them. 7 The message of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples continued to increase significantly there in Jerusalem. Even priests in large numbers became obedient to the faith.
8 Stephen continually overflowed with extraordinary grace and power, and he was able to perform a number of miraculous signs and wonders in public view. 9 But eventually a group arose to oppose Stephen and the message to which his signs and wonders pointed. (These men were from a group called the Free Synagogue and included Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asians.) 10 The Holy Spirit gave Stephen such wisdom in responding to their arguments that they were humiliated; 11 in retaliation, they spread a vicious rumor: “We heard Stephen speak blasphemies against Moses and God.”
12 Their rumor prompted an uprising that included common people, religious officials, and scholars. They surprised Stephen, grabbed him, and hauled him before the council. 13 They convinced some witnesses to give false testimony.
False Witnesses: This fellow constantly degrades the holy temple and mocks our holy law. 14 With our own ears, we’ve heard him say this Jesus fellow, this Nazarene he’s always talking about, will actually destroy the holy temple and will try to change the sacred customs we received from Moses.
15 The entire council turned its gaze on Stephen to see how he would respond. They were shocked to see his face radiant with peace—as if he were a heavenly messenger.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Everyone can show grace every once in a while. Everyone can be kind to someone else or show mercy to another of their fellow-man. Everyone can give to another on occasion or comfort someone who is hurting or in need. Everyone has some spark of decency within them when some special occasion calls for it. No one is complete and pure evil because I created each person in My image.
However, Stephen continually overflowed with extraordinary grace and power. Did you get that? It came about because Stephen gave himself to Me. He decided he no longer wanted to follow the ways of man and would follow Me. So Stephen emptied himself and let Me fill his life with My Spirit. He let Me direct his life. When he saw someone in need and I nudged him to do something about it, he didn’t hesitate, but instead, went out of his way to do what he could to help that person.
Stephen mimicked My actions when I walked alongside you in the flesh. When he saw someone hungry, he gave them food. When he saw someone sick, he did what he could to minister to their ills. When he saw someone in prison, he cared for them and ministered to them. When he saw widows and orphans who could not care for themselves, he cared for them. Stephen did what I did when he saw others around him that he could help.
So what made Stephen so different from everyone else? The difference was his upper room experience. He was a man full of faith and filled with the Holy Spirit, My Spirit. He prayed through on the morning of Pentecost and found what I asked him to find. He found Me that morning in all My glory as Stephen let Me live in him as his comforter and guide. With Me living in him, Stephen could wear the countenance of an angel. He could be at peace in front of the Sanhedrin who accused him of blasphemy even when innocent of the charges. He could face death at the hands of false accusers and false witness and ask for their forgiveness because his spirit was given over to My Spirit.
You can do the same. Stephen wasn’t special, except he gave himself to Me. Then, Stephen became extraordinary!
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