The Truth Prevails

"But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke." Acts 6:10

The person spoken of in this verse is Stephen. Stephen was one of the first ministry leaders or deacons in the early church. An earlier verse says he was “full of grace and power”. He was a hardworking, exemplary, bold spokesperson for the cause of Christ.
There are a few especially dedicated individuals who are describes specifically in the Book of Acts of the Apostles. Stephen was such a follower of Christ and so compelling and effective that he became the first martyr. Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Christ’s resurrection. It should be noted that a young Pharisee named Saul (who after his conversion was named Paul), gave approval of his killing. Wow, the interwoven plot and teaching of the Word of God thickens, doesn’t it?

Listen to Me!

"Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these charges true?" To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran." Acts 7:1-2

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?” To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran.

God Is In Control

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:" Ecclesiastes 3:1

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

Filled with the Holy Spirit Again

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Acts 4:11

As I write devotionals through the Book of Acts, I am struck by the details that come to light when I read longer sections of scripture. Some of the events that happened with the disciples are well known and others are less often taught or covered in Bible studies. This verse happens after Peter and John report back to the early believers about their experience before the Sanhedrin. The priests had instructed them to not speak the name of Jesus. Of course, they said they could not stop. Peter and John then go back to their own people and shared their hearts, to which the believers quote scripture about how rulers will gather against the Lord. Then a prayer is made on behalf of all asking God to stretch out His hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of His holy servant Jesus. At the end of that prayer, the room shakes and all are filled with the Holy Spirit and each one spoke the word boldly.

One Heart and One Mind

"All the believers were one in heart and mind." Acts 5:32

Unity is one of the most powerful forces possible. In order for unity to take place and be maintained there must be mutual surrender to a commonality. That common ground can only be Christ. He is the head of the Body, and when all surrender to Him as head, He can draw together everyone in that wonderful thing called unity. When we are in "one accord" as some versions read, all pettiness, division, disharmony, acrimony, personal agenda and politics can be put aside. This phenomenon happens when pastors, leaders and people agree to make Him the most important thing. We must always keep the main thing, the main thing. All other opinions and preferences must be subject to Christ's control. Someone might say, 'o.k. BUT, who then gets to make decisions? All decisions must be made prayerfully and with careful consideration of guidance from His Word. Whenever any group of humans tries to work together for the Lord there can and will be conflict. The prayerful and humble resolution of conflict in the spirit of unity is an amazing process to see. I have experienced it a number of times and I must say it is awesome to watch God's Spirit move in a group of brothers and sisters. I also must confess that it is a lot easier to experience unity either when there is tremendous success or progress or especially when there is tremendous persecution or attack. People rally together when they are advancing or when they have to defend the main thing.

Believers

"In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)…]" Acts 1:15

Parenthetical words are important. In this case, the purpose of this particular set of parentheses is to modify the word ‘believers’ and put emphasis on it, clarifying how many that actually was. Luke (the writer of Acts) gives us an approximate number of 120. I wonder what we can derive from this number? Numbers are funny. Sometimes statistics can be vitally important, at other times they don’t accurately account for what is really important. I have both minimized and maximized the numbers whether it is church attendance, or giving, or baptisms, or participants in a ministry or activity.

Sharing

"No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." Acts 4:13b

For such a short and succinct verse there are a few little sensitive subjects herein; personal ownership, private property, sharing and the concept of 'everything'. As those who live in the most prosperous nation ever we, are motivated often by capitalistic and entrepreneurial themes to an extreme. The idea of personal responsibility loses its depth of meaning if it ends up being "money-grubbing" or "selfish". Ownership can be a good thing as long as we don't start rubbing our hands together and saying, "Mine! Mine! It's all mine!!" There is a small space on the attitude continuum between frugal and unwilling to share.

Isaiah 41:10

"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Do you ever open your bible at the end of the day (especially if it has been a rough day) and then God just really speaks to your heart ?? Well that happened to me last night…….i was tired, not feeling well and when I opened my bible to Isaiah this is what God spoke to me……….

Never Stop

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

This is one of those verses that needs phrase by phrase brief illustration to make a few points. Remember, this is taking place in the midst of persecution and immediately following Peter and John, and the other apostles being flogged. We should take this verse and what the apostles did to heart and imitate them.

How Easy to Overlook

"In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food." Acts 6:1

Don’t ever presume that the early church had fewer problems than we do, today. Where there are people, there are problems. The complaint department was just as busy 2,000 years ago. Whether there was rampant inequality or favoritism in this case, the trouble was created by numerical growth, plus the combining of groups of people who hadn’t been together before. These dynamics not only create logistical issues, they also put pressure on closed systems. Fairness and equal access to ministry programs were also problematic in the Old Testament times.