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November 18th
The bible reading today is in Acts 7,8.
The church in Jerusalem was growing by leaps and bounds. The apostles could not have imagined that the numbers of converts would multiply so rapidly. So how would the apostles handle it?
They did two things...They recommitted themselves to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, as well as to prayer. Then they asked the church in Jerusalem to choose, from among them, seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to tackle a very pressing matter in the infant church...someone needed to stir up service to the many and diverse widows in the church. The seven men were chosen and on purpose service to church members began big time.
And one of those serving heroes was Stephen...not only one of the first official deacons in the church, but also the church’s first martyr for the faith...and before he was stoned to death, he refused to recant...Jesus is Lord...and he asked the Father to forgive the ones who were putting him to death...just like Jesus did from the cross.
And Stephen, full of grace and power?...Well, he died.
He did not have a long ministry...but it was fruitful...because he yielded the sail of his life and faith to the wind of the Spirit and was excited about going in the direction of the Spirit’s blowing...which turned out to be loving on widows one day and standing his ground, even unto death, the next.
“Thanks, Stephen..”
And Lord, make us excited servants...servants of You, Jesus Christ...servants to our church...servants who will be willing to give our lives away for the sake of the gospel...a Jesus way of life that can be ours even as it was for Stephen.
And guess who authorized the execution of Stephen. Then Saul, who after his own conversion to Christ, became the great Apostle Paul. More grace and power...
Have a great day
