REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, first posted on January 15, 2017, is provided by Mei Lan Thallman who was serving Grace Covenant Church at the time.
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
“Be Bold for Christ”
Acts 6:8-15; 7:54-60
Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Sontephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
We saw yesterday how the early church was growing rapidly and thriving. In the midst of exciting growth they also faced increasing challenges, obstacles and oppositions from both inside and outside the church. The church struggled with disunity due to conflicts and complains about unequal food distribution among the widows. God’s solution was to appoint Spirit filled leaders to meet practical needs while modeling and teaching godly principals and attitudes. Wisely instructing the young flock as a follower of Christ, their objective in life is not only to look out for their own interest but to consider the welfare of others in God’s family, the church.
Today’s texts offer us a few snap shots of how the same powerful Holy Spirit strengthened Stephen to face the fierce opposition from outside the church. Perhaps it started out as a friendly conversation about faith that quickly turned into a heated debate. These men formed a vendetta against Stephen to prove him wrong at any cost. He did not flinch one bit from his conviction as he faced escalating pressures of accusations, condemnations, false witnesses and indictment that resulted in mob execution of stoning. The same evil forces that nailed Jesus on the cross came upon Stephen in full force. Stephen faced the opposition in the fullness of the Holy Spirt, grace and power (Acts 6:15; 7:1-60) and became the first martyr of NT era.
In the modern age of relativism and political correctness, we as followers of Christ Jesus must prepare and brace ourselves for increasing opposition and persecution as we stand up and stand firm in our belief, conviction and obedience to the gospel in all areas of our lives. We must seek and rely on God’s supernatural anointing and empowerment to embrace the impending hostility with His agape love and grace.
As we set out the New Year to follow and serve Jesus wholeheartedly may we be reminded that apart from Him we can do nothing, with Him we can do all things through His love, grace and strength. May we aspire to have a humble servant heart of Stephen to serve and love the family of Christ in the unseen practical needs as unto the Lord. May we have the courage to speak up for Jesus and defend our faith at the risk of being ridiculed and rejected by the popular view in our sphere of influence. May we extend God’s agape love and forgiveness to those who are hostile toward us like Stephen did (Acts7:60).
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, as we ponder on the life of Stephen, there are no logical reason other than he was a man completely captured by the fullness of Christ. He was so filled with you that there was nothing he is not willing to do from serving tables to defend the gospel to dying for His beloved Jesus. He lived his life with such reckless devotion, grace and humility. May you captivate our generation and fill us as you did in Stephen’s life that we may truly make an eternal impact on this world as Stephen did in his for your glory. Our church and world is in desperate need for more of Jesus. In your matchless name, Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: 1 Samuel 8