acts 7

one of my better mornings started with . . .

STEPHEN
this chapter spoke to me as the faith and journey of a man of God - stephen.


never have we seen more strength in people than when they are bound, beat,
or threatened for God's name; stephen really shows that quality of pure
Christianity that day when he stood before the council - the day he was
stoned to death.

perhaps it takes iron to sharpen iron; perhaps through trials he was refined
to be fine gold; or perhaps he took more intiative to focus on his faith and
grow in conviction spiritually daily. whatever it is, i bet he went through
a process to achieve who he turned out to be at the very end. truly, God
calls His loved ones back when they are ready.

stephen was a good evangelist. with a mere question, "are these things so?"
from the high priest, stephen started preaching to the council. shoving out
the potential and likely aggravation of personal danger, stephen still hoped
that the jews that stood before him could see that Jesus is their Messiah!
this really reminds me of when Jesus, full of agony, said "Father forgive
them, for they know not what they are doing." it's the same love. this must
be God's love.

stephen was amazingly well read and well-versed in the Bible. his sermon was
flawlessly backed up by the old testament even though he wasn't preparing
specifically to give a sermon. this reminds me that, it is really small
drops of water that makes a mighty ocean. stephen did his spiritual training
in his daily life - it is apparent, there is no need to verify this. from
the story of Moses he drew an analogy proving that the Jesus they had
rejected can be the messiah sent by God. he said it so well that i felt
convicted and edified all over again.

i think stephen has a great approach to persuasion - he carefully presented
all the facts before the jews that stood before him. he used what they
believed - the old testament - to relate it to the present. even tho he was
standing amongst wolves but he had God's strength and spoke boldly without
fear! (perhaps, this is what paul - then saul - learned from stephen when he
saw stephen die before his eyes.

stephen held on to God until the very end. after he was stoned he cried out
to God - and it was a cry that was victorious. i think that stephen is just
someone i need to learn from. in many ways, he revealed the strength and way
of his life. he had the face of an angel - and i think he speaks out to all
of us today to help us along and be stronger for God.