Daily Devotion, July 29, 2021

 

Devotion:

Read Acts 7:54-60.

Stephen was one of the first believer leaders chosen in the early church to help with providing food and various needs for others. He was known “as a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” as it says in Acts 6:5. Described as a man full of God’s grace and power, the established religious leaders who opposed the early church could not stand up against the wisdom the Holy Spirit gave him. These religious leaders despised and feared Stephen so much that they had him ­arrested and put on trial. When Stephen was asked about the charges against him, he told about God’s faithful work in history through His prophets, even though the people of Israel had often been unfaithful. He went on to remind that God even sent his Son, Jesus, to be the Righteous One, the Messiah, but that these very leaders had murdered him.

After that statement, the religious leaders became furious, and they dragged him out to stone him to death. But Stephen looked up and saw Jesus in heaven, and asked him to receive his spirit and to not hold this sin against the leaders. Wow, how strong he was in his faith! Stephen suffered and died for his faith in Jesus. His example has inspired many others to speak out and live for Christ. By the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, God has built His church to reach out and serve people so that the same message of God’s love prevails in the world today.

Personal Worship Option:

God, give us your wisdom to speak the truth and live by it. Help us to live in joy knowing that we are your children and followers. When we live in comfort, blinded to the needs of others, guide us and show us the way to best serve you. Amen.