Stoned for God's Glory

"You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One—the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God's law, even though you received it from the hands of angels." The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. Acts 7:51-55 NLT

 

This was Stephen’s proclamation about God…right before he was stoned. He was talking to the Jewish leaders—the priests who were actually Sadducees. They were being stubborn about seeing Jesus Christ for who He was. Their Messiah. They were “churched” people. They knew their scripture. Is that how some church goers are today? They know the Bible—but they don’t know God—or have missed the value of knowing Jesus as their Messiah? Look into your own heart—is the Holy Spirit there? Don’t be like those Sadducees—stubborn, obstinate and willfully rejecting Jesus. If you have the Holy Spirit in your heart—are you living up to your spiritual potential? Have you shared the value of having the Holy Spirit in your life with others around you? I think that that “sharing” even encourages the spiritual growth of others who have the Holy Spirit, too. It is not for us to keep secret. We need to share—give it away for our own spiritual soul to flourish and mature. Stephen was stoned—martyred for God’s glory. I pray that we would never have to endure such treatment.

 

Prayer ~ Holy Spirit, not only create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us (Psalm 51:10) but encourage us and show us opportunities for us to serve and share You within our homes, neighborhoods, community and churches. If we have to face being martyred as Stephen was…give us grace to endure and to be like Stephen and stand up for You, our Lord and God.

 

© 2015 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

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