Acts 8

N Acts6:1-4,the Apostles has decided that the tasks they had were more important than serving tables(“It not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables”),so they told the disciples to choose 7 good men to serve the tables!After one of these men,Stephen, is stoned to death,”there arose a great persecution on the church n Jerusalem,& they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea & Samaria,except for the apostles.....Now those scattered about went about preaching the word”.(Acts8:1-4).After Stephen’ speech to the Sanhedrin,n which he tells of how Awesome God is...about His patient perseverance for His people,and His Great Desire for people to come to know His Glory through the Mercy&Grace of Christ...and just before the first stone is thrown at him,The Lord opens Heaven for Stephen to see into Eternity!(Acts7:54-56).Stephen’s speech,this event,& the stoning of Stephen was the beginning of the world hearing and seeing more “proofs” of Jesus Christ’s life,His Words,His Sufferings,His Crucifixion,His Resurrection;&His Ascension.So much so that not only did people begin following Christ w such faithfulness n Who He Is that they were willing to die because of that faith,but nations were impacted so strongly that even our calendar was forever changed!All because of one table servant taking a stand for what he believed with his life.Another table servant that had a similar impact on the world was Phillip!Phillip goes toward Samaria,telling people about the Life of Christ,& His Mercy&Grace.While there an angel of The Lord comes to Phillip...directs him toward the south(Acts8:26).Phillip doesn’t ask why,or how far...his heart is so moved by the Word of The Lord that he responds immediately!Phillip gets further instructions/word from the angel of The Lord,& because of his absolute willingness/faithfulness,Phillip miraculously comes upon a Eunuch of the Queen of Ethiopia reading what Isaiah says about Jesus,& wondering what this all means.Can u imagine what Phillip must’ve felt n his heart & throat...when “just stumbling” on this scene?He had to have been blown away by the awesomeness of the way The Lord moves n our lives!Phillip and Stephen had a lot n common that I need to learn from! They both had an obvious passion to know God’s Word(His Bible),& they both had a TRUST n The Lord that gave them a very bold Faith....,one that meant there was no wavering n there responsiveness to The Word of God,nor His Spirit!Through the faithfulness of Phillip,the Gospel is taken to Ethiopia by this Eunuch that answers the Queen of Ethiopia.This “seed” will see the kingdom of Ethiopia become the place where The Gospel spreads throughout Africa.The Lord gave Stephen the honor of being a catalyst that shook the World with the Truths of Christ & His Gospel!And Phillip was given the honor of being a catalyst for a chunk of the World learning of the same Truths.These table servants are experiencing a lot of Eternal Joys because of how they were faithful seekers..,listeners...and followers of The Lord!Dear Jesus,please lead me/teach me/bring me...,to having a faithfulness n my life that is like that of these table servants...,that were humble enough to seek & serve You with all of their lives.

Acts 7

One of the men having a heart&life that resonated being “of good repute,full of the Spirit and of wisdom” that the apostles were looking for(Acts6:3)is Stephen.To look at how Stephen lives out his “good repute,full of the Spirit and of wisdom” n the following verses of Acts6 & the entire chapter7 of Acts...is not only a study of what this kind of life looks like,but one of the heart of such a man or woman.N Acts6:8 Stephen,being full of Grace & Power,was doing great signs&wonders;Stephen’s life was revealing the kind of FRUIT that only comes from a life that is “taking full advantage/fully dependent” on the Life of The Vine that Christ talks about(John15:5).Stephen was assimilating n2 his heart/life,what Christ(The Vine) only can provide through His Word & Spirit!So much so that there was a radiance from the face of Stephen,”like the face of an angel”, as he was being wrongly accused(Acts6:15).Some of the characteristics of “the face of an angel” r absolute confidence&faith n Who Jesus Christ is;another is an absolute Reverence for God The Father/God The Son/and God The Spirit;another is absolute dependence on The Lord;yet another is a life that is seeking to know God via His Word!As Stephen speaks to the Sanhedrin,all of these characteristics “ooze” from what Stephen says...how he says it;and what he does!N the 1st 50 verses of Acts7,it is obvious that Stephen had dug into what he had of the Bible during his time->the OldTestament!Stephen had invested his time in the OT so much so that he was able to concisely give the Sanhedrin a review of what God has done throughout history to reveal Himself and His Love to His people-all the way up to Jesus Christ’s Life,Sufferings,Death,Resurrection,& Ascension!Stephen had God’s Word “on the tip of his tongue”!Stephen also had a boldness that was based n his confidence n The Lord and His Word->as seen n how Stephen makes a stern call into the lives of his accusers n Acts7:51-53.And then The Holy Spirit filled Stephen w the Mercy&Grace enabling him to see the Glory of God,& all the way to Heaven he saw Jesus at the right hand of God.Then,as he was being stoned to death,Stephen prayed for God’s Mercy&Grace to wash away the sins of the people stoning him to death->Stephen’s seeking of The Lord has changed his life so much that he had become like The Branch,& n his last breaths he asked for the same thing that Jesus asked for as He died(Luke23:34)...Stephen says ,”Lord,do not hold this sin against them”.Dear Jesus,my life is so far away from what Stephen’s life was full of...far from the vibrancy of a life that has obviously hungered after You and sought You...to become more and more like You.Make me more aware of these differences,& may Your Mercy&Grace lead me,guide me,& change me to be more like You...just as I know Stephen must’ve asked You for the same.

Acts 6

N the first part of Acts6 a problem had developed n the midst of the disciples of Christ that could’ve derailed the impact of the 1st century body of believers.For some reason,a discrimination of sorts was developing n their midst.A group of new believers (Hellenists-Greek speaking Jews that were considered outsiders to native born Jews) that were culturally different because of where they were born,were being “overlooked” by some of the “church folks”.A clique had begun to develop in the midst of this 1st church that was hurting the lives of many outside the clique.The people w authority to distribute resources among the 1st church were in essence ignoring those outside their “clique”.Cliques always make those outside the clique feel unloved;unwanted;ignored;unimportant;devalued;insignificant;etc.And those inside a clique will in some way always develop a sense of being more loved;more wanted;more worthy;more important;worth more;higher value;more significant,etc.It is the very nature of cliques to have a negative impact on the hearts of those in a clique,& to do harm to those on the outside of a clique.The Apostles recognized the “hugeness” of these problems,and that “cliques” of all kinds must be addressed with great Wisdom& Discernment.We know this because of the significant qualifications the Apostles require for the men that will be chosen to address the “clique problem”!The Apostles say,”Therefore,brothers,pick out from among you seven men of good repute,full of the Spirit and of wisdom,whom we will appoint for this duty.”(Acts6:3).The men to be chosen would be the best of the best!And! They would be humble servants,serving tables(Acts6:2).The kind of leadership the Apostles were calling for was Wise,Upstanding Character,full of The Spirit,& humble servant hearts!Because of the lives & humble servant leadership of these men, the “clique problem” was addressed successfully,”And the word of God continued to increase,& the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem,& a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”(Acts6:7).Dear Lord,in my heart I have created different cliques....I need Your help in destroying,& ridding them from my life.Forgive me for letting these become a part of my life.And now help me to never let any clique begin to develop again n my life.

Acts 5

At our core,we know when we r being truthful and/or genuine,and when we r not.And we have a natural impulse to hide from these things.Just as all of the dogs our family has had(even the one notorious for being a brat),know & reveal knowledge of doing something bad by the way they tuck their tail when caught...human beings have the same core sense n our heart.We can become so hard hearted and/or narcissistic that we grow insensitive/numb to it.But this is still in us!God created us with this for many reasons,the most important being so we would be made aware of our need for a Savior!But sometimes this need assaults our pride or our selfish desires n such a way that we decide to cover up this need of our heart,& we become hard hearted.This happened with Ananias & Sapphira n Acts5:1-11.They saw others having their lives changed dramatically by their faith n Jesus Christ,& evidently saw this as anything but these people turning to a living relationship w a Living God through Jesus Christ!Ananias&Sapphira acted as if this was a religion w “formulas for membership”,& did not realize that these people were seeking a loving/living relationship w a Living/Loving/Merciful/Gracious God.THIS is why the people around Ananias&Sapphira had lives that were being restored w a love for each other that was from God...lives that were so appealing to Ananias&Sapphira(A&S)!But A&S sought a “formula” nstead of a Relationship,& their hearts became hardened/resistant to Truth. In many ways we r not much unlike A&S!We have all been made aware of something n our lives that should b addressed n ways that we resist.And continued “resisting” leads to a hardened heart n this area of our heart!Just as we can have a small area of our physical heart that is diseased somehow,the heart of who&what we are(our Spirit/our Soul)can become diseased/hardened in small areas.If the warning signs of these small areas n our physical heart are not heeded,we can die.The same thing can happen with our Spirit&Soul if we do not heed the “warning signs”!This is what happened w A&S!Dear Lord,forgive me for the areas of my life that I have allowed to grow cold&hardened because of either my pride or selfishness!Forgive me for allowing myself to act as if YOU are NOT so ALIVE that YOU would know everything about my heart&life!Forgive me for turning from Your Mercies&Graces n these areas of my life,& turning from the restoration & healing n these areas that You desire to bless me with.Please work n my life to renew and as David ask,I ask for you to “Create n me a clean heart O God,& renew a right spirit w/in me.Cast me not away from Your Presence,& take not Your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,& uphold me with a willing spirit.”(Palm51:10-12)

Acts 3

N Acts 3:1-16, Peter&John are on their way to a temple when they see a man that had been lame from birth being carried to the gate of the temple.His friends or family would daily carry him to the gate,& lay him there so he could ask for money&support.When he asks Peter&John,they tell him that they don’t have what he is asking for,but they do have something else(“but what I do have I give to you.In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,rise up & walk”.)When Peter “fixed his eyes on” the man,he knew he did not have what he was asking for.But by God’s Sovereignty and through Jesus Christ,Peter had at that moment what the man NEEDED.During their time w Jesus,they had learned that there were no coincidences,& that to see beyond “coincidences” they needed to remember how Jesus interacted w people that were in despair &/or desperately asking for something.Jesus saw what the true need was n peoples live,& addressed that.He heard what came out of their mouths,but He also knew what was the desperate desire of their heart.When a paralytic is brought to Jesus(Matt9:4-5;Mark2:4-5),He sees beyond the physical and into the desperate need n this man’s life,& Jesus says,”your sins are forgiven”.Jesus does end up healing the man’s infirmity,but this was far down the list of significance for this man...this man’s desperate need was to be healed from the eternally terminal disease of sin.Another time,when Jesus is sitting by a well in Samaria,a woman comes by.Jesus knows the deepest need in this woman’s life.She has been seeking to fill an emptiness in her life by having relationships w men.Of course this woman had many other needs,but the most desperate was the emptiness in her soul/her heart.Jesus sees beyond all of her other needs,& goes directly to the PRIMARY NEED of her life(John4:1-44),and her life is turned around.She now has a Hope and an Enthusiasm that changes her life,AND impacts those around her!The Apostles had learned from Jesus,that many times there are more significant needs n our lives than what we may be asking for.That many times what we ask for may not precisely address what we truly need.Many times when we pray over and over about something,and don’t see or hear anything...it might be time that we talk w The Lord about what may be our deeper more desperate needs,& talk w Jesus about deeper heart&soul issues and trueing our hearts&souls up with His Word&Spirit so our ears/heart are more likely to hear His response.Instead,we may grow frustrated w praying...& even disillusioned.Dear Lord Jesus,this is so very true n my life...the many things that r consistently part of my conversations w You,and the fact that I seldom seek beyond these things to listen to what You are saying to me about these or other things that may b more needed/more desperate n my life.!Help me to not get frustrated,nor disillusioned...but draw me to deeper conversations w You about things that may be more important/more significant!