Tag: Acts 7

Delight in the Lord

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Old Testament: Leviticus 6 & 7

Poetry: Psalm 37

New Testament: Acts 7

Almost the entirety of Act 7 is Stephen’s response to the charges brought against him from our previous reading. Stephen gives a beautiful sermon, outlining the history of the Israelite people. His sermon shows how time after time, the Israelites were unfaithful and persecuted the prophets. He asks the leaders of the high council when they will stop resisting the truth. Stephen forms a sound argument with the tools of a great orator utilizing ethos, logos and pathos. However, I want to just focus on one small line today.

Stephen retells the story of when Moses went to Mount Sinai and the Isrealites rebelled. He says the Israelites, “made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed and celebrated over this thing they had made.” (Acts 7:41 NLT). Celebrated this thing they had made. That caught my attention.

How often do we get carried away with our own success? How often do we put value in material things? How often do we forget Christ’s words to seek first the Kingdom of God? (Matt 6:33). We live in an age where knowledge, entertainment, and relationships are literally at our fingertips. Not to sound like a broken record, but it is so easy to get wrapped up in our own lives, the things we can make, things we can buy. God needs to be made a priority in our lives. He is someone we need to communicate with daily, thank and praise. Otherwise, we run the risk of celebrating over the things we have made and turning those things into idols.

These things may not be physical. They also may not always be bad or wrong. Sometimes the thing we are trying to make is a dream or notion of something. Maybe a job promotion, an engagement, a family. It’s when these desires become our only focus a problem occurs. The Greek term used in Stephen’s statement is the word euphrainó which literally means to “cheer, make merry.” Our happiness should not be placed solely in these things.

The Israelites made the golden calf when Moses went to talk to God at Mount Sinai. Moses was their leader and connection to God. Suddenly, to the Israelites, God felt distant. It is then they began to see what joy they could offer themselves and celebrate with their own idols. Sometimes, God may feel distant. At times we may face periods of loneliness, sadness, even anger. When this happens, we MUST heed the words in Psalms 37:4 “Take delight in the LORD.”

The rest of that verse in Psalms offers us a promise: “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” I am not saying God always answers prayers for those who put their true delight in following Him. He does not. I know many godly people who have given their lives in faithfulness to Him and still face difficulty and unanswered prayers. However, I do sincerely believe when we start to delight in the LORD, when we celebrate Him, something in our hearts begins to change. We still have dreams and goals, but our heart’s desire becomes wanting a true connection with God, a deep relationship with our creator, the one who gave us those very dreams we have.

Several times in my life I have felt defeated, lost, and alone. I have had to grieve lost dreams, goals, relationships. I’ve had to mourn a life I imagined for myself. The lyrics to Phil Stacey’s song “You’re Not Shaken” describes this feeling of helplessness perfectly: “When every little thing that I have dreamed would be/ Just slips away like water through my hand.” That’s what brokenness can feel like at times. Like reaching out your hand and trying to cling to something that isn’t there. In these moments it’s imperative we take our delight in the LORD. Slowly, He will fix our gaze on something better than what we had lost. Even when that thing we lost was good.

Here’s a link to a playlist of some of my favorite songs when dealing with loss and grief: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3QAs1OUWTnwSbRClTaV51T

-Emilee Ross

Reflection Questions

  1. What in your life have you made (or are trying hard to make), but in the process you have celebrated it so much, and raised its priority above seeking God’s Kingdom, that it has gained idol status?
  2. When have you felt God was distant?
  3. What does it look like for you to “Take delight in the Lord”? Is this a priority to you? How could you do it more often or more deeply?
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Stiff-Necked Stubborn People

Acts 7

April 25

Acts 7:51 – You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! (NIV)

Stiff-necked…bull-headed…stubborn…headstrong…obstinate…when we use these kinds of words to describe someone’s mindset, it’s never a compliment. 

For a brief moment, let’s put ourselves in the sandals of the Jewish leaders that Stephen is speaking to in Acts 7. They had the strongest of convictions. They truly believed that what they stood for, what they expected others to conform to, was to follow the Law given to Moses, rather than to submit to the teachings of Jesus. 

As believers we are also called to hold fast. To stand firm. To believe and not doubt. So what’s the problem?

The Jewish leaders were putting their faith in a system, rather than the Spirit of God. They believed that by following all the rules set forth in the Law, that they would be saved. Stephen is trying to convince them that instead, they need to submit to the Holy Spirit in order to be saved. 

Changing the way that you think about something, especially about a conviction you have, is not easy to do. But that’s exactly why we need to rely on God’s power instead of our own wills. The Holy Spirit is a gift given to us to soften our hearts; to transform our minds, to reveal truth. If we can be more committed to being sensitive to the messages God places in our inner beings, than we are dedicated to a system of rules and regulations, we can finally live the lives that God calls us to experience.     

It’s time to put aside your own system of beliefs. The abundant life starts with seeking God with all your heart.

-Bethany Ligon

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. How would you describe the difference between being stubborn and standing firm?
  2. Can you think of a time when your convictions made you stiff-necked, and you missed (or nearly missed) an opportunity to be led by the Holy Spirit? If you can’t think of a specific time, what might it look like?
  3. What do we learn about Stephen in Acts 7? What do we learn about God in Acts 7? How can what we read in this chapter change our mindset and actions this week?
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Hero of our Faith

Acts 7-8

            Stephen is a great hero of our faith who does not get a lot of limelight, as he is only covered at the end of chapter six and chapter seven.  He is an honorable man we can all learn a lot from, as he was willing to lay it all on the line.

            At the end of chapter six, Stephen was seized for preaching about Jesus of Nazareth.  Some false witnesses ensured that he would get into trouble with the high priest and other Jewish officials.  The high priest had Stephen speak for himself, and that is the majority of the content in chapter seven.  In the first 50 verses of Acts chapter seven, Stephen provides a pretty nice summary from Abraham to King David.  At the conclusion of this summary, he begins to rip into the Jews for being a “stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in hearts and ears,” (Acts 7:51).

            The Jews did not take too kindly to the words of Stephen, so they decided to stone Stephen.  I can’t even imagine the level of pain Stephen would have been going through, as he was being stoned to death.  If it were me, I would have been so riled up in anger, and I would have wanted to retaliate.  However, that is not the course of action that Stephen took.  Just moments before Stephen’s death, he fell “to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’  And when he had said this, he fell asleep,’” (Acts 7:60).  What a way to go out!

            Stephen followed the example set by his Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, as Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of the people who crucified him.  There is so much to be learned in this short recording of the life of Stephen, a lesson of strength and grace.

            At the same time that Stephen’s life comes to an end, we are introduced to the man who wrote nearly half of the books of the New Testament.  It is an introduction that is only made for the movies (and, well, the Bible).  This man proved to be a foundational piece in the spreading of the gospel message.  He would go by the name of Saul.

            Saul is introduced in the scriptures as approving the execution of Stephen, a hero of our Christian faith.  Not only did Saul approve the execution of one man, but he “ravaged” the church.  Saul went from house to house finding people who claimed to believe in Jesus.  Once he found these people, he would send them to prison.  Surely, this led to many of them having to die for their faith.

            What an awful start to one’s life!  Thank the LORD that Saul did not follow this course of action for much longer, as we will see in the coming chapters.  We can learn from Saul that God is willing, able, and wanting to use anybody, no matter what someone has committed in their past. 

Let this serve as an encouragement to you, as you may struggle with some choices you have made in your past.  Don’t let decisions you made in your past prevent you from being an instrument of God’s work, as God was even willing, wanting, and able to use the likes of Saul, a man who persecuted many Christians.  Praise God that we serve a forgiving God.

There’s a lot to learn here, as we take a look at the life of Stephen and the introduction of Saul.  It’s my prayer that we all learn to have the strength and grace of Stephen, and we don’t let our past stop us from serving God like Saul.

-Kyle McClain

Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Acts 7-8

Tomorrow we continue the story of Saul with chapters 9-10. Don’t miss it!

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Are You Opposing God – 0R – Facing Opposition for Him

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Acts 6b and 7

Yesterday, we left off with the 7 qualified individuals being chosen to take a load off of the apostles. One is given more attention than the rest. We see that because the power that was once seen in Christ, started to be seen in the disciples and now has moved on to other believers. Stephen is said to be full of grace and power and he started performing wonders and signs among the people.
Again we see the religious leaders take offense and try to squash any threat to their power and authority. As they stood up to dispute Stephen they quickly realized they could not outsmart or outwit him. So, as with Jesus, when they were unable to come up with a way to take him out on merit they made something up. They lied – and created a plan with multiple witnesses aligned with a fictional story to take out their problem.
All of chapter 7 is Stephen giving a summary of a year’s worth of children’s Sunday school material. He gives the details of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He shows how God was at work throughout time and the constant opposition that faced Him, and then Stephen throws these man into that group. Stephen calls them uncircumcised in the heart and ears. He then points out that again God has been at work and when the story is retold – they would be the bad guys that opposed God and further the ones that killed the promised righteous one!
And like Jesus – he was put to death. They raised up stones to kill him and also like Jesus he asks for their forgiveness. Wow – to stand in the face of opposition and talk with conviction. He didn’t back down when it got difficult.
Our Christian walk at times has become too easy. As Stephen’s speech indicated; all throughout history, whenever someone made a stand for God, they eventually faced opposition. If we are not facing opposition, maybe people do not know where we stand. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us we will face  trials, trouble, opposition, suffering, sorrows, tribulations (depending on your translation). Not a maybe or some will – instead a certainty that we will all face.  As we make a stand for what is right we prepare for opposition knowing we can have peace while dealing with it because the verse doesn’t end there. It continues to say “Take heart, for I have overcome the world”.
What I pull most from the first few chapters of Acts is this: God has given His spirit, His power, so that we will go out into the world with BOLDNESS proclaiming the truth with love.
-John Wincapaw