Boasting

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

BOASTING

Acts 8:9-13

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." 11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

NIV

We are introduced to Simon here and there is more to this narrative, but for now, let us contend with this magic act of Simon. In Greek it is beforehand there was a man Simon who practiced magic in the city. He bewitched people, amazed,  and put them out of their wits. This word magic comes from the idea of an oriental scientist, a magician. From what we can gather, it was black magic, which was not from God, but rather came from either the evil one or simply the sleight of hand, an illusion. Whatever the source, his power did not come from God. However, when Philip arrived with the power of God, and the truth about Jesus, the people lost interest in Simon and turned their attention to Philip and believed and were baptized, even Simon believed. It is interesting that the truth will always trump an illusion. There are illusionists today, peddling their brand of religion, but for the most part simply used God to promote their own self-worth, as Simon did, boasting that he was someone great. Simon thought more highly of himself than he ought to, as many do today. It is interesting how boasting has become the favorite pastime of so many, especially with the advantage of social media. “look what I did”, “See how much I do” and “Aren’t I special?” “I have done great things”. Maybe not in those words, but that idea is expressed, so as to draw attention to themselves, rather than God. We are supposed to humble ourselves before God and be humble and gentle, being patient and bearing with one another in love. Simon was not humble, although he did evidentially believe, but we will see, he still wanted to be great. Let us be mindful and not boast of our deeds, or our position, or title, or abilities, but remain aware that it is God who works in all of us, and it is God who calls us to be a member of the body of Christ, each with our own task, but also supporting the tasks of all the other members, who each are as important as all the others. We are all the children of God, who does not show partiality but loves us all with equity. If we are to boast, we should boast in the Lord. Then, just maybe great signs and wonders will be seen, but if we continue, or are content to boast in ourselves, then we can be sure nothing truly great will happen in our lives. 

Life of Believing

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LIFE OF BELIEVING

Acts 8:1-8

8:1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.

4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.

NIV

Luke is showing in advance, that Paul, who at the time went by the name Saul, how evil he was. Although Saul was a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin, he was a religious zealot and entirely against the Christian movement. Most likely Saul was among those who heard Gamaliel speak about what had happened because of Peter and John. He had said there were other movements that sprang up and when their leader died, the movement died. So it will happen again with this Jesus movement if it is from men, but if it is from God no one can stop it. It looks like Saul disagreed with that assessment and went about persecuting as many Christ-followers as possible. He was a one-man wrecking machine. The believers had already scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. It would seem right that Saul being a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Jew of Jews, would not follow those who scattered into Samaria, even if his hatred was that intense against the Christian church. However, even under the potential of Saul finding them out, they continued to proclaim Christ. Now we are reminded of Philip when he asked Jesus to show him the Father and that would be enough for them to truly believe. Jesus responded that if Philip saw Jesus, then he saw the Father. Now after that day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, Philip is one of them who is full of the Holy Spirit and must also be full of the power of God and so he did many miraculous signs. It is interesting how we have this comparison between Saul and Philip, one man filled with evil, and the other filled with the Spirit. The result was fear because of Saul, and great joy because of Philip. Evil always brings some kind of fear, but the Spirit will always bring joy. Because we have the Spirit, we are also filled with joy. In addition, sometime later, Saul, after his encounter with Jesus, usually starts his letters to churches with the grace and peace from God the Father and Jesus. The point is that when we are at peace with God, we are in a tranquil state, assured of our salvation and fearing nothing from God and we are content with our earthly lot, whatsoever sort that is. The Spirit always bring about this peace, this tranquility within us, and he also brings his gifts, which we see some of them displayed in the life of Philip, casting out evil spirits, healing cripples, and paralytics in the name of Jesus. God was using Philip in a powerful way through the working of the Spirit. Should not our lives reflect the moving or working of the Spirit in us? Again, did all this stop with the Apostles? Did God change somehow over the years since then? We know that is not true, God does not change, so then we must be the ones who have changed, who have restricted the working of the Spirit so that we live without His power within and so we are not seeing any signs and wonders. We are not being persecuted, at least in our country, like the early church was, so we need not scatter. However, we can perform many miraculous signs right within our midst, if we unleash the power of the Spirit and allow Him to manifest his gifts within and through us. It is that simple, and yet we struggle with this. Why? We believe in Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit, so maybe it is time to have the life we believe in. 

Covered Ears

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

COVERED EARS

Acts 7:57-60

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

NIV

We are seeing the natural response of men who dare not hear or receive the truth. They covered their ears, they could not even listen to one more word from this Stephen. They overpowered anything else he could or would say with their shouting and yelling at the top of their voices. Isn’t this story the same today? There is a whole culture of people who do nothing but yell and scream at the top of their voices because they do want to hear or accept anything from biblical truth. They refuse to believe, even shouting profanities, rejecting the bible as the authentic word of God. They even reject the idea of God and look to their own religion invented and passed down by man. The members of the Sanhedrin rushed Stephen, and dragged him outside of the city, much as Jesus was forced to carry his cross out of the city. They could not even bear to stone him within the city for their traditional values were too strong. Nevertheless, they did not remember the words of Jesus, perhaps even to some of them, as they were about to stone a woman they caught in adultery, even though, she was most likely set up, otherwise, how did they, a group of religious men, find her in the act of committing adultery, which would have been done in secret. Jesus told those elders, that whoever was without sin, could cast the first stone. None cast any stones, however, in the case of Stephen, their anger and hatred were so full, that they started to stone him. Here again, we see that Saul was there, a witness to this madness. What is interesting is that Stephen, although he had no choice about being stoned, prayed and used some of the same words Jesus used when he was on the cross. The difference, however, is that Jesus prayed to the Father and committed His spirit to the Father, while Stephen prayed to Jesus he committed his spirit to Jesus. Stephen also asked the Lord to forgive those who were killing him. Our lesson here is simple. No matter what life brings to or upon us or how death comes to our bodies, we look to Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith. Yes, it is God who created us, but we also know that God said, “Let us create man in our image”. There was nothing created that was not created by Jesus. The beauty of all creation is that Jesus did not speak us into existence, but came down and with his own hands formed us from the earth, and then even came closer and breathed his very breath into us. Therefore, it is right to lift our spirit onto him at the moment of our last breath. Someday we will fall dead, but our spirit will be committed to him, and as with Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, a man full of wisdom and grace, we will commit our spirit to Jesus, and at the same time living, asking Jesus for forgiveness for all those who oppose the truth. Yet, they will continue to cover their ears and yell and scream their own brand of reality, even if it is built on lies, but we will live in the reality of the truth, the way, and the light. 

Open Eyes and Circumcised Hearts

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

OPEN EYES AND CIRCUMCISED HEARTS

Acts 7:51-56

51 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it." 54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

NIV

Here is the charge Stephen made against the whole of the Sanhedrin. He told them they were stiff-necked people. It is interesting that Moses called the children of Israel sniffed-necked people when he was talking to God. We cannot be sure as the narrative does not clearly indicate the members of the Sanhedrin already making a fuss in the midst of Stephen’s response to the question. Were they already trying to interrupt him, sensing where he was going, that he was comparing them to what Moses said about the people of Israel, and this is why Stephen then called them stiff-necked? Or was it just part of his response, what he had been building up to, because of their actions in the past, having determined that Jesus was worthy of death and convinced the Romans to kill him? Either way the concept of this phrase, “Stiffed-necked” comes from an ox that refuses to be yoked, not willing to bow his head for the yoke. Considering that Jesus told us to take his yoke upon us,

Matt 11:28-30

28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 

NIV

They were not going to yield, they were not going to bow to Jesus, they killed him instead, having stiff necks, and uncircumcised hearts and ears. It is interesting that later Paul, who according to the first verse in chapter eight was there at the stoning of Stephen, made that statement about a Jew is not one who only is circumcised outwardly, but true Israel, a true Jew is one who is circumcised of the heart. Stephen accused them of resisting the Holy Spirit, and finally, he accused them of killing Jesus. They knew full well, that what Stephen said was the truth, but like all people who resist the Holy Spirit, the truth is also rejected. We know that God desires to bring about change in us. We are in a constant flow of changing as we reflect his likeness in ever-increasing glory. We know that all scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, and correcting us, along with training us in righteousness. They refused all of that, even though they were formally schooled in the scriptures. Again, we take our lead from Stephen in this case, we should be filled with the Spirit and because we are, we should be able to look up to heaven and see, perhaps not with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes, heaven opened to us, and see Jesus standing at the right hand of God. When we have the fullest of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, our eyes are opened and we can see the truth, the way, and the life, which is Jesus, and it is Jesus who circumcises our heart. 

A Testimony

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

A TESTIMONY

Acts 7:44-50

44 "Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.   47 But it was Solomon who built the house for him. 48 "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:

49 "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?       says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50 Has not my hand made all these things?'  

NIV

It was by the direction of God that Moses built the tabernacle of the Testimony. We are told the reason it is called a Testimony is that it served as a witness or a testimony of the presence of God. Did the Israelites need proof that God was with them? Did they not see all the mighty wonders He did through Moses in Egypt? Did they not see the Red Sea become a wall of water so they could pass through on dry land and then watch as the mighty hand of God caused the waters to crash in upon Pharoah’s chariots? Yet their hearts were turned to Egypt, looking back instead of forward. God knew they were going to need a physical place to signify He was with them, to prove He was their guide and protector. Even after their children took the land and they still wanted to be like others, wanting a king, an earthy ruler, God gave them Saul, then David, and Solomon who was the one who built the finest temple where God was to dwell among them. Places were built with the hands of man. Stephen is making that very point. What can man build that will be enough for God, who spoke all that is and will ever be, into existence? Throughout the ages, man has continued to build places to signify the place for God. Some of them have been edifices of great grandeur that still stand today. It is said these places are the house of the Lord by some, or that it is a place to meet with the living God, which is both true in some sense, yet untrue in the sense that God cannot be contained in anything we build. It is not that he will not meet with us in those places, for he is always willing to meet with us. In fact, He desires to dwell with and within us. He does not need the temples we build. It appears that we build them for ourselves. They do not prove that God exists. They do not serve as a witness to God, but more of a witness to us or our faith. Then, for the most part, they serve only for us who own them, for if we are not there, we lock them up tight, or in the greater cathedrals, we have guides and guards to safely keep that which we have amassed within, as a testimony to our faith in God. However, the fact is that we are the only witness, the only true testimony of God, for we are His creation, and we are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory if we are willing to allow Him the freedom within us. This was Stephen’s story, a man full of faith and the power of God and full of wisdom and the influence of God within him. Because Stephen gave God all the freedom to work in his life, he did great wonders and miraculous signs, and it is noted that his face was like that of an angel. God was being reflected in ever-increasing glory in the life of Stephen and as God does not change, it would make sense that he is still willing to work in our lives in the same way. Although, we still have the edifices that we have built, and we gather together to worship God in them, let us remember He is not held within them, he lives within us and we are a testimony, a witness of His mighty power and grace. Let us be the testimony. 

Making gods

  

DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

MAKING GODS

Acts 7:39-43

39 "But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt — we don't know what has happened to him!'   41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made. 42 But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

"'Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? 43 You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile' beyond Babylon.

NIV

Stephen is coming to the close of answering the question about the charges against him. However, in his answer, he is going to make a charge against them. What he says here about the Israelites refusing to obey Moses, the prophet, the man who God made their ruler and deliverer, is exactly what he is going to charge them with. The Israelites turned their hearts back to Egypt. By making an idol with their own hands they were wanting the same type of religion the Egyptians had, false gods. These are the gods that have eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear, and a mouth, but cannot speak. Men have been making idols throughout the ages, crafted by their own hands and it still happens today and appears will continue until the last day. Why do men want idols rather than God? What is it that is so appealing about idols? What can we trust an idol to do for us? How does an idol make our lives better? Maybe if we explored what some of the current idols of today are, we might get a better picture of why men desire idols over God. It makes sense that it must be one or the other, we cannot serve two masters. We will either love the one or despise the other. Well, that speaks directly about the idol of money. It surely is more straightforward to trust in money than in God. For many, money does make life better. This could also lead us to think that success is anything idol that would make life better, for success usually brings us more money. Our advertising world is almost obsessed with promoting our investment in some form of money, gold, silver, retirement accounts, and the like. But is that the only idol of our culture? It might be possible that we make our “self” an idol, being wholly focused on our own thoughts, desires, and ambitions. Stephen has already made the point that traditions were their idol, and that could apply to our culture as well. What appears to be at the center of all idolatry is the “self”. Everything that comes from the mind of man, instead of from the mind of Christ, seems to become an idol. This is not to say we cannot enjoy the things of this world, but we need to understand God must be at the center of our lives. All that we are, all that we do, and all that we focus on, are centered around God. He is the one who blesses us and holds us within the palm of his righteous right hand. Those of the Sanhedrin left God in their hearts and turned to a belief of this own design, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness. We cannot afford to make that mistake, for we cannot bear the thought of being exiled by God. Our love for God must be out of our whole heart, mind, spirit, and strength. We cannot love God from a divided being. Stephen will make the charge against them, that they have left God. Let no man make that charge against us, for they can only see us outwardly, but God looks at our heart. Let us serve God and God alone. Because we serve the one true God, let us not make gods. 

Living Words

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LIVING WORDS

Acts 7:37-38

37 "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.'   38 He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.

NIV

Stephen now comes to the point of the living words of God. We know from our other studies that those religious men, those who are of the Sanhedrin, had already turned away from the living word of God and turned toward their own traditions of men. Had they been open to the living word of God they would have seen that Jesus was the long-awaited Christ, but they were blinded by their dead traditions which led them to a place of perishing. Following their own traditions would leave them stranded in the tomb until the time they were judged and found wanting, being sent to eternal damnation. Stephen knows that God’s word lives, as he gave to Moses, and as he speaks through the Spirit into Stephen’s life. This same Spirit is now alive in us and we also have the living words of God within our hearts. This is due to the fact, as Stephen is pointing out, Moses told the people that God would send a prophet like him from the people of Israel. He was speaking of Jesus, which Stephen will get to, and it is because of Jesus we have the Spirit. What is interesting is that it would seem throughout the ages, religious men have always had a slant toward traditions rather than the living word of God. Even today it appears many churches are steeped in their own brand of traditions and have in some sense set aside the living word of God. We must be careful not to get caught up in that kind of thinking and allow tradition to take precedence over God’s living word. Some traditions are fine, they are comforting to us. We follow certain traditions we base on the living word of God, but have we added certain things that are not from the word, but rather passed down to us from men. We should be careful to pay attention to the fact the word of God is living, and it is like a double-edged sword. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews makes that very clear:

Heb 4:12-13

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

NIV

 

The traditions of men cannot and will not do that, but only stunts the minds and hearts of men, captivating them with dead untruths that tickle their fancy. As the Apostle John would put it, men love the darkness and hide there, for the light exposes their sin. The light is the living words of God, this double-edged sword that shows the way to life everlasting. Who, in their right mind, would not want the living words of God that have been passed on to us, through the power of God the Father, Jesus, the Son, and through the Spirit, who dwells within our very being?