SCRIPTURE: Acts 6:8-15
OBSERVATION:
It is not clear who the “synagogue of freedmen” were, but this account describes how opposition began against the early Christ-followers. Like Jesus, they were accused of being against the temple and the law (see Mark 14:57-64). Stephen is described as full of God’s grace and power, performing miracles (not bad for a deacon!). He spoke by the Holy Spirit (as Jesus promised, Matthew 10:16-20). One wonders how the author knew that the Sanhedrin saw his face like that of an angel (glowing or innocent or powerful?). Perhaps this is what some of them reported after this, or maybe it was Paul himself who remembered this detail.
APPLICATION:
I know myself, when I am facing a hostile audience (an accuser of some sort), I fall back into self-defence, or respond out of emotion. It was because Stephen was full of grace and power (ie was rooted in the Lord’s strength before this crisis) that he was able to respond as he did. As long as I am full of myself, my strength, that’s all I will have when I face such challenges. I need to root myself in the Lord’s strength now, so that when the time comes, I too can respond full of grace, full of power, full of the Holy Spirit.
PRAYER:
Lord, I admit that I am still more rooted in myself, in my gifts, in my strength. Help me to follow through on my commitment to trust in You with all my heart. Grant me Your Spirit, that He may speak through me! Amen.