SCRIPTURE: Acts 7:51-8:1
OBSERVATION:
Here Stephen comes to the punchline of his sermon: you claim to be defending the temple and the law, you are the ones who are disobeying it and resisting God. You can see the fruit of their spirits in what comes out of them: the religious leaders gnash their teeth, while Stephen has a vision of the glory of God. You can tell what lives in a person by what comes out, and Stephen is an amazing example of faith, hope and love, even in the midst of the stoning. The unexpected reference to Saul (or Paul) is a foreshadowing of what is to come.
APPLICATION:
What comes out of me under pressure. When you squeeze toothpaste, what comes out is what is inside. If anger, bitterness, self-defence, revenge, angry word, foul attitude, even violence comes out of me, it is only that which is in me, being squeezed out. Stephen was full of the Spirit, wisdom, faith, grace and power (Acts 6:3-8), and that is what came out of Him. “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34-35). It takes an ongoing, sincere and serious walk with the Lord to unfold the potential of the Spirit within. If we do not invest in being filled with the Spirit, we should not be surprised by what comes out of us under pressure.
PRAYER:
Lord, I know that when I am squeezed, I am ashamed of what comes out of me. I realize that growing in You is a process, but please help me go deeper and further with You, so that Your Spirit may be more evident in me when under pressure. Amen.