Sunday

On Sundays we don't post a devo.  Take some time today and think about what you learned at church either in your pastor's sermon, Sunday School, or youth group gathering.

Take a moment and post a comment about what you learned about God today.

God Is With You

Read Acts 7:9-16

 

            As we continue in Acts 7, Steven has been arrested and is put on trial before the religious leaders. He has been accused of speaking wrongly of God, but in reality this is a false accusation and the leaders are conspiring against him because he is a follower of Jesus. We are in the middle of Steven’s defense; he first appealed to God’s faithfulness (He knows that God is going to take care of him – see the last devo).

            Steven continues to make his argument by talking about Joseph from the Old Testament. Joseph had 11 brothers who became jealous of him and sold him into slavery.  Joseph’s story is pretty remarkable; he ends up becoming one of them most powerful men in Egypt and save his family (the same family who left him for dead) from starvation. Joseph says one of the most amazing statements during this time; “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good (Gen. 50:20).” What he is saying is that God can use any situation for His good.

            Here Steven is facing a similar situation that Joseph was in…betrayed by his brothers (the council were all Jewish) and they seek do harm against him. But Steven stands strong and speaks out to the council just as Joseph did saying, “What you mean for evil, God can use for good!”

            I don’t know what situation you are in, but rest assured that God is with you! He is working for you! People may be working against you and seek to do you harm, but God is working for your good and will get you through any situation. 

CB

More Than Life

Read Acts 7:1-8

            Things have been a little crazy lately! Lots to prepare for as Christmas is soon arriving. My buddy Andy even had to send me an email this morning reminding me of the deadline for this devotional. It seems that my task list keeps getting longer.

            As I sat down at my desk and began to quite myself before the Lord, I scrolled to the worship playlist on my iPod.  Hillsong United’s song “More than life” began to play with the simple chorus “ I love you more than life.” That’s what Acts chapter 7 is all about…loving God more than anything, even life itself. As you read this chapter over the next several days, you will see a man who loves his God more than his life. Authentic worship is not checking off a task list; authentic worship is loving God with all that you have.

            Steven is standing before the council of religious leaders (they arrested him because he was doing great signs and wonders cf. Acts 6:8) and they asked him if the charges were true (that he was speaking out against God – they certainly were not cf. Acts 6:11). Steven responds to their accusations, not by pleading his innocence, but by speaking of God’s faithfulness.  In essence, he is saying to the council, “God is faithful; He made a way for Abraham, and He will make a way for me.” Steven believed God. In the next days, we will see how Steven’s faith brought him through intense persecution and even his death.

            Do you believe God? Do you trust that He is working for you? Do you love Him more than you love life? Steven did. 

CB

The Big But

Taking a break from Acts today

Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

 1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?

 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts  and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

 3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

 4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

 5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

 6 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Ever have those times when everything is going wrong, when it seems like you are stuck in the middle of a storm and can’t see the end?  Do you have those days when it seems everyone is against you?  Does God every feel like he’s a million miles away?

I can’t stand those times.  I get a frustrated, stressed, freakin out when I’m in those places of life.  But that’s life.  It’s not lived on the mountaintops; life is lived in the valley. 

Who knows this better than King David?  David lived life in the valley.  Most of his life was a struggle.  Kid stuck with watching the sheep while his brothers went on an adventure.  Stood alone before a giant because no one else had the guts or the faith.  Spears chucked at him by the king while playing his harp for the king. (That ought to make some worship leaders nervous)  Was pursued by a jealous king who wanted to snuff David’s life out.  Struggled with sin, adultery, murder, and the pain of life that all of that mess with Bathsheba resulted in.  David knew what it meant to live life in the valley.

So when the tough storms of life come, when the world feels like it is squeezing in around you remember the big “But”.

Did you see it?  Verse 5 and 6

 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

 I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”

Know your position – God loves you.
Check your attitude – rejoice in salvation and sing to the Lord.

 

Wisdom

Acts 6:8-15

Stephen was one of the men chosen as the seven to serve in the early church.  When you look at the list of these guys, in verse 5,  Stephen is the only that we are told about in descriptive terms.   There was something that made Stephen stand out of the crowd.  The word used to describe Stephen was what?  Right, wisdom.  Stephen was a wise man.  Stephen's wisdom was not your normal every day run of the mill wisdom.  There was something obviously different about Stephen.

wisdom |ˈwizdəm|noun

the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; thequality of being wise.the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of such experience, knowledge, and good judgment

Wisdom often comes from experience.  The wisdom Stephen had was noticeably different from those around him.  There was an obvious difference.  We know the source of Stephen's wisdom was God.  

How wise are you?  As you get older you may gain some wisdom but age is no guarantee.  So what is the best way to get wisdom?  Buy it?  Read lots of books?  Hang out with wise people?

Check out what James had to say in chapter 4:

James 1:4-6 

4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

Wisdom really comes in handy in life.  More importantly wisdom from God is noticeable by others which means wisdom can have an impact on your witness to others.  Do you want wisdom?  How will you get it?

When You Find Your Sweet Spot

Acts 6

On baseball bats there is a sweet spot.  The sweet spot is the perfect place to hit the ball and when you hit the ball with the sweet spot you get a good rip.  Same goes with serving God.  He has SHAPED you to serve Him:

S - spiritual gifts

H - heart; what you are passionate about

A - abilities; you have abilities.  Really, you do.

P - personality

E - experiences; God uses your life's experiences both good and bad.

We find in Acts 6 that the 12 disciples were getting bogged down.  They were so busy meeting needs yet they couldn't effectively do this by themselves.  They were doing good things but the problem was they weren't getting to focus on prayer and sharing the Word.  So seven men were chosen to serve.  These guys made sure that people's needs, mainly widows needs, were taken care of.  This totally freed up the twelve to serve in their sweet spot.

God wants you to serve in your church.  That is called ministry.  Ministry is serving the church.  Don't confuse this with mission.  Mission is serving those outside of the church.    There is something you can do in your local church to serve.  Find what that is and do it.  You don't have to wait to be an adult to serve.  There is no magical ministry transformation in your life when you hit 18 years old.  Serve now!  You are the church of today.  Freak your pastor or youth leader our and ask, "What can I do to serve in ministry here at church?"

Let's dispel a myth.  Ministers are not the guys that get paid to preach, the professional pastors.  Ministers are believers using their SHAPE to serve Jesus Christ and His church.  Now go be a minister!

AL

Is It Worth the Risk?

Acts 5:40-42

We don’t like to be disgraced or shamed or persecuted (not that we really know here in America what persecution is).  It’s not comfortable.  We are all about our comfort aren’t we?  I like what Pastor Rick Warren said, “God’s not as concerned about our comfort as he is our character.”  Suffering disgrace for the sake of Jesus Christ is definitely character building. 

Stop and think how often you have had an opportunity to share Jesus Christ with someone but then held back because you were afraid of being embarrassed.  Sad to say most of us Christians do this today.   The apostles were so passionate about their Lord and Savior and sharing Him with others that they didn’t allow a little imprisonment, a little flogging stop them.  Are you picking up what I’m laying down?

We hold back because we are afraid of a little embarrassment or rejection.  We aren’t under the threat here in America to be imprisoned or whipped for sharing the Truth with others.  Meanwhile there are other believers in other countries who are risking their very lives to share their faith.  The apostles, “never stopped” sharing the good news of Jesus Christ even under persecution.  How passionate are you about your Lord and Savior?  When we are passionate about something or someone we let others know.  Are you willing to take the risk?

I know of several pastors in Southeast Asia who walked for days through jungle, through rivers, risking their lives in a communist country to get together with other pastors to learn how to better pastor their underground churches.  Most of them didn’t even own a copy of the Bible but risked so much to get to a place where they were given a copy.  I would say that is passion for Christ. 

What are you willing to risk reaching your friends and your peers at school?

A.L.