The Journey

God is good.  I don’t say that to be deep or super spiritual.  I mean that from my heart.  I’ve shared with you that I’m spending more time studying the Bible.  I have committed to being a faithful student of the Word.  The more that I study….the more questions I have.  I start in one place and inevitably end up in a completely different place.  And let me tell you, the destination makes the journey worth it.

I started a twenty-one-day Bible study devotional on YouVerse.  My intent was to read that devotional every morning and count that as my time with the Lord.  Welllllll, this devotional asked you to write down any scripture that stood out to you from the day’s reading.  Then it wanted you to write how it applied to your life AND THEN write a prayer to ask the Lord to help you apply it to your life.  Ohhhhh….this is a devotional devotional.  Okay.  Part of me wanted to stop the plan, but the Holy Spirit won, and I took out my pen and paper.

Currently, the devotional is working through the book of Galatians.  It asked me to research the author of the book and figure out what the purpose of the book was.  Told ya’ll it’s a devotional devotional.  I’ll spare you the trouble researching the author.  Galatians was written by Paul.  I hear about Paul often in church.  We discuss how he used to persecute Christians.  Paul’s name was Saul before he had an encounter with Jesus.  That’s a different story for a different day.

I wanted to read about Paul before he had the encounter with Jesus.  And in trying to research more about Paul, I came upon the story of Stephen.  Stephen was a man who was full of faith AND the Holy Spirit.  He was on fire for the Lord.  He was so anointed that people were unable to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.  He was changing lives.  People were receiving Christ and having the chains of bondage broken off them.  Some who were sitting on the sidelines were jealous of the obvious authority that he operated under. 

So, they created an elaborate network of liars.  The Bible says that they stirred up the people, elders, and the scribes.  They didn’t want just their little group to be disturbed.  They spread gossip and lies about Stephen to convince an entire community to rise up against him.  Stephen was brought before the council and asked if what the naysayers said was true.

Do ya’ll know what Stephen did?  He didn’t say, “These folks are liars.”  He didn’t roll his eyes or give them the finger.  He gave them the unadulterated truth.  Instead of defending himself, he preached the Word of God.  He told the people about God’s desire to have a relationship with His people.  He tells of how God has delivered Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Israel.  He says “I’m closing now” when he talks about how God doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, because heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool.  But the real close of his impassioned plea is when he lets the people know that their problem lies in the fact that they resist the Holy Spirit.

Like most people, folks don’t like the truth.  At least not the truth about themselves.  Stephen’s message cut to the heart of the issue and made them angry.  The most astounding thing happens at this moment.  While in the midst of a mob of angry people, Stephen looks up into heaven and sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  Not sitting.  Standing.  Stephen’s act of obedience causes Jesus to stand.

Stephen keeps his eyes on Jesus as the crowd stones him to death.  In a good Hollywood movie, Jesus standing would have caused the naysayers to fall back.  We want the good guys to receive victory.  Or at least our standards of victory.  Stephen is not crying out for his life to be spared though.  He asks God to receive his spirit.  And THEN he asks that the Lord not charge the crowd with this sin.  His focus is on the One who gave him the ability to live a free life.  He is not concerned about receiving vengeance on the crowd who casts him out and silences him with their stones. 

It’s not a coincidence that God directed me to this passage of scripture.  Yesterday’s message centered on Jesus keeping His focus on God when asking for the cup to be removed.  Today’s message continues the theme.  God is requiring more from me.  He wants me to fully rely and depend on Him.  He wants me to obey even when the task seems to be too great.  And He’s not just talking to me.  He’s speaking to every person who declares that Jesus is their Lord and Savior.  I already told you that the destination makes the journey worth it.  #wepreach