Today’s Reading, Acts 7-8
Focal Scripture: Acts 7:55 “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
The Holy Spirit is misunderstood in our church culture. On one hand you have people that attribute things to him that he never said or the Bible doesn’t teach. These abuses cause for the Holy Spirit to be thought of as a carnival act. Unfortunately, there are some that take the complete opposite approach. They are afraid of the Holy Spirit and never talk about him. These people whisper his name but miss that he is important.
In today’s reading Stephen is about to die. He just gave a great sermon on the history of the Jewish people. How they rejected the prophets and missed the mark when it came to Christ. His message was powerful. He was also filled with the Spirit. He was walking hand in hand with the Lord. He was fulfilling what Jesus said when he told the disciples that the spirit would give them words to speak. Stephen shared the truth because he was dependent on the Holy Spirit not himself.
So what about you? Are you full of the Holy Spirit? Or are you afraid of the spirit? Do you even understand who the Spirit is and what he does? I challenge you today to embrace the Holy Spirit in your personal life. Understand his role in your life. He convicts people of sin, he seals us until the end, he empowers us to live the Christian life. Another role the spirit does is point people to Jesus.
If you want to experience the life Jesus wants for you learn how to be full of the Holy Spirit. This requires you to be saved first. Then understand that the Holy Spirit is our power source to help us live the Christian life. This is how Stephen could preach the way he did.
Don’t be scared by the abuses of some people concerning the Spirit. Also don’t disregard him either. Embrace the gift given to us by the Father. It will change your life if you do.
Tomorrow I plan on reading Acts 9-10
