“Our Daily Bread”   http://odb.org/2012/07/11/sweet-slumber/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

Acts 7:58… and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.  (NKJV)

Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, was writing about the stoning death of Stephen, the first of the seven chosen men of God, which were picked to help the 12 Disciples of Christ, back in Acts chapter 6…

This is the first mention of Saul of Tarsus, who was apparently close enough to the men who were about to stone Stephen, to watch their clothes while they killed this martyr for Christ… Stoning was the punishment that had been approved in the law, for blasphemy against God (Leviticus 24:16); though this stoning death was an act of mob violence, not a formal execution of Stephen…

Just like Christ (Luke 23:34)…Stephen called out to the Lord to forgive those who were about to kill him, for their sins, in… Acts 7:59-60… This ability to love even those who are going to kill you, is only possible in a Christian that is totally committed to the Lord (filled with the Holy Spirit)…  But Jesus commands all of His children to love everyone, even our enemies, as recorded in…Matthew 5:43-44…

Saul of Tarsus, for those who are not familiar with who he was, is to me…one of the most remarkable conversions of anyone recorded in the Bible…  Saul was a Pharisee, who was doing his best to hunt down Christians, and have them crucified…  We see a little more about Saul’s hatred for the Christians, in this scripture, in…Acts 8:3… As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.  (NKJV)

In the next chapter of Acts, Luke writes about the conversion of Saul by Christ Himself, as Saul was on His way to Damascus for a meeting on how to round up more Christians… Here is the link about this miraculous conversion of Saul by Christ from heaven… Saul went from a Christian killing Jew, to a hand picked disciple of Christ, who becomes the apostle Paul; and ends up writing half of the New Testament of the Bible… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts9&version=NKJV

Today I am trying to emphasize the absolute power of God, through 2 men of the Bible, written about in the opening verse…  Stephen was martyred showing compassion for those who were about to kill him; and Saul went from killing Christians, to becoming the predominant teacher and the gospel of Christ… Christ chose Paul in order to promote His church to the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:8-9); and to show through Saul’s own conversion…the amazing power of God to change anyone’s heart from a heart of stone, to a heart filled with the love of Christ…

This miraculous conversion of Saul, should give all believers hope, that their loved ones and friends who proclaim to be agnostics or atheists…don’t stand a chance against the power of God; if God wants them to be part of His family… We as Christian’s should never give up in sharing our own amazing testimony of salvation, as well as proclaiming the “good news” of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us, who do not yet know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior… 

And look at Stephen’s ability of being able to show compassion for those ready to kill him !!  This remarkable showing of love, is what all Christians would be capable of…if they were absolutely filled with (controlled by) the Holy Spirit… I am convinced, because of my own experience of taking back control from the Holy Spirit…as well as my conversations with friends and family…that many of us, who are truly Christian’s in God’s eyes, are less than Spirit filled…  This is why I write about the need to confess and repent of our sins, on a regular basis (1 John 1:9); and remind all Christian’s, like the apostle Paul did in the following scripture…that they must constantly pray to the Lord to remain humble…

It is easy to take back control from the Holy Spirit… This seems to be human nature, as it happened to me… This is what happened to many believers at the church in Ephesus, as well…  To correct this mistake, the apostle Paul instructed the Ephesians’ to re-submit control of their lives to the Holy Spirit with-in them, when he penned this scripture, in…

Ephesians 5:18-20… And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (NKJV)

Heavenly Father, I pray that the examples from these two great men of God (Stephen and the apostle Paul)…will give all of us hope…that no matter where we or our loved one’s are, in our spiritual lives…that You can change anyone’s cold heart of stone, to a heart filled with the Holy Spirit…  Help all of us Lord…to submit our lives to You…  And then Lord…help us to continue to grow in our spiritual maturity; so that walking in the Spirit will become the norm…rather than the exception…  I pray for this spiritual state of fullness, with the absolute peace and joy it would bring into all of our lives…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills