But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God,
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
My Church is in the middle of a summer reading plan and today we read Acts 7. A
chapter so rich, so full, so emotional. Theologian William Neil says it is a “subtle
and skillful proclamation of the Gospel.”
I must admit that even though I have read this chapter on more than one occasion, I
was emotionally impacted this morning. I was just particularly struck by the last
passage; verses 54-60. I was taken aback by the anger and fury (can’t we see that
even today), I was so moved by the faith of Stephen, I was amazed at the grace and
the seeds of grace planted that day (Saul), and I was just emotionally crushed (in a
good way) to see Jesus standing at the right hand of God (not sitting)...and for the first time I began to
wonder why was he Standing?
Some say that Jesus was led into the presence of God to receive authority and power
(Daniel 7:13-14), some say he stood to welcome Stephen the first martyr, some say
he stood as Stephen’s heavenly advocate. F. F. Bruce says; “Stephen has been
confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before
God.”
Since we are not clearly told the reason, I am sure it is a transcending, surpassing blend of all of this and even
more...but what was laid on my heart this morning, what brought a tear to my eye
was to know that Jesus was there in the midst of this suffering. Even though God’s
will had to be done Jesus was with Stephen, He loved, He cared, and what came to
my mind was a couple of verses from John 11. Verses 35 and 36: Jesus wept. Then
the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
I honestly don’t know if this is theologically correct, but it was clearly placed on my heart this
morning. That no matter the circumstance, no matter the trial, no matter the
suffering, that Jesus is there with us, that His amazing love is there for us and out of
that love, when we suffer He stands up for us; dare I say He weeps...For me it was: Oh my, see how He loves us.
Jesus, I love you too!
Grace and Peace!
Father God,
I come before you brokenhearted and troubled by the recent tragedies...a young boy
tragically killed in an accident right here in our community, young men tragically killed in
Louisiana and Minnesota and law enforcement officers tragically killed in Dallas.
Oh Father, I come confused, I come sad, I come broken. I come not even knowing exactly what
or how to pray, but I come crying out from my heart. I pray for understanding and wisdom to
prevail, I pray for Gospel transformation and change in us all, I pray for ideas, solutions and
paths forward. I pray for action rather than the divided inaction of our day, I pray for the
ability as a nation to discuss these tragedies in a way that does not divide, but moves forward, I
pray for the impacted families and communities, for your comfort and healing and peace. I
pray that we as a church will mourn with those mourning and weep with those weeping. I
pray for revival and for this nation to collectively turn to you. I pray that we all remember that
we are one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Mostly I pray for love
because without love we are nothing.
I pray as you tell us in Romans; that our love would be sincere, that we would hate what is evil,
that we would cling to what is good. That we would be devoted to one another in love and that
we would honor others above ourselves, that we would never be lacking in zeal, but that we
would always keep our spiritual passions, that we would serve the Lord. That we would be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer...that we would share with those in need
and practice hospitality. That we would bless those that persecute us, that we would rejoice
with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, that we would live in harmony with one
another, that we would not be proud and that we would be willing to associate with all kinds of
people and never be conceited.
And in addition to all this, I pray that this you help us see and know and feel your grace and
love and tender mercies; to feel your very presence with us. Help us know and trust and rest
in you, help us to know that our all powerful God is upon his throne and will make all things
new, help us to truly rejoice, help us to be forever thankful for the one true hope that is Christ
and help us as a people, as believers to always sing praises to our almighty, loving, tender,
merciful, and sovereign God.
Abba Father, we love you and pray these many things in the most beautiful and loving name of
Jesus Christ – Amen and Amen!
Grace and Peace!
Our Pastor has been preaching a series on prayer. It is something I must admit I
struggle with from time to time. I feel like I don’t know what to pray or how to pray.
I worry that my words are all wrong, at times I might not even have words.
However, I do know just how important prayer is...many times it is the only thing that helps,
that soothes, that satisfies. I did a little research and found several “sound bites”
about prayer that have been helpful.
One of the most helpful and I can’t find the author so I apologize for not citing it
properly, but one person wrote they begin their prayers with;
“Father, I love you too.”
That just helps to center me – acknowledging to the Creator of the universe, to
the Great I Am, to the Almighty that we love Him, because he first loved us.
John Bunyan was an English writer and Baptist preacher best remembered as the
author of the Pilgrim's Progress once said;
“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words with out a
heart.”
That is so helpful for me; for those times when I struggle for words, to know that
crying out from the heart no matter the words, no matter the issue is ok. It is our
way of being in a relationship with our good, good Father in Heaven.
There is a small book that I once read called The Practice of the Presence of God
which is a collection of conversations with Brother Lawrence; a
monk that entered into a life of service and devotion to God and spent the majority
of his life working in the kitchen. Brother Lawrence once said of prayer;
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of
a continual conversation with God.”
That is my hope (and prayer) for us all; that we might enter into a sweet and
delightful life of continual conversation with God.
Grace and Peace!
I retired last week after almost 32 years with one company. When you get to that
point, after 32 years of doing something day after day you can find yourself at a major crossroad
and it can be a very emotional time. You get a bunch of questions like what are you
going to do now and aren’t you afraid you will get bored? You know the typical
encouraging comments...but in reality this crossroad can lead you to questions, it
can point to uncertainty, it can leave you a little concerned, maybe even a little
afraid. I think life is filled with crossroads and while this in the scheme of things is
not huge it still can be consuming.
There is a passage in Philippians that helps me, it just sets me straight, it reminds
and encourages. For me it provides the answer to uncertainty as we face those
crossroads of life. Maybe some of you are at a crossroad now or will be at some
point, maybe you will not be sure if you should do this or that, to go this way or that
way, but to me you can take heart and be encouraged.
Philippians 3:12-24
Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but
I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do
not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal
to wing the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
This passage speaks volumes and says so much.
However, it is not telling us to forget the experiences of the past, but it does tell us to
forget the attainments so that we can see that there is so much more to strive for; so
much more to attain. It is telling us not to rest in the accomplishments of the past,
but to recognize the exciting things that lie ahead; things like a deepening
knowledge of and relationship with Christ, a life of sharing the Good News with a
world so desperate for some good news; a life filled with grace and love.
James Hastings said that the perfect man of this passage “is the man that can see the
vast stretches before him to be traversed, the man that knows there are shining
heights yet to climb, that there are glories unspeakable ahead.”
Everyone, no matter your crossroad...press on in Christ Jesus...press on to shining
heights only possible through Christ...press on to the glories unspeakable that lie
ahead!
Grace and Peace!
