Saturday, August 30,
2014, 7:11 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Servant of the Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Acts 6-7 (quoting selected verses in
the NIV). I will summarize much of this due to the length of the passages.
Stephen Chosen
Widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of
food, so the disciples gathered together and made the decision to choose seven
men from among them who were known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. They
would hand this responsibility over to them.
One of the seven chosen was a man named Stephen. He was a
man full of God’s grace and power who performed great wonders and signs among
the people. Yet, as we know, wherever God is at work, Satan is not far behind
working his will and his ways to destroy what God is doing in people’s lives.
Opposition arose against Stephen. There were Jews who began to argue with him. “But
they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke”
(6:10). Amen!
Yet, that did not stop Stephen’s opponents. Since they could
not stand against the wisdom of God given Stephen, they began to make up lies
against him. By doing so, they were able to stir up the people, the elders and
the teachers of the law so that Stephen was seized and brought before the
Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses against him. “All who were sitting in
the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like
the face of an angel” (6:15). Amen! Oh, that we would all have such a response
to persecution!
When Stephen was asked if the charges were true, he replied,
“Listen to me!” And, then he went on to give a summation of all that had taken
place from the time God had called Abraham, up to and including the life,
ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, their promised Messiah and
Lord.
As I began prayerfully reading through Stephen’s speech to
the Sanhedrin, concerning the various historical events which had taken place, beginning
with Abraham and leading up to the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham,
which was Jesus Christ, God began to speak to my heart concerning his calling
upon all of our lives to be his servants and his witnesses throughout the
world. He began showing me some critical steps involved in taking his gospel to
the ends of the earth, plus he reminded me of his many instructions to his
disciples, and of his multiple promises to them as they went with his gospel to
the nations.
Leave and Go
“Brothers
and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham
while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ‘Leave your
country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you’” (7:2-3).
For over a week now the Spirit of God has had these words “Leave
and Go” stand out to me in relation to following Jesus Christ wherever he leads
us, and in relation to sharing the gospel of our salvation to our world around
us. I believe he is saying, “Get ready; be prepared.” Yet, we should expect
temptation to doubt, fear and bail, and we should anticipate all kinds of opposition,
but we are to know that God is with us, that he will not leave us or forsake us
- his servants - but that he will see us through. He is saying, “Come, follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men.” We must be willing to leave home,
family, possessions, and occupation, etc. to go wherever he sends us with the
gospel of Christ.
Future Rewards
He
gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But
God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land,
even though at that time Abraham had no child. God spoke to him in this way:
‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not
their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. But I will punish the
nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of
that country and worship me in this place’” (7:5-7)
When I read this, the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah, pilgrim through
this barren land. I am weak, but Thou art mighty. Hold me with Thy powerful
hand. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more…”
The whole song is based off the story of the calling of
Abraham all the way up to the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land. We,
as followers of Jesus Christ, are strangers and pilgrims in this land. This
world is not our home. We are just passing through. In this world we will face many
joys and blessings, but also hardship, persecution, difficulties, sadness,
pain, and sin, and yet, in the spiritual realm, we can know joy, forgiveness,
restoration, healing and hope for our future. Amen!
What encouraged my heart this afternoon as I read this is
that, first of all, we should see our lives on this earth as temporary, and
that we truly are strangers and pilgrims here, so we should not focus our time,
talents, money and attention on building our earthly kingdoms, but we should
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and God will supply all that we
need.
Secondly I saw that we should also not live our lives here
to gain the approval of humans, to be liked or popular, to fit in with the
world around us, and/or to enjoy the pleasures this sinful world has to offer
us. We are to come out from the world and be separate (different), and we are
to be set apart to God and to his service.
And, lastly I saw here a promise of deliverance and future
restoration for those who had once been enslaved in sin, but who will accept
God’s offer of his great salvation. I see this promise in light of our
obedience to “Leave and Go,” to live as strangers in this world, and to accept
rejection, hatred and persecution as part of the cost of following Christ and
for the sake of sharing the gospel of salvation with those to whom he sends us.
There will be fruit for our labor when God delivers them from their slavery to
sin, he sets them free, and they worship God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – as
their Only God and Lord. Amen!
Going Back
“Then
the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in
Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now
come, I will send you back to Egypt’” (7:33-34).
Fast forwarding, the descendants of Abraham did end up in
Egypt for 400 years following a famine in Canaan, which then took them to
Egypt, where God had sent Joseph ahead to prepare the way for them. Yet, he saw
the oppression of his people in Egypt, and he heard their groaning, so he was
now sending Moses back to Egypt to deliver his people out of slavery and to
lead them to the Promised Land. So, what did Egypt mean to Moses, who had now
been living away from there for forty years? And, what might that represent to
us?
Egypt was where Moses was born. He was raised by Pharaoh’s
daughter. When he was 40 years old, he decided to visit his own people, the
Israelites. Things happened and Moses ended up killing a fellow Egyptian,
thinking he was defending a fellow Israelite. He thought that his own people,
the Israelites, would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they
did not. Moses ended up fleeing to Midian. After 40 years there an angel
appeared to Moses, and God spoke to him. He was going to send him back to where
he had done wrong to another, and where he had been rejected by his own people.
We were all born into sin. Egypt represents slavery to sin, it
means failure, but it also means rejection. God is certainly not leading us
back into sin, yet he does sometimes lead us to revisit our past so that we can
be set free, and so he can use us once more. He was not leading Moses back to
be in slavery, but to speak God’s words in order that his people might be
delivered and set free. So, going back to Egypt means second chances to do what
we didn’t do right the first time. It represents to some having to face the
demons of their pasts so that God can set them free, so he can bring them back
into fellowship with him, and so he can use them once more for his service to
be his witnesses and servants. Amen!
Servant
of the Lord / An Original Work / July 26, 2012
Based off
Romans 1:1-17 NIV
Servant
of the Lord;
For
the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised
through the prophets of old:
Jesus,
Son of God.
Through
Him, and for His name alone,
We
receive His grace
To
call people, Him to obey;
Coming
from their faith.
Servant
of the Lord,
For
the gospel you’re set apart.
Promised
through the prophets of old:
Jesus,
Son of God.
You
belong to Christ;
Loved
by God, and called to be saints;
Serving
God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching
Jesus Christ;
Always
praying for others’ needs;
Helping
hand to lend;
Giving
courage to others’ faith,
For
the praise of God.
You
belong to Christ;
Loved
by God, and called to be saints;
Serving
God with whole heart and mind;
Preaching
Jesus Christ.
Servant
of the Lord;
Of
the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For
salvation, power of God
To
those who have faith.
In
the gospel find righteousness:
Being
right with God.
Turn
from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.
By
faith, live in Him.
Servant
of the Lord;
Of
the gospel, I’m not ashamed;
For
salvation, power of God
To
those who have faith.
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