coffee and the Morning paper-stephen #2

"Wisdom is the right of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom." - C.H. Spurgeon

As Stephen was returning home from the market one night he was approached by some Cyrenians and Alexandrians, they were uncomfortable with the teachings he was teaching and even more thrown off by the miracles that were being performed by his hand. They made accusation after accusation but for some reason could not resist the wisdom he spoke as it did not come from the mouth of man but by the spirit that led him. That afternoon he was led to the high council were he was introduced to many of men who had false testimony against him. Stephen being the polite gentleman that he is sat and listened to these accusations not only with a smile on his face but a confidence one could only get from the confident hope he had in the Lord.

After the accusations were set in place, the high priest raised from his seat as the audience was silenced. He spoke, "Are these things so?" Stephen raised himself to his feet and spoke, with respect he addressed the people, "Brethren and Fathers" and began to not defend himself as you would have thought, but began to tell them the story of Abraham, then the Patriarchs and then of Israel and Moses. Stephen then began to tie in the knowledge he had acquired in his early mornings studying Gods word, to the present time watching these pharisees take on the patterns of there fathers and resist what the Holy Spirit was trying to tell them. While speaking, the conviction came down and the Bible says it "cut to there hearts", as conviction was ignored they continued to gnash there teeth at Stephen. "Stephen being so full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and the Glory of God was revealed to him." The pharisees continued to pursue the death of Stephen, but through the lying, deceit and malice he still had a heart for them and asked God to not charge them and through it all, I love this part because it doesn't end in murder, The Bible says that Stephen fell asleep.

Reading through the text, we learn that Stephen was not only a servant and a man with a ministry, he was also a man of the word. So much so that when he was approached by the lies of the world, he knew exactly what scripture applied to the lives surrounding him. I believe that one thing that Stephen knew more than most, was he was not only called to obtain knowledge of the Word, he was to obtain wisdom. But to gain wisdom you first have to gain knowledge of the Holy One. Which gave him encouragement to waking up a little extra earlier to read his Bible and stay up a little later in prayer getting to know his father.

Read through Acts 6 and 7 and you will see the life Stephen lived, although it an incredible one, it wasn't too glamorous. But one thing that Stephen always had was confidence. I know that i want confidence when it comes to whatever i am doing, and one way of doing that is not doing it on our own. Do you struggle with lies of the world? Don't try and come against them on your own, learn the Word of God, and don't only learn the word of God, apply it to your life daily. When you do this you gain wisdom that attaches itself to the Spirit of God, which shows in Acts 6:10 cant be resisted by the world.

I have met a lot of Christians who have come to find there faith stagnant, and its because of there lack of experience with God. If you find yourself in a place where you have a lack of faith you need to have an experience with God. It says in Acts 7 that Stephen "gazed into heaven and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God", I tell you i don't know what would boost my faith more than having the heavens open up and seeing this, but this experience came through his faithfulness in reading the word and applying it to his life daily, and then sharing it with unbelievers. When you step out of your shell of being comfortable and familiarity God will give you experiences that will blow your mind, but you have to give him an opportunity to do so by actually listening to what he wants you to do by reading your bible. Then when you apply all of this with love for people, God will blow your mind with what he can do in you and through you.

It all comes down to Wisdom, "I guide you in the way of Wisdom, and lead you along the way of straight paths". Prov 4:11. I don't want to be a generation that falls short of the glory of God because of a desire of knowledge without understanding and wisdom. God will show you which path to take, you just have to ask him and pursue him. Sometimes he will guide you in a direction you don't want to go but "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom" Prov. 9:10. God will give you direction, guidance, faith, grace and so much more, all you have to do is follow him and listen, then DO what he tells you, and it will be grace that will enable you to do so.

Some more coffee?

As the two older ladies sat talking about anything and everything, a young man approached them. In his mid 20's, well kept, walking with confidence and a smile he asked them, "can i please get you some more coffee?" They nodded in approval as he filled there glasses, as he was filling there cups, conversation was stopped and there eyes were fixated on the man in front of them, "who is this man they thought"? Catching a glimpse of his name tag it read "Stephen", he finished filling there cups and moved on to the next table in the small mom and pops restaurant. There was something different about him, as his face was as bright as an angel, the sincerity in his voice and earnesty to serve them. They continued there conversation but continually kept an eye on this young man as he served the people, they couldn't figure it out, but there was something different about him.

Stephen finished his shift around 4 pm that afternoon. He left without a paycheck, he didn't go hang out with his friends, he didn't go to the local pub, he went straight home where he dropped to his knees and prayed, "Father, thank you for using me today. You see my heart and you know my motives. Let your kingdom come and your will be done in my life today, i pray you give me grace as I follow the steps your directing for me. AMEN" He got up off his knees where he walked down to the local market to prepare dinner for the evening, as he walked he saw a crippled man begging for bread, Stephen was moved with compassion as with out hesitation he told the man about what Jesus Christ had done for him, then, laying his right hand on the mans head Stephen said "be healed in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ." The man was instantly healed and believed, he had dinner with Stephen that night and was given the good news that he was yet to live in.

I see this being a normal day for the servant Stephen in Acts 6. Stephen performed miracles, he saw people healed, he preached the Gospel and he waited tables. Wait, he waited tables? Stephen was the 1st person we see in the Bible who's sole responsibility was being a servant of food. But one thing i love is that waiting tables was his job,but it did not limit him to what God wanted to do in his life and through his life. Serving tables was his Job, serving God was his life. Without even it being his "calling" Stephen was one of the greatest preachers, evangelist, and Deacons in his time.

Studying Acts ch. 6 I ran across a crazy fact, Stephen was a Deacon! We get the word Deacon from the Greek word Diakonas which actually translates into "servant of Food". Which is crazy because in the modern church we think of the Deacon as somebody directly under the pastor. That is the actually definition for it. We learn in 1 Tim. 3 the requirements for becoming a Deacon. I love how the Deacon is "serving" the people in Ministry.

What is your calling? Preacher, worship leader, manager at a retail store, server, etc. What are you doing with it? Stephens calling was a server, but he didn't limit himself to his "title". Stephen waited tables, and Stephen moved mountains! But one thing that Stephen did was serve, we are all called to serve people and serve God no matter what our "title" is. When you do these 2 things, God gives you grace. We hear of Grace for the 1st time in Acts 6 referring to Stephen. When something is mentioned for the 1st time there is great significance to it, so i am thinking Grace goes hand in hand with serving!

Do you need Grace? We all do, its how we accomplish things that seem impossible. Where ever your at in this season of your life, do 2 things, serve God and serve people. See what happens! You might be called to be a Waiter, but dont let that limit you from being one of the greatest preachers of your time. You might be called to managing a store, but dont let that limit you from having an amazing healing ministry. 1 cor. 10:31 "whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."