FRIDAY February 17, 2023

A Man Full of Faith

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
Acts 6:8-10

Stephen was unstoppable! He was doing great wonders and signs among the people. He was full of faith and power! In the Greek language, on this occasion, the word faith does not translate to “martyr or witness.” The word faith literally means “grace.” It is the Greek word Charis. God had given Stephen the grace he needed to preach the Gospel to the Pharisees who hated Jesus Christ.

Guess who was among them? Although we do not see his name, Saul, later called Paul the Apostle, was with them. As Stephen stood before these opposing religious leaders, he spoke with the power of the Holy Spirit about divine things. He had the ability to interpret the sacred Scriptures. God gave special wisdom to Stephen; and the Pharisees just could not handle it.

Imagine, here is a seemingly insignificant deacon in the church, and God was using him mightily. There are those who are serving in the church today, as a deacon or usher parking cars and helping direct people, and God is using them mightily. He can use whoever He wants! It is not just the key people in the church; in fact, we are all key people in the eyes of God.

Ask God to fill you with His Spirit so you can become a man full of faith and power––full of the grace of God. He desires to open doors and use your life tremendously as a blessing in the church, in your community, and in the world. As you submit your life to Jesus Christ, He will use you in an incredible way. Why? All because He loves you! I promise you, He will. I would love to see men like this being used here at Calvary Chapel.

The difference between human heroes and sacred characters lies just in this: the man is just a man but behind the man of God, God Himself is ever standing greater than the man and overshadowing him by His infinite and glorious presence.
~A. B. Simpson~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!