Tag: Acts of the Holy Spirit

Morning Reading: Acts 6.8-15 NLT – false witnesses

Reading: Acts 6:8-15 NLT

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Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia.

None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke. So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, “We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.” This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law.

So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council. The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Stephen was the first of a long line of Christian martyrs. In the face of imminent danger, he did not back down. Fill your people with wisdom and the Holy Spirit in the face of danger. Give us the courage to speak the truth in the face of false witness… to declare the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not to defend ourselves. And give us confidence and courage in facing the consequences. For your name’s sake. Amen.

Hymn: “The Voice of Truth” –  Mark Hall and Steven Curtis Chapman

Morning Reading: Acts 6.1-7 NLT – set apart to serve

Reading: Acts 6:1-7 NLT

But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent.

The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.

"Ordination of St. Stephen by St. Peter" Fra Angelico, 1449 Capella Nicolina, Vaticano, Rome
“Ordination of St. Stephen by St. Peter”
Fra Angelico, 1449
Capella Nicolina, Vaticano, Rome

So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers.

They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.

So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.

Prayer: Heavenly Father – You have made us all different – different talents, abilities, personalities and spiritual gifts. And all of us have a purpose and place to serve you – to build up the Church and reach out to the people around us. Lord Jesus – Renew, remold, remake us into people who bring honor to you – “well respected and full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.” Holy Spirit – Empower us to serve others after the example of Jesus. In His name I ask it. Amen.

Hymn: “Ye Servants of God” – Charles Wesley (1744)
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Morning Reading: Acts 5. 33-42 NLT – suffering disgrace

Reading: Acts 5:33-42 NLT

When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them.

Rabbis-Gamaliel-Saul-PaulBut one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while.

Then he said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed, too, and all his followers were scattered.

“So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”

The others accepted his advice. They called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.

The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.  And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Help me to discern what is right and true. May I be obedient to the leading of your Spirit… and may I be faithful to your Word. To the end that, one day, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess – “Jesus is Lord!” Amen.

Spiritual Song: “None But Jesus” – Brooke Fraser
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Morning Reading: Acts 5. 17-32 NLT – courageously obeying God

Reading: Acts 5:17-32 NLT

The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

Liberation of St. Peter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1667) Hermitage Museum
Liberation of St. Peter
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1667)
Hermitage Museum

But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!” So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching.

When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council — the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial.

But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, “The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!” When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end.

Then someone arrived with startling news: “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!” The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.

Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. “Didn’t we tell you never again to teach in this man’s name?” he demanded. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!”

But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross.  Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father – Help me to listen to you and obey you… to share with others the “message of life” through your Son Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus – Keep my eyes on you… my beginning and end. Holy Spirit – Shut out all the din and chatter that would distract me from my primary purpose… to glorify and enjoy God. Amen.

Hymn: “Trust and Obey” – John H. Sammis (1887)
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Morning Reading: Acts 5.12-16 NLT – signs and wonders

Reading: Acts 5:12-16 NLT

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

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Apostles Peter and John
Pieter Aertsen, 1575

And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.

Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.

As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.

Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Advance your Kingdom purposes in our time. Fill your people with your Spirit… heal the sick and demonized… and expand /and enlarge your family into every tribe and nation throughout the world. To you be all the honor and glory. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “Spirit Song” – John Wimber