Not Just Ordinary,
Extraordinary
In the book of
Acts, Chapter 6, there is a story about a man named Stephen. God saw
Stephen’s story worthy of sharing. Stephen was chosen as one of 12
disciples because he was a man known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
He chose to move beyond ordinary to experience the extraordinary.
His story
begins in Acts 6. There was a problem in the early church. There
were Aramaic speaking Jews and then there were also Greek speaking Christians.
The Greek speaking Christians were complaining that their widows were
being treated unfairly. They were not getting the same share of food as
others. Their complaining was probably caused by the language barrier and
never meant to be intentional. To solve the issue, the Apostles chose 7
men to be over the distribution of food to insure everyone was treated equally.
These men were to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. This is
where Stephen’s story began!
Acts 6:5.
“This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”
Stephen was anointed by God. This anointing caused him to do extraordinary things for God. This same anointing, this same Holy Spirit power that moved Stephen is for us as well. It’s available to us.
Acts 6:8
“And Stephen, full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people”.
We are to be doing these same things. As we go deeper with God, He will enlarge us. He will begin to open up to us wide doors of opportunity just as he opened up to Stephen. Stephen who started out by distributing food was later called to do much greater things because he was full. Full of the Holy Spirit and lost in the power of God. He lost sight of natural things and became focused on spiritual things. He fixed his eyes on Jesus until he became full! He laid down his life and put himself in a place where God could move through him so that he in turn could affect those around him.
In 2016 may we, the church, become awakened. To become full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit so that we, like Stephen, can be a shining light to the world. How, spend time getting filled up. Filled up in The Word, filled up in prayer, filled up through praise and thanksgiving, filled up by giving!
Ephesians 5:18-20 “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
Let’s Not just be ordinary, but extraordinary!!
Acts 6:5.
“This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”
Stephen was anointed by God. This anointing caused him to do extraordinary things for God. This same anointing, this same Holy Spirit power that moved Stephen is for us as well. It’s available to us.
Acts 6:8
“And Stephen, full of faith and power did great wonders and signs among the people”.
We are to be doing these same things. As we go deeper with God, He will enlarge us. He will begin to open up to us wide doors of opportunity just as he opened up to Stephen. Stephen who started out by distributing food was later called to do much greater things because he was full. Full of the Holy Spirit and lost in the power of God. He lost sight of natural things and became focused on spiritual things. He fixed his eyes on Jesus until he became full! He laid down his life and put himself in a place where God could move through him so that he in turn could affect those around him.
In 2016 may we, the church, become awakened. To become full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit so that we, like Stephen, can be a shining light to the world. How, spend time getting filled up. Filled up in The Word, filled up in prayer, filled up through praise and thanksgiving, filled up by giving!
Ephesians 5:18-20 “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
Let’s Not just be ordinary, but extraordinary!!
No comments:
Post a Comment