You maybe at a crossroad in your life. You are asking yourself, “Where do I go from here”? Begin to make the Lord preeminent. If you “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” (Matthew 6:33), God will fulfill (perfect) his purpose in your life, my friends. (Psalm 138:8) God created you to do good works—heaven prepared you in advance. You are God’s handiwork—his masterpiece! (Ephesians 2:10)
I was thinking of Stephen in Acts , chapter 7 of the New Testament the other day for another blog. Stephen was not one of the apostles; he did not write a book in the New Testament. We don’t even know if he had ever spoken publicly before that powerful speech before the Sanhedrin. He was one of the deacons who cared for those in need. And yet, he was brought before the high priest with false claims that he was blaspheming Moses and God with his claim of Jesus as the Messiah. Stephen gave his anointed and powerful speech when the high priest asked him about the accusations. He spoke of the journey of the Israelites from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to the twelve tribes of Israel to Moses, down to Jesus, the Messiah. He ended up accusing the Sanhedrin of rejecting all of God’s deliverers, including God’s own Son. Enraged, they ended up stoning Stephen who asked God to forgive them. As he was being stoned, he had a vision of heaven with Jesus standing (not sitting) at the right hand of God.
As they stoned Stephen, they laid their coats at the feet of Saul who was one of them. Saul, later Paul, is an example of God’s forgiveness. He later became one of the most vociferous, and avid proponents of Jesus.
Could one of the reasons Stephen’s situation have been canonized was so that ordinary Christians can know that God uses all of his people and is therefore, able and willing to use them ? (I surmise here.)
My point is: you don’t have to be a Paul, a Peter, a John. You don’t have to be a Martin Luther, a John Wesley, a Kathryn Kuhlman or a Billy Graham. Remember: Stephen was a deacon who ministered to the needs of the poor and widows. God can use you. I believe that if, like Stephen, you are sold out for the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit, God will use you. If he is already using you, he’ll use you more. Ministering to the least of these is what Jesus was about. Jesus equates ministering to the least of these (as Stephen did) as ministering as unto him. (Mathew 25:45)
Put Jesus first and see what he can and will do in your life.
Be blessed, my friends.
Scripture References for Meditation:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
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