The Holy Spirit empowers God's church in the midst of persecution.

July 27, 2013 - Acts 8:1-8

¹ Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.

    ^1 1-2 That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All, that is, but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral—not many dry eyes that day!

   ^3-8 And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city!

Stephen became the first martyr of the early church. His death only marked the beginning of the severe persecution of the early church. Saul dragged disciples into the jail. Disciples were forced to leave Jerusalem, but it resulted further proclamation of the Name of Jesus even to Samaria. Samaritans were converted by the words of Philip with the signs and miracles done by Philip with the power of the Holy Spirit. The enemies wanted to destroy the church by persecution but God protected the church and even strengthened the church in the midst of persecution. Stephen were  martyred but God raised up another evangelist, Philip, to continue the missions. God's works will never be defeated by persecution and opposition which rather become the means by which God more blesses His church.

Dear Holy Spirit, the church needs your revival in the midst of opposition of the world. Strengthen your people to face oppositions with blessings and continual proclamation of the Name of Jesus with Your power that people knew that Jesus is the Lord. Help me to listen to Your voice as I await for your direction that I minister alongside the Spirit and witness Jesus all by your might. 

The Holy Spirit transforms us to be like Jesus - a heart of forgiveness.

July 26, 2013 - Acts 7:51-60

^51-53 “And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you’re just like your ancestors. Was there ever a prophet who didn’t get the same treatment? Your ancestors killed anyone who dared talk about the coming of the Just One. And you’ve kept up the family tradition—traitors and murderers, all of you. You had God’s Law handed to you by angels—gift-wrapped!—and you squandered it!”

   ^54-56 At that point they went wild, a rioting mob of catcalls and whistles and invective. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, hardly noticed—he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all his glory with Jesus standing at his side. He said, “Oh! I see heaven wide open and the Son of Man standing at God’s side!”

   ^57-58 Yelling and hissing, the mob drowned him out. Now in full stampede, they dragged him out of town and pelted him with rocks. The ringleaders took off their coats and asked a young man named Saul to watch them.

   ^59-60 As the rocks rained down, Stephen prayed, “Master Jesus, take my life.” Then he knelt down, praying loud enough for everyone to hear, “Master, don’t blame them for this sin”—his last words. Then he died.

Stephen, filled with Holy Spirit, powerfully preached Jesus in the midst of God's enemies till to the point that he was stoned to death by the Jews with hostility. Nevertheless, Stephen's face became like an angel and his eyes gazed at the  heaven which was opened for his sake and even Jesus stood at God's side, welcoming him to return to God. Sins caused hostility at the enemies' side while the Holy Spirit transformed God's people, like Stephen, to be like their Master Jesus, still praying for the forgiveness of their enemies who persecuted them. The power of the Holy Spirit empowered God's people to exalt Jesus and convert people in opposition, and also filled up God's people with the love of heavenly Father as they face the hostility from people. 

My dear Holy Spirit, your church needs your empowering as we faithfully witness the Name of Jesus in this world of hostility. People need Jesus. They need to see the love of heavenly Father through your people's lives as they pray and love in the return of persecution and opposition. Speak to me through your means that I can follow and be strengthened with your power to witness your name. 

The Holy Spirit leads us in speaking the words of God for Jesus' Name.

July 25, 2013 - Acts 7:1-53

 ¹ Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

   ² To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ³ ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

   ⁴ “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. ⁵ He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. ⁶ God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. ⁷ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’ ⁸ Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

   ⁹ “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

   ¹¹ “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. ¹² When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. ¹³ On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. ¹⁵ Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. ¹⁶ Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

   ¹⁷ “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. ¹⁸ Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ ¹⁹ He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

   ²⁰ “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. ²¹ When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. ²² Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

   ²³ “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’

   ²⁷ “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? ²⁸ Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹ When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

   ³⁰ “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: ³² ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

   ³³ “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’

   ³⁵ “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

   ³⁷ “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ ³⁸ He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.

   ³⁹ “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. ⁴⁰ They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ ⁴¹ That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. ⁴² But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

   “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
   forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
⁴³ You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
   and the star of your god Rephan,
   the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.

   ⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵ After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, ⁴⁶ who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

   ⁴⁸ “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

   ⁴⁹ “‘Heaven is my throne,
   and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.
   Or where will my resting place be?
⁵⁰ Has not my hand made all these things?’

   ⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit, and illuminated by the Spirit to powerfully interpret the salvation history of Israelites while condemning them to be like their ancestors, experiencing God's leading in wilderness, receiving Moses' Law through angels, constantly being taught by the prophets, but at the same time disobeying God, killing the prophets and now murdering the Son of God. Spirit-filled Stephen spoke as he heard from the Holy Spirit, courageously witnessed the Name of Jesus in the midst of oppositions. The way of discipleship is a way of witnessing the Name of Jesus, always preparing for opposition and even persecution. But it is also a way of experiencing the empowering of the Holy Spirit, being illuminated to understand the words of God, speaking what we hear from the Holy Spirit through the words of God, and being empowered to witness the Name of Jesus in this world of enmity and disbelief to God. Dear Holy Spirit, continue to speak to me today that I speak exactly what I hear from You. 

The Face of an Angel.

July 24, 2013 - Acts 6:8-15

^8-10 Stephen, brimming with God’s grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some men from the meeting place whose membership was made up of freed slaves, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and some others from Cilicia and Asia, went up against him trying to argue him down. But they were no match for his wisdom and spirit when he spoke.

   ¹¹ So in secret they bribed men to lie: “We heard him cursing Moses and God.”

   ^12-14 That stirred up the people, the religious leaders, and religion scholars. They grabbed Stephen and took him before the High Council. They put forward their bribed witnesses to testify: “This man talks nonstop against this Holy Place and God’s Law. We even heard him say that Jesus of Nazareth would tear this place down and throw out all the customs Moses gave us.”

   ¹⁵ As all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found they couldn’t take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an angel!

Stephen was filled with the Spirit and with His wisdom. He powerfully preached and witnessed the Name of Jesus in the midst of oppositions that no one can counter against. His face even became like an angel - a face of light and beauty in God's eyes - that even the enemies had to admit. 

In the charismatic community of the early church, the Holy Spirit filled up and empowered the apostles, and also the other lay leaders, like Stephen for witnessing the Name of Jesus. They spoke with the Spirit, they suffered by the Spirit, and they were transformed even including their faces as they lived and ministered by the power of the Holy Spirit. Challenges and even persecution never diminished in the era of the early church, but the power and transformation of the Holy Spirit in the disciples' lives grew even bigger and bigger that the world might know that Jesus has resurrected and been exalted as the Lord. My dear Holy Spirit, how can I grow and minister like your servants in the early church? As challenges increases, the strength of my inner soul and the transformative power of my ministry by the Spirit also increase. 

The church, including the leaders and congregants, as a charismatic community.

July 23, 2013 - Acts 6:1-7

    ^1 1-4 During this time, as the disciples were increasing in numbers by leaps and bounds, hard feelings developed among the Greek-speaking believers—“Hellenists”—toward the Hebrew-speaking believers because their widows were being discriminated against in the daily food lines. So the Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, “It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy Spirit and good sense, and we’ll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word.”

   ^5-6 The congregation thought this was a great idea. They went ahead and chose—

   Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,
Philip,
Procorus,
Nicanor,
Timon,
Parmenas,
Nicolas, a convert from Antioch.

   Then they presented them to the apostles. Praying, the apostles laid on hands and commissioned them for their task.

   ⁷ The Word of God prospered. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased dramatically. Not least, a great many priests submitted themselves to the faith.

Division among God's people may become a great crisis in a church's community. The Hellenists complained against the Hebrew-speaking brothers and sisters as their widows were ignored by the daily provisions. The Spirit-filled church asked for the Holy Spirit's discernment in them. The apostles kept their faithfulness in their preaching and praying ministry, while at the same time, delegating the responsibility to new deacons whom were chosen by the church. The church, led by the Holy Spirit, chose the deacons, while the deacons, including Stephen and Philip, etc, were also full of the Holy Spirit, and wisdom in carrying out God's ministry. The word of God continued to prosper and people were converted in faith. 

Dear Holy Spirit, the church absolutely needs the wisdom and discernment from You as the church has to decide on the issues for the church's life and your kingdom. The church is called to be a charismatic community, filled up with the Holy Spirit for all ministries. The leaders and all the laymen alike are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. No matter how the pastors/elders/deacons decide, and the congregation responds to God's will in the church, the discernment and guidance from the Holy Spirit is the only indispensable factor for making decisions, and causing the advancement of God's Kingdom. 

Miracles happen in our lives as we faithfully obey and preach the Name of Jesus.

July 22, 2013 - Acts 5:17-42

    ^17-20 Provoked mightily by all this, the Chief Priest and those on his side, mainly the sect of Sadducees, went into action, arrested the apostles and put them in the town jail. But during the night an angel of God opened the jailhouse door and led them out. He said, “Go to the Temple and take your stand. Tell the people everything there is to say about this Life.”

   Promptly obedient, they entered the Temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.

   ^21-23 Meanwhile, the Chief Priest and his cronies convened the High Council, Israel’s senate, and sent to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. When the police got there, they couldn’t find them anywhere in the jail. They went back and reported, “We found the jail locked tight as a drum and the guards posted at the doors, but when we went inside we didn’t find a soul.”

   ²⁴ The chief of the Temple police and the high priests were puzzled. “What’s going on here anyway?”

   ^25-26 Just then someone showed up and said, “Did you know that the men you put in jail are back in the Temple teaching the people?” The chief and his police went and got them, but they handled them gently, fearful that the people would riot and turn on them.

   ^27-28 Bringing them back, they stood them before the High Council. The Chief Priest said, “Didn’t we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus’ name? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying your best to blame us for the death of this man.”

   ^29-32 Peter and the apostles answered, “It’s necessary to obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven. And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates every detail.”

   ^33-37 When they heard that, they were furious and wanted to kill them on the spot. But one of the council members stood up, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of God’s Law who was honored by everyone. He ordered the men taken out of the room for a short time, then said, “Fellow Israelites, be careful what you do to these men. Not long ago Theudas made something of a splash, claiming to be somebody, and got about four hundred men to join him. He was killed, his followers dispersed, and nothing came of it. A little later, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and acquired a following. He also fizzled out and the people following him were scattered to the four winds.

   ^38-39 “So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it—and you better not be found fighting against God!”

   ^40-42 That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus’ name and sent them off. The apostles went out of the High Council overjoyed because they had been given the honor of being dishonored on account of the Name. Every day they were in the Temple and homes, teaching and preaching Christ Jesus, not letting up for a minute.

The apostles obeyed God in preaching the Name of Jesus. Facing persecution and threatening from the enemies were surely a result. They were put into jail and forbidden to preach the Name of Jesus. But obedience also brings God's power to be manifested in their ministries. Even angels appeared and broke the jail (jail-break occurred). Apostles continued to preach that the enemies had no way to stop them. God even worked in the midst of enemies. Through the mouth of Gamaliel, the enemies released the apostles and found no way to stop them. Apostles felt honored of being suffered for the Name of Jesus. Suffering was not a cursing or even a trial to them anymore after the Pentecost, but was a honor as they were dishonored for the Name of Jesus. 

Wow! My Holy Spirit, Christian faith to us is not merely a story but is a life encounter with God through exalting the Name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Miracles, the works of God, can happen in our daily lives. God works in our crises, angels appears in the deliverance, enemies' hearts are turned, Spirit empowers in us, etc. as we continue to faithfully obey and preach the Name of Jesus. People need Jesus. 

Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to set up God-signs among the lost.

July 21, 2013 - Acts 5:12-16

    ^12-16 Through the work of the apostles, many God-signs were set up among the people, many wonderful things done. They all met regularly and in remarkable harmony on the Temple porch named after Solomon. But even though people admired them a lot, outsiders were wary about joining them. On the other hand, those who put their trust in the Master were added right and left, men and women both. They even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on stretchers and bedrolls, hoping they would be touched by Peter’s shadow when he walked by. They came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles and the church's community continued the work of Jesus in the midst of people as their ministry were manifested by the power of the Holy Spirit. People possessed by demons or diseases were healed by the apostles, and even to the point that the patients hoped that they could get healing as they were touched by Peter's shadow as he walked by. God-signs were established by the hands of the apostles such that more and more people were added onto the primitive church's community. 

My Holy Spirit, by your power and presence, the world can be shattered and the gates of the hell be shaken. The power of God's Kingdom can be mightily manifested by your servants' hands. Let's deepen our desire to see the manifestation of your works. People need Jesus. Without your manifestation, people are still enslaved by all kinds of sins and bondage. They cries for liberation and hope from the Lord. Please use us to be your servants to proclaim the gospel message of liberation and to manifest your power to liberate them from the power of Satan and sins. Dear heavenly Father, have mercy on this world and your church that we people of God shall no longer live in weaknesses but in the strength of the Spirit that Jesus' Name be glorified.