ESOCS Devotional 24 January 2021
TEXT: ACTS 7:59-8:8
MEMORY VERSE: “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60 NKJV
It was one of the worst moments of persecution against the Church. Apart from the apostles, all the other disciples ran away to other regions. Saul, who later became Apostle Paul, supervised the killing of Stephen. The people had stoned him for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But before Stephen died, he interceded for his persecutors. Stephen the martyr prayer, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” Such beautiful souls were rare to find in those days; and even today in our time, they are hard to find. Do you possess such a soul?
Stephen’s act of intercession was a continuity of the mission of the forgiveness of sins that our Lord Jesus initiated and carried out on the cross. While He was on the cross, our Lord prayed for those who persecuted and crucified Him: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 NIV). Before He went to the cross to die for the sins of the world, He gave us an assignment, which we should continue to do until His Second Coming. He said, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” (John 20:23 NIV). Stephen complied to this command. We are expected to do likewise.
The Bible says, “But all things are from God, who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favour, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]” (2 Cor. 5:18 AMP). We are expected to continue from where our Lord stopped. It is our bounding duty; and a better business we should embark upon with commitment and zeal. For when we do so, we would be occupying until He comes again (Luke 19:13).
Again, we learn from the examples of our Lord and Stephen that we should continue God’s work even when we are in great distress. We have no excuse to stop. When our Lord pleaded with the Father to forgive His persecutors, the nails were in His palms and feet, and the crown of thorns pierced His head with gruesome wounds. Stephen was at the point of death from the horrible wounds
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
and pains he received from the stones that killed him. Therefore, we should always remain strong and faithful to God and continue to work for Him in the kingdom business, no matter what we may experience in life. Such is the lot of the saints; and their inheritance is with the Lord.
Let us never forget that great joy awaits us at the end of life on earth, if like our Lord who endured the cross, we endure the hardship and all vicissitudes of life (Heb. 12:2). If we suffer with Him, we would share in His everlasting glory, just like Stephen (Rom. 8:17). Paul understood these things. He said, “… I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:10-11 NLT).
CHALLENGES
To what extent have you continued working for God on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ?
PRAYER POINT
Lord, grant me the grace to continue faithfully with you, no matter the evil that comes my way.
FURTHER READING: Isaiah 52:1-10; 34:1-17; Matthew 1:18-25
Thank you for reading the ESOCS Devotional today. Please share and follow us on all our platforms to contribute to the spread of the Gospel.
ESOCS Devotional 24 January 2021
