December 6 - Gaze Into Heaven

Read: Acts 7:51-60

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55, 56 ESV)

Stephen preached the truth of Christ in Jerusalem and was shaking up the status quo. Grace and power followed his message. Lives were being changed. The religious elite were not happy—Jesus was gone but his followers continued to proclaim his life and message. They drug Stephen to court, trumped up false charges, and asked him to defend himself.

Instead of defending himself Stephen preached his final sermon. It was an exegetical masterpiece as he wound his way through the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms to declare Jesus as the promised Messiah. He delivered solid truth, unflinchingly, to a mob eager for blood. And it was more than they could handle.

As he drew near to the end of his message he looked up, perhaps for a measure of reassurance and comfort. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon him and he had a supernatural vision of God and Christ there with him. The declaration of Jesus' position was more than the ruling authorities could handle.

Not only was Stephen obviously not going to be shut up, but here he was publicly declaring Jesus alive and well. He was stating outright their powerlessness. They were enraged. They attacked and killed him, stoning him to death.

The truth so offended these leaders that they were willing to forsake everything they pretended to serve in order to justify themselves. The truth of Jesus forces a reckoning. Some will accept it, many will reject it. Stephen gazed into Heaven and saw with supernatural eyes the wonders of God. I pray that the truth of Christ would prompt us all to do a little Heaven-gazing.

December 5 - Full of Grace & Power

Read: Acts 6:8-15

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8 ESV)

Jesus' followers are supposed to be like Stephen. We are supposed to be people who are full of grace and power. People who do great wonders and signs.

Stephen was so impactful as he ministered in the name of Jesus that it bewildered the extremely religious Jewish leadership. So much so that, just as they had done to Jesus, they decided to have Stephen killed. They concocted a phony trial with false witnesses, and they besmeared his reputation through villainous slander.

Stephen remained full of grace throughout. And it was only by the power of God that he withstood their torments. In fact, the whole ordeal only served to better illuminate the power of God at work in Stephen's life.

Today when Christians talk about God's power they are often looking for something supernatural or miraculous. I believe those things can and do happen, but perhaps more often the power of God works in His followers to sustain them through difficulty. Grace and power are fully at work when a lost sinner is made to shine like a saved saint.

May 22 - Denounced

Read: Matthew 11:20-24

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. (Matthew 11:20 ESV)

We choose whether or not to believe in the supernatural. It is a choice all of us must wrestle with. For some this is an easy and nearly effortless struggle as they willingly, readily, and eagerly accept the notion of things happening beyond the realm of natural explanation. Others reject offhand the notion that anything can take place that is not potentially explainable by science.

Where do you fall on that scale? Maybe you find yourself believing in the supernatural. Maybe you have seen things that are unexplainable. This important statement that Jesus made boils down to one question; what do you do with the revelation of Jesus' supernatural power?

Some who experience the supernatural still refuse to acknowledge the source of that power. They explain it away, chock it up coincidence, and try to forget about it. Jesus would have none of that. He let it be known that his supernatural acts were attempts to draw attention to the Father. Everything the Son did was to exalt the Father.

Jesus used powerful language when describing the fate awaiting those who experienced his supernatural power and did not repent. He warned them of the trouble that awaited their stubborn refusal to return to a right standing with God. It's a side of Jesus we rarely see in the Gospels.

What would it take for Jesus to denounce you or I? Surely we must be wary of falling into the same trap of refusing repentance. It's not about merely being sorry for our actions. It is about our willful acknowledgement of God's plan and power.

May 18 - They Could Not

Read: Matthew 17:14-20

And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." (Matthew 17:16 ESV)

Jesus was well-known and highly regarded for his many miraculous deeds. People came from all over the region to be ministered to and healed by the Lord. Jesus even passed along that authority and power to his disciples. But for some reason they were unable to heal the epileptic.

It must have been an utterly defeating moment for the boy's parents. All of their hopes were riding on the disciples' willingness and ability to minister to their son. And they the disciples fell short. They could not do it.

How often do we fail those who are looking to us for answers? I know I do frequently. But the truth is that I just miss the mark sometimes. And usually my issue is the same as that of the disciples. Usually when I miss it, it is a faith problem.

Jesus said that with just the tiniest measure of authentic faith the impossible becomes probable. That is bewildering to say the least. It challenges us right at the root of the issue. Is the supernatural real? Jesus believed it was so. He believed that a true position of faith had the ability to change things.

Yes, I have failed. And will probably do so again. Someone will come to me needing prayer, counsel, or biblical instruction and I will let them down. I will do my best, and it won't be good enough. They will need more, and Jesus is there to meet their need. Because even when Christ's followers cannot, he most definitely can.

May 17 - On Water

Read: Matthew 14:22-32; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:15-21

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. (John 6:19 ESV)

Jesus' disciples saw and experienced things on a regular basis that were incredibly unique. They witnessed miracles, partook in the miraculous, and saw supernatural things happen frequently. So why were they frightened when he was walking on the water?

Think about the guys that followed Jesus. Many of them were fishermen. They were living in a time when travel by boat was extremely commonplace. They lived in a region near a large body of water. Not one of them had ever seen someone walk upon on the water before.

We see airplanes a lot. Sometimes we fly in them to get somewhere. They have become a large part of our logistical infrastructure. But, it would be almost unbelievable to personally see someone who was able to fly through the air under their own power. We are not mentally prepared for that.

In the same way Jesus' followers constantly struggled to come to terms with his frequent ability to bend, break, or supersede the normally static laws of nature. The supernatural can be alarming and jarring when you are so highly conditioned to ignore it as a possibility. Jesus lives, rules, and operates within both the natural and supernatural. He can and did work beyond physics and natural order because his authority is founded and collaborative with the same power and authority that wrought the incredible systematic truths of things like physics and biochemistry. Jesus' power would be terrifying if possessed by anyone other than the loving son of God.

March 8 - Authority

Read: Matthew 10:1-4

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. (Matthew 10:1 ESV)

Authority is generally pretty easy to recognize. We recognize the authority of police by their uniforms, badges, or vehicles. Firemen are recognized by their uniforms and equipment. First responders by their sirens and ambulance.

All of these things are not authority. They are only the tools that allow the ones who wield them to utilize and represent their authority by completing their jobs. Police use those tools to enforce the law, firemen to aid civilians and stop fires, and first responders to rescue people of provide emergency medical assistance. Each of these people are operating under a type of authority given to them by a larger governing power.

Jesus was the disciples' larger governing power. As he was the face of God before the Twelve he represented the interest and authority of God. He passed this authority on to his disciples.

The Apostle Paul later wrote that all Christians were Christ's ambassadors. Each of us carry an official mark of authority that recognizes us as official representatives of the Kingdom of God. In some way, on some level, that bestows upon us an inherent authority. The disciples were granted authority to cast out demons and to heal people. What does that kind of authority mean for you and I?