Verse
"You stubborn people! You are heathens at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you!"
— Acts 7:51 nlt
Thought
Stephen spoke with wisdom and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yet he knew that there was great opposition to the Jesus he proclaimed and the truth that he spoke. He also knew that this was nothing new. God's own people had consistently opposed God's servants in every age even though those servant leaders had been inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Their stubbornness made their hearts hard and their ears deaf to the truth of God. Yet it wasn't the words of Stephen and the prophets that they ultimately resisted: they resisted and rejected the Holy Spirit of God (1 Thess. 4:8). Let's be different than they were. Let's humbly ask God to use his Spirit to convict us where we need to be changed, fortify us where we need to be strengthened, to instruct us where we are ignorant, and bring hope to hearts when they are broken.
Prayer
O Father, with the words of King David, I pray: "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." I ask, dear Father, that you cleanse my heart of any sin and purify my motives as I seek to serve you and never resist the influence of your Holy Spirit within me. I pray this in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2016. All rights reserved.
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"You stubborn people! You are heathens at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you!"
— Acts 7:51 nlt
Thought
Stephen spoke with wisdom and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Yet he knew that there was great opposition to the Jesus he proclaimed and the truth that he spoke. He also knew that this was nothing new. God's own people had consistently opposed God's servants in every age even though those servant leaders had been inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Their stubbornness made their hearts hard and their ears deaf to the truth of God. Yet it wasn't the words of Stephen and the prophets that they ultimately resisted: they resisted and rejected the Holy Spirit of God (1 Thess. 4:8). Let's be different than they were. Let's humbly ask God to use his Spirit to convict us where we need to be changed, fortify us where we need to be strengthened, to instruct us where we are ignorant, and bring hope to hearts when they are broken.
Prayer
O Father, with the words of King David, I pray: "My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise." I ask, dear Father, that you cleanse my heart of any sin and purify my motives as I seek to serve you and never resist the influence of your Holy Spirit within me. I pray this in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2016. All rights reserved.
