Hosanna Restoration Church

(Acts 6:10 NLT)

Some time ago, God used this scripture to speak to me about the fact that this same Spirit and wisdom are working in believers today, and that we should take heart that we can all do what God says in His word. Today, He has given me yet another perspective on this scripture. Truly His word is alive and increasing all the time.

As I prayed and considered this wisdom and Spirit, the obvious thought was that all true wisdom comes from God and that nothing can stand against what God says and what God knows. After all, He knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. In other words, when we start something, He already knows where it ends and when we are at the end of things, He can tell us where it began. You know, those times when things seem to be falling apart and we wonder how this could have happened. Well, God can and will show us how it happened and how to avoid it happening again.

I was also reminded as I considered this wisdom, of 1 Corinthians 13 which tells us that if we have all the wisdom in the world, but do not operate in love, then it is useless. From there, it was a smooth transition to the Spirit part of how Stephen was operating. The first thing that came to my mind was the fruit of the Spirit. You know; Love, Joy, Peace, and etc. We find these fruits in Galatians chapter 5.

So, no one could stand against Stephen’s wisdom and spirit, which were both powered by God’s love. Then, you have to read the sermon that Stephen preached to them. Some would consider it not very loving at all. He started out just telling them a nice story of their history, but ended up telling them how they had messed everything up. He loved them right to the point of them stoning him to death. Hard to imagine that you can love someone till they want to kill you! But, wisdom and truth are sometimes things that people cannot stand. Especially if we are living a lie, and wisdom turns the light on it.

In Galatians, Paul is perplexed that the people were doing so well for a time and then they fell apart. They had come to God by the Spirit and were enjoying their relationship with Christ, and then all of a sudden started falling back into legalism. Ultimately Paul pointed out that as they fell back into that, they were falling back into the fruits of an unholy spirit. You can find that list beginning with Galatians 5:19.

Once again we find that the choice is ours as to what Spirit and Wisdom we want to operate in. Someone may want to kill us for staying faithful to what God wants, but Stephen saw heaven opened up to him as he remained faithful. And so it will be in our lives, as we stay faithful to God, the kingdom of heaven will open to us. On the other hand, if we do not choose to move in God’s wisdom and Spirit, then we slowly kill ourselves as we return to the desires of our sinful nature. More choices. Choose life!