Christian Living

WISDOM

by Margaret Moe
12/04/18
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"Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and Wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the Word.”
Acts 6 3:4 NIV

In this chapter there was a problem regarding the distribution of food for the widows and the disciples recognising that should they become involved in this, it would interfere with their ability to go out and preach about Jesus. There were others who could better handle this aspect of Ministry. I was struck by the fact that what some may consider a menial task still required those assigned to it to have a a relation with the Holy Spirit and also the wisdom of God. We need God to be in control of every aspect of what we do, every task, every plan - because without His enabling we will never do the best job possible. Clearly everything we do for our Abba's Kingdom is anointed and important.

"Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Acts 7:60 NIV""

Stephen had done nothing worthy of death, in fact he was careful to stick to the truth of the Word of God but those who did not like him told lies in order to get rid of him; yet, he showed a great example of what it means to not only hear the word, but to be a doer of the Word. We have all had people who for whatever reason, told lies about us and tried to get others to see us in a negative light. In these circumstances it could be so easy to call down fire and brimstone on them but thank God for His Grace and the pattern set for us by our Precious Lord and Saviour Jesus who also asked that the sin of those who unjustly crucified Him be not held against them, of course this is where Stephen learnt to forgive. Jesus was his example. Even if we have to fight through the hurt, the pain, the tears and the betrayal to say to the Lord "do not hold what they have done to me against them", it is what we must do; is it easy to do? the short answer to that is 'NO' but, it is what our Abba expects from us and while, believe me, the fire and brimstone is a lot more tempting at times following in the footsteps of our Lovely Saviour and Lord, Jesus is what brings joy to our Heavenly Father. By the power of the Precious Holy Spirit, we too can say those words and mean them.

"Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.
Acts 8 4:5 NIV

Sometimes circumstances could come along and move us away from where we have grown accustomed to being. There may have been no plans of getting a new job, moving to a new neighbourhood or even passing on a different route but the unexpected happens. What if those sudden changes came about because of being a Christian and speaking about Jesus? Can we continue to talk to the new co-workers about Him after having been shunned at the old job because of faith in Christ? The saying "if it were easy, everyone would be doing it" can certainly apply to us as we seek to share to Kingdom of God with a world that desperately needs to know about it, even though they may not yet know just how desperately, they need to know. Isn't is amazing how when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us we are no longer focused on our personal comfort but rather with sharing the good news with those we encounter?