EXPAND TO READ: ACTS 6 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 10): Even after being approached by other men whose intentions were not spiritual, Stephen held firm to his faith, speaking wisdom through the Spirit instead of trying to argue with them through his flesh. This is a struggle of mine in this life. I often revert back to my flesh when being criticized or met with harsh words by people who are trying to argue against me for whatever reason. Please forgive me for often giving into my flesh during these conversations and disputes, Father. Forgive me for not leaning on You fully through these times, so that Your wisdom, Your truth, and the Holy Spirit are all fighting my battles instead of my flesh.
PROMISE (verses 6-7): I feel these two verses not only give us a great example of spiritual leadership, but also give us a great promise—that prayer and laying of hands on a ministry or spiritual leaders is something that will return God’s blessings if what we are praying about is in God’s will. I must be more intentional about my prayer and about who/what I’m targeting through my prayer life. Help me to be better at this, Father, so that I may ensure my prayers are fruitful just as the promise here to the disciples in expanding their ministry and bringing in some more specialized/targeted leaders for a specific function.
ATTITUDE (verse 4): The disciples knew that they could only do so much and that Your ministry, through them, must be expanded to ensure continued growth. This is why they humbled themselves and instead of continuing to take on the financial responsibilities of the ministry, they opted to appoint new leaders to that responsibility. I do struggle with this at times because I feel that I “need” to be the one doing everything. I know this creates a single point of failure, in a sense, but I guess it’s my fleshly way to ensure that things are being done properly no matter how stressed out it makes me at times. Help me to be better at living in at attitude of humility in this life, Father. Help me to be better at being humble through all things this life may throw at me, so that it is You who are glorified by my works and decisions, even if it isn’t me specifically doing those works. Continue to remind me that it is YOUR kingdom that must be glorified and continue to expand, not my own. All glory and praise should be pointed straight to You and not to me.
COMMAND (verse 12): I see this as a command for the ministry we serve in. It’s a command that we need to devote ourselves fully to the portion of the ministry that God has charged us with, instead of trying to spread ourselves thin to manage the entire thing. Your disciples knew this as they said, “it would not be right for us to give us preaching about God to handle financial matters.” Such wisdom and humility in this one, simple act of obedience by them. They knew that they should not spread themselves thin by trying to take on the full responsibility of the ministry finances themselves. They knew that they needed to continue to devote themselves to what You had charged them with. Help me to be better at this, Father. Help me to, first and foremost, know exactly what You’ve charged me with. Additionally, help me to be better at not taking on any additional responsibilities that You do not want me to take on so that I may devote myself fully to the specific tasks You want me to focus on.
EXAMPLE (verse 2-3, 6-7): Here, the disciples knew that they were being stretched a little thin and needed to focus on the ministry they were charged with, so they had the locals choose seven people to lead the financial aspect of the ministry they were charged with by God. Before granting them full authority over that portion of the ministry, they chose to pray intently over them and lay their hands on them while praying. To me, this shows the importance of laying of hands and intentional prayer within the body of Christ for changes to ministries, for new people and new responsibilities, etc.
*DAILY NOTE: There is so much to learn from this short chapter in Acts about humility, responsibility, focus, and obedience. The disciples were obedient to You fully in their ministry by ensuring they were focusing on the preaching portion of the ministry. They heard the complaints about the financial aspect of the ministry and knew something needed to happen in order to resolve it. They also knew that it should not be them doing it, to ensure their time was well spent for the portion You charged them with. They accepted their responsibility as overall leaders, by making a decision to appoint additional “sub-leaders” to handle the financial aspect of the ministry. They expressed humility with the act of obedience here in sharing the responsibilities with others, knowing that if they tried to take on all of it by themselves that the ministry would not be as effective nor impactful at glorifying You fully. The continued growth of their ministry was a direct result of their humility and their obedience to You through all things, taking the focus off of themselves. Help me to be more like this in my life, Father, so that I share the responsibilities with others instead of trying to do it all myself. Continue to remind me of what You want me to do, which is typically in opposition of what my flesh or the world wants me to do.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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