I'm rereading Acts right now...and because the Word is ALIVE and ACTIVE, the Lord continues to open my mind up to new truths that I've never stopped and seen before! Completely speaks of the Lord's incredible goodness to us...He desires for our hearts to know His more. What a concept...
I'm just gonna dive right in with what I've been processing through this chapter...there's so much here!
1. First off, I think it's absolutely incredible that Stephen continues to speak of God's faithfulness now, while on trial for his life, instead of speaking of his innocence. Stephen chooses to focus attention on God and His truth, even when it would've been easy (expected, even) to shout out his case from the rooftops ("I've done nothing wrong"; "I'm only proclaiming truth"; "I'm a servant of the Lord")!
2. As he walks us through the story of the fulfilled Promise, certain things jump out at me:
*vs. 17: "As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham..."
This tells me:
~the Promises of the Lord are NEVER put on the back burner/forgotten
~Abraham wasn't even alive to see all that God planned as part of the Promise He made, but it was okay! God still fulfilled it. Abraham saw parts of the puzzle begin to come together, but the finishing touches and remaining pieces were added in when GOD saw fit, even though that meant Abraham was no longer around. God didn't "slip up" and forget that Abraham died before he saw the whole promise fulfilled...He planned it this way!
*vs. 20--"At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child."
~"at that time"--when the new and majorly oppressive pharaoh took over and mistreated God's people...it was at THAT time that Moses is brought into the world! He definitely wasn't ordinary...he had been created by the God of all things to bring HIS PROMISE to fulfillment! ("for such a time as this," anyone?! :) )
*vs. 55--Even as death is approaching, Stephen doesn't shudder or focus on the anger all around him: "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God."
~His eyes are and remain steadfastly locked on His King and eternal life with Him!
