Acts 7 .55 '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. Look he said 'I see heaven open and the Son of God standing at the right hand of God.'
Even in the face of death and chaoes, even when surrounded by the enemy and pressed on all esides, Stephen was still looking above, still looking to the Lord, continually seeking the face of Jesus and not looking away and being lost in the fears and storms around him. C.S. Lewis talked about how when we look up to heaven , and when we keep our thoughts towards heaven it completely affects the way we walk on this earth. Before we can get to the place where Stephen was, of being completelyt focussed on the Glory of God that death pales and fades away because all he see if Jesus, before we get to that place we need to have our heads raised high to the sky in every situation of our lives, in the little stressful moments and in the darkest hours may we keep out eyes raised towards the heavens and may the Lord protect our eyes from being blinded by the thick darkness, but instead may we look up and see the glory of the Lord.
Monday, October 8, 2007
18 "Yet even in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not destroy you completely. 19 And when the people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'
20 "Announce this to the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
22 Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD. "Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'
25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.
I am sure we all remember September 11th and the questions it aroused. People from all over the world were crying out for answers and one of the biggest questions was why would a loving and powerful God let this happen? Where was He? Where was his love? These were the same questions that Israel cried out to God. They cried out and asked why the Lord did this to them. And the response is this: They had ceased to fear the Lord, they had turned their backs on him, they had forgotten all he had done and had committed adultery and idolitry with other gods, they had chosen gods of wood and stone instead of the Lord God Almighty. And then they wonder why these things were happening.
It is exactly the same today. Just after September 11th in a press conference the question ''Where was God when this happened?' was asked. Silence came over everyone and no one knew what to say. Until Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife, spoke out. We have seperated God from the state, we have pushed Him out of the schools, we have pushed him out of our homes, out of our lives and yet we will allow him back in in the face of trouble only to push him out again as soon as we are ok on our own, and then we blame Him for the wrongs in this world, ignoring God's own word which says that it is peoples wrongdoing and sin that deprives us of good.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
20 "Announce this to the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
22 Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD. "Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'
25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.
I am sure we all remember September 11th and the questions it aroused. People from all over the world were crying out for answers and one of the biggest questions was why would a loving and powerful God let this happen? Where was He? Where was his love? These were the same questions that Israel cried out to God. They cried out and asked why the Lord did this to them. And the response is this: They had ceased to fear the Lord, they had turned their backs on him, they had forgotten all he had done and had committed adultery and idolitry with other gods, they had chosen gods of wood and stone instead of the Lord God Almighty. And then they wonder why these things were happening.
It is exactly the same today. Just after September 11th in a press conference the question ''Where was God when this happened?' was asked. Silence came over everyone and no one knew what to say. Until Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife, spoke out. We have seperated God from the state, we have pushed Him out of the schools, we have pushed him out of our homes, out of our lives and yet we will allow him back in in the face of trouble only to push him out again as soon as we are ok on our own, and then we blame Him for the wrongs in this world, ignoring God's own word which says that it is peoples wrongdoing and sin that deprives us of good.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
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