JANUARY 13

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ⁵³ who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” ⁵⁴ When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,⁵⁶ and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” Acts 7: 51-56

What a legacy Stephen, the first Christian martyr left. Reading his speech to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7, you are left in no doubt what his convictions were. He leaves no stone unturned in his account of the history of Israel. He was ready to die for what he believed, which indeed he did.

There is a sobering lesson to be learned here. Jeremiah 12:5 says,

⁵ “If thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trusted, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?

This translates in plain English, if you can’t be bothered to say a simple thank you over a meal without being embarrassed, especially if in company, how are you going to stand an defend Gods word when you are put to the test? All foundations, no matter how weak or strong, begin with a simple action being performed correctly. That may be sifting of the sand to get the imperfections out or pausing a conversation with a friend at lunchtime so that you can say your grace.

Maybe it is just me, I don’t know, but let us strive to leave a legacy our Saviour will reward us for.

The music today is 'We need a word from the Lord' by Thomas Whitfield. Click on the picture.

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here