Stephen – Marked by God
Stephen was a man full of faith and grace and the Spirit, as we read in Acts 6. He was marked by God!
T Scott Daniels, one of the Church of the Nazarene's General Superintendents, wrote this in an article in Holiness Today, our denomination's monthly magazine: "Much ado has been made across the centuries about the 'mark of the beast' in Revelation. However, people often overlook the 'mark of the Lamb' (see chapters 7 and 14). John wants to know which power or force is marking your life. Are you being marked by the violent, opulent, sensual, and beastly life of the empire? Or are you being shaped and formed by the life, love, and beauty of the Lamb?"
Challenging!
The Mark That Shapes Us
What are you allowing to shape your character? A desire for recognition? Success? A need to be liked, noticed, thought much of?
Stephen was marked by his love for Jesus, by a passion for being a Christlike person. This shaped his character. The apostles knew: he is full of God, and so we can trust him.
We Christians need to be of the character that our words proclaim. Stephen talked up a storm there in front of the Jews in Acts 7. But his life backed up his words. We also talk up a storm about God, week after week, day after day even. Does our walk back up our talk?
We need to be people of integrity, honesty, goodness, love, and selflessness. These things need to define us. Friends, this is not an impossible task! Because God has given us His Spirit, and if we are Spirit-filled, we are able to live with Christlike character.
The Portrait Your Life is Painting
I read of a man back in the early 1900s who said to his friend, "I have no children, I have written no book, and there's not even a portrait or picture that's ever been taken of me. When I die, I will just perish out of this world completely." His friend said to him, "You have painted your own portrait, in every word and act of your life. It is unsigned and nameless. But it is here."
He was talking about character. The type of person you are makes an imprint on the world around you. It does.
I conduct funeral after funeral, and there are always people who have been touched in some way by the person who has died. You will have an impact. Your character will determine what kind of impact you end up having.
When you're full of the Spirit - believing in His empowering, claiming it and resting in it - God transforms your character. Perhaps today, though you are an ordinary person like me and everybody else, God wants you to truly believe in His Spirit's indwelling power, so that He can truly give you Christlike character and make your life extraordinary.
Is today the day you quit messing around, and start embodying the character that you're called to? Be a Stephen. He lived a Christlike life. So can you, with God's help.
Stephen's life was shaped and marked by his love for Jesus, raising the question of what is truly shaping your character today.