Be a servant: We are not called to sit, but to serve. You are not called to be served, but to serve.
Never wait for your calling to serve, as it is in your serving that you will hear your calling.
Until you hear your calling, serve underneath someone who has. You are called to serve, not called to wait.
Never let your service stand between you and God. It is the Devil’s ploy that you would serve God more than spend time with Him.
The call of God is never meant to exalt man, but to put him to work.
You will serve the god you worship.
If you don’t serve God then you serve the devil. Doing nothing for the kingdom hurts the kingdom.
The qualifications of a servant: When the early church needed servants, here is what they looked for: “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom…” (Acts 6:3).
You don’t need a degree, you need the Holy Spirit.
You don’t need your own talent, you need His talent.
A servant of God is not man-made, but God-made.
To be a servant of God, you need to be filled of God.
We need the Holy Spirit: “And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit….” (Acts 6:5).
We don’t need more servants to fill our churches, we need more servants filled with the Holy Spirit.
Submission to earthly authority prepares you for submission to heavenly authority.
If you will not serve the least, you are not fit for kingdom work.
You do not take hold of the Holy Spirit, but in your surrendering, the Holy Spirit takes hold of you.
Holy Spirit power: “And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).
When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, the power of God is in you.
Until you surrender to Him, His power will not flow through you.
Stop seeking the gifts of the Spirit thinking you might serve God with them. Instead serve God as you are, that He would then provide you the necessary gifts in the midst of your serving.
Holy Spirit knowledge: “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts 6:10).
People can resist you, but never the Holy Spirit in you.
With the Holy Spirit as your teacher, man cannot contend with you.
Holy Spirit warfare: “Then they secretly induced men to say, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God’” (Acts 6:11).
If men cannot overtake you with the truth, then they will attack you with lies.
Never think ministry is easy.
The devil does not fight fair.
Holy Spirit words: “Then the high priest said, ‘Are these things so?’ And he [Stephen] said, ‘Brethren and fathers, listen…’” (Acts 7:1). And Stephen schooled the religious leaders on the faith.
He knew the Word, and he spoke the Word.
The Holy Spirit will bring it to your remembrance, but it has to be in your head for it to be brought into your remembrance.
Don’t be afraid to flow in the Holy Spirit. Sometimes you have to open your mouth that He might speak through you.
Never fear men more than God. Never fear what man can do to you, but what God can do to man.
A soft word never changes a man, but a hard word may cause him to hate you.
Holy Spirit conviction: Stephen told the religious men of his day, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51).
Friends, I want you to know, it is always wrong to resist the Holy Spirit.
Religious people resist the Spirit because they would lose their authority.
Stephen finally let them have it, “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” (Acts 7:52).
You know it is a word from God when it makes men uncomfortable.
When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, everything unholy will hate you.
Holy Spirit senses: “But he [Stephen], being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55).
When you are full of the Holy Spirit, your spiritual senses are such that you can see the things of God, you can hear the things of God, you are in the presence of God.
When you are filled with His glory, you can see His glory.
“And they stoned Stephen…” (Acts 7:59).
Never think that because you serve Him, that He will make your life easy.
Stephen was ready to die for his faith.
We need Stephens in this generation.
If we want to serve God with our entire being, we must be prepared to sacrifice our entire being unto God.
The Lord Jesus said, “…If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26).
Blessings to you,
Paul
Awesome word.
“But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men”
Brian
Thanks Brian!
It is the pride of man that makes him not want to serve. And that pride is at the root of rebellion. It is not until we learn to serve as the Lord Jesus served, that we can be of any use to Him in kingdom work.
Amen!! So true. Will share. Good word.
Thank you!
Good word, Paul! You caused me to ponder. 🙂 And you made me think of the time I told God I was not ready to move into my calling, that I didn’t know the Bible like I should or could quote scripture like I should. You know what He said back to me? “All you need ready is your heart.” Whew! My response to Him was, “Heart’s ready!”
Since then, I have realized that God gives me what I need when I need it. All I have to do is be available to serve when He gives direction. Being a child of God is just that, being a child. So much easier. Yay! 🙂
Thank you! Your story is so like our God, He calls us into what we are not prepared for, such that we would have no choice but to rely solely upon Him. And when He does His thing through us, we can only sit back and say, “all glory to God”! What a wonderful Savior we have, that not onlyu saves us from our sin, but then sends us forth, choosing to reach others through us!