Acts 7 November 8th

Wow! this is a loooong chapter.
Well, the shortest way I can explain it is that this chapter was the continuation of chapter 6. So what happened after the people accused him, Stephen still answered logically so the accusers couldn't argue about it. The words that he spoke out was by the holy spirit.
So most of this chapter talked about what Stephen answerd back to the accusers. It was on the laws and beliefs that they had. Therefore, the people couldn't find a way to answer him back. By frustration, the people took Stephen out and stoned him.

This really gave me the chills at the part when they were stoning him because I read that as they were stoning him, Stephen was praying to God to forgive these people.
His last words were, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!"
It really makes me think of the ammount of faith he had to go through all this. It showed that he really did have true faith in God and we should do the same.

I noticed they meantioned a little bit in this chapter that there was a man named Saul that was among the crowd. I guess Stephen's prayer was heard by God because Saul/Paul had spread the word of God everywere later on.

Sorry that this one was a looooooooong. There was so much stuff going on in this chapter.
~Audrey~

hi guys! sorry i havent been posting much.
well this was a looooong chapter! i got a bit confused so i had to go back to acts 6 and 7 again to understand. in chapter 7 we read that stephen is answering back to the accusers with the holy spirit. after stephen continuously answered the people, they got upset and started to stone him. it made me mad reading how he got stoned. but stephen wasnt like me. he didny get mad but he prayed to God to forgive the people's souls.
this made me think if my actions are harsh or against God. i realized that we are like the accusers who stoned stephen out of frusteration. when we get frusterated we usually cant or just dont hide it. instead we should be like stephen who prayed for the people that were stoning HIM. so i pretty much got that we should be like stephen instead of the stoners and accusers.
thats it for now! i have to play the keyboard in front of the adults tomorrow for this praise competetion thing at church so i have to practice now!
bye! have a good week

G'd luck Christine!!!!!!!1
~audrey~

Today instead of devotions, I'm gonna be taking alot of time to pray for my father. Lately he hasn't been feeling very well and it looks like hes in alot of pain. If you guys could pray for my dad it would mean the world to me.

Sure thing James.
Feel better Papa Park

OMG IM SO MAD!
I just posted like a whole page full of todays devo and it didnt post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FEEL SOO.... AAAHHH. D:

So here is version #2 of my devo because my first one didnt post D:<
Wow what a chapter!
Soooo Anyway....
in this chapter Stephen answers back to what the people accused him of. He tells them the story about Abraham and what God promised him, which led to the story of Joseph and his brothers, and lastly he talked about Moses.
One line that caught my attention was verse 51.
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the holy spirit!"
I think that what he is saying is completly correct! Why would they convict him of such lies?? Aren't they also believers of Christ??? It also applies to christians these days. For example, once at school I was drawing on my binder and i wrote down "WWJD?". One of my close friends asked me what that meant. I wasn't sure what to say because I was afraid he was gonna judge me. But why was i so scared? Amean he's one of my closest friends and he knew i was christian.... so why couldnt I tell him? I then made the dumbest answer. I told him it was an inside joke between me and my other friends. He looked at me funny and he said "Doesnt it mean What would Jesus do?" I was caught off guard so i just mumbled a quiet "No." and walked away. I felt so stupid after because it was a perfect time to show that i'm not ashamed of believeing in God but instead i resisted the holy spirit and rejected it.
After the Sanhedrin heard what Stephen had said they were furious and decided to stone him. Just like Audrey and Christine, I was also shocked that Stephen prayed to God and asked God to not hold this sin against them. Stephen must've had a really strong faith in the Lord because he wasn't angry at all. I think it might've felt like a honour for him because he was suffering for God, and also because Jesus Christ went through A LOT worse just to save us from our sins.
Okay thats it!
Bye guys!
~Sarah

oh shoot. did tomrrows today.


sorry guys. im all juiced out from the last one and artschool. ill look it over tomorrow..
@James, I pray for your family.

snap posted chap 7 on 8 so might as well post 8 over here...
Chapter 8,something that stood out for me was that money can make us happy in this life but after we die, money is useless and will not give us happiness. Money cannot buy God and God can only be obtainable by believeing in the Christ. As in this chapter Simon was trying to buy a gift to give to God but he soon learns that money is not the answer to God but Jesus is.
@james hope he feels better

hey guys, ive been feeling down lately.. i dont even know why.
it would be nice if you guys can just pray for me as well as for James' dad.
ill be praying for him. I read the chapter over but ill read it over again tomorrow because i know theres a lot in the chapter but i cant concentrate cause of this down feeling..
haha maybe its cause i missed a week of praise.. its always fun to praise God!! it always lifts my spirit for another week. ahaha. sorry guys!

Hey guys.... sorry for not posting the last bit... there's been some trouble at home regarding school and stuff... but now the issue is resolved and i will be on the forum... so yaaa

From the chapter I read today, I did not get anything specific from a verse in itself, but it really made me think about how much we are willing to stick up for Jesus. Even in real life situations, we have hard times sticking up for things we believe are right, even by our own morals and ethics, like sticking up for a friend or such, but when it comes to sticking up for our faith, it may seem daunting and challenging. When the whole world around us rejects God, we may have trouble sticking up for the same faith that those people oppose and occasionally, we have to suffer and go through trials for our faith. In this chapter Stephen, who was holy and had the utmost faith in God stood his ground until his death, but if we ask ourselves, why are we afraid of the little dignity that we may think we loose by proclaiming our faith? Why should our own pride get in the way of what some gave their lives for to stand by? So the challenge is to stand steady ground with our faith and to never waver through all the trials and suffering that may come with it.

Good night!

ill pray for you jamess <3
from this chapter i saw that nothing ever is good enough to God. not to say that he doesnt appreciate our praise and worship, but it's like giving your parents gifts that you bought with their money i think! i think this is why worship from our hearts is the best kind of worship, yes there may be frills like having good music and a good venue to worship in, but the core of worship comes from our heart. Without this part, what are we giving God? something of his own making. he doesnt need any of this! so i think we should try our best for our worship to be a solid part of our everyday lives and for it to come from our hearts. to at least give God a portion of what he deserves
mkayy?? mkay night!

49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the LORD.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?

Holy, just finished 2 assignments. HATE english. This verse REALLY made me think, life here on earth is a MERE footstool. Firstly, I'm trying to take it in and it's hard. Everything we've lived up to to this very day, everything we ever will leave up to is nothing but a mere footstool, a rehearsal. Our life here on earth is a test, determining whether we get into heaven or not so that being said, although this is a footstool, it's nothing something to be taken lightly. Like come on, where would short people be without stools?

Yeah that's it
PEACE>

Ill pray for your dad son