Daily Bread – February 1, 2022 (The Third Day – Genesis 1:9-13) Acts 6:5 – And the word was pleasing in the sight of all the multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit… Stephen was not only a man who was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, but he was full of faith. The Greek phrase “pleres pistis” (full of faith) is only found two times in the New Testament, and in both instances it is used of Stephen in this chapter (Acts 6:5,8). Stephen serves as an example of how much faith God has made available to us. God has made all of the fullness of Jesus available to whosoever asks (John 1:16, 14:12; Ephesians 3:19, 4:13; Romans 15:29). The faith that comes by Jesus Christ and functions in our lives by the Holy Spirit is so full of power a very small amount will empower a person with the ability to move mountains into the sea and makes nothing impossible (Matthew 17:20, 21:21; Luke 17:6; Mark 11:22-23; 1 Corinthians 13:2) . The power of faith is revealed in Hebrews 11:3 as the operation of God at work when He framed the ages by His spoken Word. When Jesus ministered healing, He revealed it was by their faith that they were made whole (Matthew 9:22, 29; Mark 5:34, 10:52; Luke 7:50, 17:19) The result of Stephen being full of faith and power was that the Holy Spirit worked great signs and wonders through his life. Stephen’s story was an account of an ordinary man who was willing to believe all God had promised. He was not an apostle nor was he called a presbyter, but simply a man who had taken hold of the power of God made available to everyone who will believe. God, Who is no respecter of persons and Who is gracious to all, desires to do for you what He did for Stephen. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 2/1/2022
