Author: missionspaul

I was meant to be

Acts 7: 50
“Has not my hand made all these things?”

Yes it has. All things.
You designed it and set it all going.
The heavens and the earth are yours.
It all belongs to you.
And I’m in the middle of all that.
I’m not here by chance.
You designed me to live within me.
You have set me going.
May your hand always be with me.

Big God

Acts 7: 49
“‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?”

God is bigger than you can ever imagine.
You cannot contain Him to a church building.
He sits in heaven and his feet are on earth.
I remember hearing from a Muslim describe his vision of Christ as a giant size man come to him, whose head touched the sky with his feet on the land.
So whatever you are facing it is not as big as your God.
He is higher and mightier than any circumstance of your life.
No one can contain Him or limit Him. We cannot say He is here in a way that suggests He is no where else. He is transcendent, above and beyond.
And this big God that we worship has chosen to walk with you today!

Buildings

Acts 7: 48
“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men.”

Why do we build thinking He does?
Why do we think that a successful church is a church with a building?
Why do we pray “come down into this place”?
Why do we go into the ‘sanctuary’?
It is because we believe God dwells in buildings that we have built.
Buildings are made by man for man
In many ways they are a very positive development
But they are not essential
His presence is in people.

Angry leaders

Acts 7:47
“But it was Solomon who built the house for him.”

David wanted to build the temple but Solomon his son built it.
The reason was because David had become a man of war, he had blood on his hands and God said it ruled him out of being the builder.
God cannot build with hands of war.
Angry men never reach their full potential.
They die with brokenness laying behind them.
You can try and win all your battles and lose the presence of God.
You can fight and you can win but it could be your greatest loss.

He loves you
Acts 7: 46

“who enjoyed God’s favour and asked that he might provide a dwelling-place for the God of Jacob.”

David enjoyed God’s favour.
The only thing that matters is this.
To know you are loved and that this is not just perception based on your love for Him, but this is fact and confirmed in the many times He has demonstrated this.
David knew it and he enjoyed the love, grace and help God’s favour brought him.
Today whatever you are going through, whatever you are facing, let your life be changed and turned around by the simple truth of the love of God. He loves you.

Joshua
Acts 7:45

“Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David”

There is a lot of talk today about the presence of God, the tabernacle of God in our lives and churches.
We all want to receive. Hands wide and arms stretched open we want more of His presence.

There is a lot of talk today about taking the land. We sing about it, stand and shout about it. We proclaim and announce the enemy is defeated and we are advancing with His kingdom.

That’s not what I’m thinking about in this verse.
It is this: “under Joshua”.
Stephen was saying the previous generation served under the leadership of Joshua.
Church problems occur over the topic of leadership.
I was hearing recently about how a church went through a difficult time with their Pastor because he closed down a prominent church ministry without any consultation with his leaders. It actually made the local newspapers! The church couldn’t follow him anymore. He was a bad Joshua.
Do you find it difficult to serve under your Joshua?
Do you find it difficult to lead as Joshua?
The answer is found in that those who find it difficult must find a way.
Followers should follow.
Joshua’s should lead.
We need more better followers and we need more better Joshua’s.

Patterns for His Presence

Acts 7:44
“Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.”

The tabernacle (God’s presence) needed a pattern. His presence still needs to be built into our lives according to the similar pattern that Moses had been given.
What is that pattern?
Pattern 1: God desires to presence Himself amongst His people – Exodus 25
Pattern 2: God’s presence needs a habitation that is desiring of Him – Exodus 26
Pattern 3: His presence within us must be a fresh present experience – Exodus 27
Pattern 4: You never operate on your own, it is always the work of Jesus – Exodus 28
Pattern 5: You work only out of the finished work of Christ – Exodus 29
Pattern 6: Be real, avoid pretence at all costs – Exodus 30:22-33
Pattern 7: You are chosen so now go and be who you are called to be – Exodus 31

Shrines, stars and idols

Acts 7:43
“You have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.”

Shrine is a place of holy ground. However it wasn’t holy, before Molech there would be hideous child sacrifice.
Star is a symbol that points to the beautiful heavens. However it wasn’t beautiful as Rephan was connected to Saturn which was worshipped as the highest occultist god.
Idol is an image or representation that helps us worship the true God. However the calf didn’t help but took them further away from God.

Some people are sent by God to break down (using His power and love) the shrines, symbols and idols of this world.

Some people are sent away from God because they are holding on to shrines, symbols and idols.

We are all sent. Shrines, stars and idols will determine where.

Idols

Acts 7:42
“But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:” ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?”

They began worshipping God through the calf they had created.
They ended up worshipping the stars, sun and moon that God had created.
Leaderless people go astray.
They worship God through idols they make.
They then become enamoured by the idol and begin to worship that rather than God.
It still happens today. We like our idols. They are not calfs but they are golden. They may be earthly bodies not heavenly ones but they are all connected to worship.
And God may not turn away but He is silent.
And the answer to the question is ‘No’.

6 things about calfs.

Acts 7: 41
“That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honour of what their hands had made.”

1. Leaderless people need an idol. (Moses had disappeared)
2. Idols don’t replace God, they just replace His presence. (The account in Exodus shows they tried to worship God through the idol)
3. When an idol replaces His presence then the next step is the worship of it. (
3. The reason why people chase idols is because they need to personally experience the divine. (They wanted the guidance of God)
4. Idols will need sacrifice.
5. Idols of Gods people are identical to those who are outside the family of God. (There were many calf or bull worshippers found at that time).
6. It is possible to idolise our past work (The golden calf represented all the sacrifices made by the people over the years)