Stephen’s View of Heaven- Tidbits of Truth

Yesterday, I decided that I should go and ahead and dip my toes into the whole world of Instagram. I have an account – but I hardly ever take pictures – so I am not Instagram savvy. Still, I jumped in, as I always do, and went straight to Instagram live to tell what God had put on my heart for Tidbits of Truth. Let me just give you some tidbits of truth that I learned during those awkward minutes.

First, when the lighting is so bad that you have a lamp cord stretched around your body, you should probably wait until you can figure out another lighting set up. Otherwise, you might move your foot a couple of millimeters and unplug the extension cord, thereby turning off all lighting in the room.

Second, when you want to read several Bible verses to make your point, it would probably be helpful to not just mark a page – but maybe the actual verse. It probably wouldn’t hurt to even somehow label the order in which you want to read these marked verses so you look like you have a clue what you are doing.

Third, the reason Instagram calls it Instagram live is that it is, in fact, streaming exactly what you are doing at that moment – live and in action. So when you forget what you were going to say about a particular verse, maybe because what you read was not the verse you wanted to read and it was out of order, everyone gets to see that – live.

Fourth, sometimes the idea of just getting it done even when you don’t feel prepared ends up showing that you are not well prepared. So, maybe listen to that little voice that says it would be okay to wait awhile.

Fifth, just because I have this phenomenal idea in my head, doesn’t mean it comes out making any sense at all.

Now, to what I meant to say on Instagram live. I hope. Again, it doesn’t always come out making sense.

The story of Stephen, in Acts 3, is extraordinarily powerful to me. I read it with anticipation and awe every time. He is unafraid, unashamed, and unabashed. And when he realizes that the crowd was so angry that they were going to kill him, he looks up into Heaven and sees the glory of God with Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

That last part just wows me. When I realize people might be angry with me, I tend to back down immediately. I’m pretty sure if I had been in his shoes, I would have either run as fast as my legs would take me, or begged for mercy. As I read the story this time I was looking specifically for how it was that Stephen did neither of those two things and instead saw the glory of God.

Acts 7:55 says, “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” I caught it, I caught how he was able to withstand that attack and gaze into heaven – he was full of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is powerful enough to bring Jesus back from the dead, He is certainly capable of calming a man. Or a woman.

That’s when it hit me. As a born again believer, I have the power of the Holy Spirit. I have the same access to all that spiritual power that Stephen used. I have the power, then, to look toward my God, and see Him above everything else – every single time. I never, ever have to see the stones being thrown at me, or the fear of the unknown, or anything else, distract me from God.

Just to be clear – if you are a born again believer – you have the same power. We have a power that no words can fully explain, no other power can overcome, and one that makes up for our human weaknesses. Romans 8:26 No matter how poorly we appear on Instagram, how hurt we are from a broken relationship, how worried we are about a child, how small our bank account is, or how scared we are of what is coming next, we have the power to overcome it. Jesus asked, and as a gift, God sent the Holy Spirit to live inside us. That gift changes everything.

When I was younger, it made me sad that poor Stephen was stoned for telling the truth. As I read the story now, I am pretty confident that Stephen had not an ounce of sadness as he gazed at the glory of God. Whatever comes, and something will come, we can use the power we have been given to gaze upon God. His glory is bright enough to overcome anything.