QUARRY

Today’s Reading: Acts 7

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).

The bus terminal at the foot of the hill many believe to be Golgotha, The Place of the Skull, where Jesus was crucified. The Romans always crucified people beside the roadway for maximum impact, not on the top of a hill.

Key Verse: Acts 7:59-60

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

The bus terminal pictured above is in an ancient quarry which is part of Mt. Moriah. On this mountain, Isaac was spared from death and God provided a ram to be sacrificed. On this mountain, God also provided the Sacrifice of His Son, our Saviour, Jesus. This may also be the place of the stoning of Stephen.

At least 10 times, Stephen, in his message, quoted from his Bible. How well do we know our Bible? Could we quote the Scriptures by memory? Have we read, marked, learned and inwardly digested the Scriptures as Stephen had done? Are we filled with the Holy Spirit as Stephen was? Are we acting, speaking, and loving as Stephen did? Here was a man who had come to be like Jesus. Saul of Tarsus was there. Later, as the Apostle Paul, Saul would write that we are, “To be conformed to the image of His Son.” Stephen had modeled this for the future Apostle.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

My fervent desire, Lord Jesus, is to be like You. By Your Spirit working in me, may I grow into all You desire me to be. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

As an 80 year old I’m required to have an examination in order to maintain my driver’s license. I passed! YEAH!!! I believe that throughout my life God has given me examinations. One day as a young pastor I was sitting in a room at the Hamilton YMCA, praying with a young man named Gord. His face was buried in a paper bag which had airplane glue spread on the bottom. I had seen Gord a couple of weeks before sniffing glue in a park. I brought him home to Norma-Jean, who responded with love. That time, at the “Y,” God gave me an exam. Gord lifted his head from the bag long enough to spit in my face. The “old” David, who had a bad temper, was no longer there. I felt nothing but the love and compassion of Jesus. I had prayed in those early years, “Lord Jesus, when I grow up, I want to be like You.” I knew He was answering my prayers. Gord gave his life to Christ soon after this. Stephen, the first Church deacon, was truly like Jesus. He’s one of my examples of someone who passed his examination with a mark of 100%.

Yours for becoming more like Jesus,

David