Being full of the spirit

‘Stephen is a hero of mine. When we meet him in Acts 6, he’s been chosen by the disciples to be one of seven men to help settle disagreements in the early church, having become ‘known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom.’

Wow! What must his life have looked like to those around him for people to see this? We know from Galatians 5 what the fruit in our lives will be when we’re full of the Spirit: we pour out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. For these traits to be so evident in Stephen, he must have been living completely under the power of the Spirit, not the flesh.

As the flesh and Spirit are at odds with each other, and the fruit in our lives will reflect what influence we’re living under, how can we become people so full of the Holy Spirit, that his fruits are so evident in us, pointing everyone to Jesus?

We need God’s wisdom, power and faith! James 1:5 tells us that all we need to do to gain wisdom from God is to ask, and here in Acts we see that Stephen was so full of wisdom that no one could speak against him – not even the most intelligent Pharisees, who would probably have been in the crowds when he was talking.

Verse 8 also shows us Stephen had a bold faith as well as God’s power to perform signs and wonders. Wouldn’t it be amazing if each of us was living so in step with the Spirit that we saw God’s power in all parts of our everyday lives, and had faith that God would use us to transform lives.

In Stephen, his closeness to God is not only seen through the fruit in his life but physically too – his face shone like an angel (verse 15). And this is the same relationship we can enjoy with God!

We’re able to have his Spirit living inside us, equipping us daily so that we can radiate God’s peace and joy to a world that desperately needs it. Imagine what the world would look like if each of us lived like this!

And I truly believe all we need to do to see this is to ask. Ask God to give you his wisdom, power and faith, and show you where you’re following the ways of the flesh rather than his Spirit.

Let’s choose daily to live under the influence of the Spirit, walking every moment in step with God so that, like Stephen, people around us spot that there is something different in our lives. My prayer is that as we do this, those we meet each day would be left knowing something new of God’s love for them.’