LifeLink Devotions for Friday, April 25,2025

“Stephen was a man full of grace and power…” Acts 6:8a

Stephen’s faith was correctly placed in Jesus Christ. He had completely experienced God’s grace. He was overflowing with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And as a result, he was filled with God’s power.

Here are three bullet points of truth from which we will let the Holy Spirit teach us about God’s power in our lives. 

• Faith and grace must always be our focus ahead of power. Power produces pride if not held in the context of faith and grace.
• We must be in love with the God who gives power and not the power God gives. The love of power will quickly become an idol and set itself up against an honest knowledge of God.
• The Bible describes how power applies to our lives. Don’t be confused by emotionalism or public displays of what appears to be supernatural abilities.

There are ten ways the Bible tells us that the power of God is working in us. Let’s look at the first two today.

1.  The power of God is working in us so that we may experience Jesus Christ living in and through us.

In Ephesians 3:16-17 we read this. ”I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, with whom we are filled, we can experience the literal life of Christ dwelling in us, giving us peace, joy, love, patience, gentleness, self-control, kindness, faithfulness, and goodness. The power of God is producing the character of Christ in us. We so often look for the display of power in miracles or answers to prayer, but the first way that God’s power works in us is to make us like Christ in character. Our external displays of power mean very little if they are not supported by a life of grace.

2.  To know the fullness of the love of God and be filled with Him.

The Apostle Paul continues his thoughts in Ephesians 3:17-19.  “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

The power of God that is producing the character of Christ in us is also giving us a deeper understanding of what God’s love is like and how to be filled with it. What good is great preaching if it is not done in love? What benefit is truth if it is not spoken in love? What value is there in miracles if they do not represent the love of Jesus? And how does exalting or promoting oneself reveal anything but love for self rather than the love of God.

God’s power is at work in us to fulfill grace and love in us. Are we embracing His power to produce His results in our lives?

Pastor John