TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (SATURDAY 08TH August 2026)
“And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.” Acts 6:8-10 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 220TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORIES!
This is the day the LORD has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Daily He loads us with benefits because He is the Day, and what a heritage we have in Him that positioned us to function on earth as children of the Day!!
This morning we will be gleaning some truths from the life and times of Stephen, a young man described as full of faith and power, who did wonders and signs among the people. The wonders and signs were an authentication of the fiery truths that He taught and the reformation He sparked among the Jews as a member of the early Church.
The lethality of Stephen was revealed in the kind of opposition that was around his life. Sometimes the importance of what we are doing in God, is measured by the quality of negative force or forces that are against us. If the enemy does not want you to say something, it’s because what the LORD has put in your heart to say will shake the foundation of His KINGDOM.
There is a way our warfare communicates our value in God’s kingdom. If you are a kingdom son, the enemy will fight you differently. If you are not, He will also fight you differently. Concerning the wonder weapon of God, Stephen, a part of our devotional text says;
…Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen… They did not arise against any of the other seven men the early church appointed to assist the apostles.
They arose against Stephen alone. The question is, why Stephen? Why not all of them?
The reason is in their kingdom impact and kingdom value. The reason also lies in what they were all doing in God’s kingdom at that time. Only Stephen’s activities created Havoc in the Kingdom of Darkness. In fact, one of the seven, by name Nicholas, would later join forces with the Kingdom of darkness even, giving birth to the famous doctrine of the Nicolaitans.
HISTORY HAS IT THAT THESE PEOPLE WHO AROSE AGAINST STEPHEN WERE AN ELITE FORCE OF THE EVIL ONE IN THE RELIGIOUS HIERARCHY OF THE DAY.
Satan will deploy his elite force against you if you have critical things to do in God’s kingdom. These forces arose against Stephen and not any other. One may wonder why it rose against a deacon in such a manner. But it did because Stephen was not an ordinary deacon. He was a deacon who had a beacon of apostolic fire and lethality.
His impact, as an apostolic warrior was what attracted the kind of evil conspiracy against him. Sometimes we wonder why the enemy will not let us go, we wonder why he is always on our case. Yes, we wonder why people will do a thing and go free, but we will not go free even if we do the smallest of what they did.
The reason is not because God hate us, but because God has made us a Kingdom force to be reckoned with, attracting special attention from hell, and we are not aware. Yes, most people God has made men and women of special assignment do not even know they are, hence not knowing why they face the battles of life they face.
I reiterate again that the kind of enemies that surrounds you tells us what the LORD has filled your life with.
It tells how much of a threat you are to the Kingdom of darkness. It tells how much of a force you are in the Kingdom of God, and how much of Heaven’s treasure you are on earth. Stephen was such a treasure, that was why all hell let loose on him. He was full of faith and power, and the enemy could not stand him. The Devotional text further said; “And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke…”
Whenever the enemy cannot resist the wisdom and spirit the LORD gave you to say something, like teaching His word, preaching His truths or winning the lost, he will mobilize wicked men and women to accuse you of things you know nothing about.
But you must remain strong, full of faith and power from God. You must not give up or give in. You must be strong and firm in your walk with the LORD until there is a shift in the Spirit. The life of Stephen teaches that it is what we are full of, that manifest itself in our day of adversity. So be full of faith and power, not fear and corruption.
If we are full of faith and power, both will manifest and we will be walking in signs and wonders, subduing kingdoms, working righteousness, obtaining promises, stopping the mouths of lions, quenching the violence of fire, and escaping the edge of the sword.
Out of any weakness we will be made strong, we will become valiant in battle and turning to flight the armies of the aliens. Amen and amen!!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!!
And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets:
who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Hebrews 11:32-35 NKJV
