From: June 10, 2025
“Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says.” (Acts 7:48 ESV).
Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, bold and unflinching. He knew the price of truth might be death, but he would not remain silent. In his powerful speech, he reminded Israel’s leaders of a troubling pattern in their history—rejecting God’s messengers and clinging to idols. Though Solomon had built a glorious temple for the Lord, Stephen made it clear that the Most High never depended on a physical building. God had allowed the temple, but He did not need it. His presence does not require brick and mortar.
Stephen connected their rejection of Jesus with the rebellion of their ancestors who turned away from Moses. Just as they once asked Aaron to make gods to lead them, they now rejected the very Son of God. They had their temple, their traditions, and their outward forms of religion, but they had no room for the living God.
We can fall into the same trap today. People may go to church buildings, follow religious routines, and appear devout, yet their hearts remain unchanged. Man-made religion is comfortable. It requires no repentance, no surrender, and no relationship with the living Christ. But true worship isn’t about sacred spaces—it’s about surrendered hearts.
God does not dwell in structures made by human hands. He dwells in people made by His own hands—those who have turned from sin and trusted in Jesus. His Spirit lives in us, making our hearts His temple. Do we welcome Him there? Or do we cling to traditions and religious appearances while rejecting the call to a personal relationship with Christ?
Let us not be like those who honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him. Instead, may we welcome His presence into our lives, not just on Sundays, but every day of the week.
PRAYER: Dear Father, forgive us for any ways we have tried to confine You within our religious activities while keeping You at a distance from our hearts. We want to be a dwelling place for You. Cleanse us. Fill us. Help us to walk in true worship and surrender. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: June 10, 2024
“May you see your children’s children!” (Psalm 128:6 ESV).
One of the many promised blessings for the one who would fear the Lord and walk in His ways is living to see one’s grandchildren. Those who have experienced this blessing know its abiding joy.
Yet in Christ, this blessing is available to all who would believe in Him and be obedient to make disciples as He commanded. For in disciple-making, both the married and the single can become spiritual fathers and mothers. And by raising up spiritual children to be disciple-makers too, spiritual grandchildren and great-grandchildren are soon to follow.
PRAYER: Dear Father, give us the blessing of seeing our children’s children. Strengthen us to give them our testimony of You, so that they might believe and follow You too. Help us to pass on the faith that our fathers passed to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: June 10, 2023
“However, the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands” (Acts 7:48 NLT).
Stephen reminded the Jewish rulers that even though God allowed Solomon to build Him a Temple, He had no need for a man-made dwelling. Sinful man always prefers his man-made religion with his man-made gods and man-made temples. Didn’t the Israelites reject Moses and ask his brother, Aaron, to make them “some gods” to lead them? So Aaron fashioned them a golden calf to worship. Stephen accused the Jewish leaders of rejecting Jesus just as their forefathers had rejected Moses.
The same is true today. People prefer their man-made religion. But God is looking for those who will repent of their sins and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. God doesn’t live in temples made by human hands, but He willingly lives in human hearts that have been changed by the love of Jesus.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for Jesus. We always want to abide in Him and have Your Spirit dwell in us. We surrender control of our lives to You. For we don’t desire a man-made religion, but a relationship with the living God. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: June 10, 2017
One of the many promised blessings for the one who would fear the Lord and walk in His ways is living to see one’s grandchildren. Those who have experienced this blessing know its abiding joy. Yet in Christ, this blessing is available to all who would believe in Him and be obedient to make disciples as He commanded. For in disciple-making, both the married and the single can become spiritual fathers and mothers. And by raising up spiritual children to be disciple-makers too, spiritual grandchildren and great-grandchildren are soon to follow.
From: June 10, 2016
The newly appointed deacon, Stephen, was stoned to death for his witness, becoming the first Christian martyr. His verbal defense of the gospel before his accusers was a Spirit-inspired masterpiece, boldly proclaimed. He reminded them that it was Moses, whom they claimed to follow, that spoke of a coming prophet who would mediate God’s Word to them (Deut.18:14-19). Then, he compared them to the Israelites in the wilderness who rejected Moses, for they had rejected the Righteous One whom God had raised up “from their brothers,” Christ Jesus. Stephen was essentially preaching the words of Jesus, who said, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:46).
From: June 10, 2015
Patience is the fruit of the Spirit that makes us “slow to anger.” The Greek word for patience might also be translated “long-suffering.” Or it might be understood in modern terms as having a long fuse. Are you easily angered? Do you have a short fuse? Ask God to give you the fruit of patience, which makes us slow to anger.