But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’

Heaven must be opened for us to see beyond this world and into the glory of God.  BUT…look at vs. 34, (God speaking)I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt.  I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.  Now come, I will send you back to Egypt. God hears our groanings from the earth, through the barrier that divides us from heaven –   our groanings, our rejoicing, our prayers and our praise.  The Psalms tell us He hears every sigh and records every tear.  It is His love for us that .pierces the barrier between heaven and earth.

So the word of God spread.  The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Let this be a lesson to us. No one is beyond the hope of the saving grace of Jesus – not the most hardened by sin, not the most legalistic, not the most religious or the most  stubborn or the most argumentative.  Keep praying.  Keep sharing.

Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.  “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said.  “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”  Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!

They state it clearly:  their orders are from God, not from man.  They know this and they obey.  Sometimes people won’t understand decisions we make or actions we take, but if our instructions are clearly from God, we can obey with confidence.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

God does not require that we be wealthy, educated, prominent persons in order to be used by Him.  God only asks that we be available and obedient.  He will do the work through us.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,  that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

What caught my attention here was the phrase, “that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  This comes after repentance, turning to God, sins wiped out: then, times of refreshing come from the Lord.  Consider then, if we have sin in our lives, as believers, we won’t have refreshing times from the Lord.  In this sin-crazy, dark world, don’t you long for those refreshing oases with the Lord?

Peter replied, ” Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for  the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

It would be easy to miss this truth since it comes at the end of the passage: it is the Lord Who calls.  It is the Lord Who adds to the number of those being saved.   Our responsibility is to be God’s willing vessels, to share the Good News when given the opportunity.  But, whether that person embraces salvation or not is between the individual and God.  We plant the Word of God, we sow the seeds of truth, but God is the Saviour.

Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.  Show us which of these two you have chosen…”

There is comfort in this verse.  There is accountability, and, there is justice.  Comfort, because we know that when we fall to our knees before Him and cry out – for wisdom, for healing or for help in life – He can read our heart, though our words may be imperfect.  Accountability, because we are to be cleansed from sin before approaching the throne of grace. Justice, because He can see the heart of those who would use and abuse us, those who would be our enemies and He knows how to deal with them.

Be comforted, be careful, have confidence, for the Lord knows everyone’s heart.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.  vs. 20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

Some have said the woman in this passage is too lofty of an ideal, impossible to imitate.  If you go back to the beginning of the chapter you will see that this is the oracle of a mother’s greatest hope for her son – the perfect woman.  This is the amazing “dream woman” .  All of us have a few of her qualities.  One of the noble characteristics of this godly wife is that she extends herself and her resources to the poor.  She is kind, faithful, hard working, respected and loved.  She knows God.  I like her.  I would like to BE  like her.  In this world we won’t find ourselves being perfect, but we can learn from  Scripture some of the best characteristics of a godly woman/wife/mother.