U Can't Touch This...
Acts Chapter 6
Scripture= Acts chapter 6:5, 8, 10
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
8 Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.
10 but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
Observations and Applications=
In 1990, M.C. Hammer wrote, sang and performed a song entitled ‘U Can’t Touch This.’ This song pretty much told all the other rappers and dancers that they couldn’t come close to touching M.C. Hammer’s success. The song declared that they all might as well give up because they ‘can’t touch this’ (his fame and fortune).
M.C. Hammer’s career fell apart about as fast as it rose to prominence but this song came to my mind after I read this chapter in the book of Acts. When you look at Stephen and what the book of Acts chapter 6 says about him I believe that you really could say ‘U can’t touch this!’
The Holy Spirit was so evident in his life that Stephen’s attackers could not stand up against the wisdom of God that was in Him. Stephen was a man full of God's grace and power, and he did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. The power of God in Stephen could not be touched (matched).
No matter how brilliant man’s wisdom appears to be, it is no match for a man or woman who is full of the Holy Spirit and God’s wisdom. Man’s brilliance will always fall short of God’s simplicity. The fact that Stephen was yielded to God made him more than any man could contend with. When you faced Stephen you were encountering His God.
If God is not a respecter of persons we too have the same abilities available to us if we, like Stephen are yielded to the Spirit of God. Ask the Holy Spirit today if you are yielding to God? Ask him to reveal to you any areas that you are holding back? Ask the Spirit of God to reveal areas of your life that you are ashamed of confessing to God and to others?
Yielding to God doesn’t mean that we don’t have issues in our life. Yielding to God is a decision to open ourselves up to God. He is a God who loves us unconditionally and who died and rose from the dead to empower us and ensure our complete salvation. The Salvation that God gives us is over every area in our lives that would bring harm, destruction and death into our lives. We too can be described as someone who is full of God's grace and power. With the Spirit of God working in our lives we too can say, "You Can't Touch This!"
Prayer= Lord Jesus, by your precious Spirit reveal to me any areas in my life that I am holding back. Areas that I need to give to you. I want to be yielded to your Holy Spirit's power in my life. I want to be a person who lives as a man (or woman) full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
