1st Martyr Kicks! (Acts 7-8)

A martyr is when someone is holding onto the faith so much that one is willing to die for the faith, like how Stephen holds onto the truth and beamed when he died as he glanced upward toward the heaven! Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit so he proclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." It's amazing how he got this kind of grace and peace from God! But through this event, God used Stephen to kick the many! I think I would like to have that kind of death: seeing the heavens opened with Him standing above and seeing how my death had impact on the many! It's probably one of the most peaceful death! With His glory upon us, we may forget about our sufferings!

What did our First Martyr kicked? "They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles... Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word." The disciples began to preach boldly everywhere! The disciples stopped staying comfort in a big group of Christians, they are willing to venture into some villages and jungles! Go disciples!

Peter once said, "Truly, truly, I say to you when you were young [spiritually immature], you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old [spiritually matured], you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go (this he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God)" - John 21:18-19

Yeah! The disciples were young, but once the First Martyr showed them how the true death glorified Him, they quickly matured! And since they are matured by Stephen's example, they are willing to allow Him to stretch them and go whatever He wanted them to go! They wanted to glorify God.

It is tough for us to start something without seeing any Martyr in our lives to learn from, but Jesus said, "Blessed are those who believed [act] without seeing". We have our stories in front of us and some testimonies out there. It would be better for us to have Him kicking us directly as we keep growing and receive more grace from Him and go!