Daily Devotional For Monday, November 9, 2026
Good morning Southside! I am following the One Year Chronological Bible reading suggestion and any Bible verses you see highlighted in bold (ex. John 3:16), means it is a link to that verse. All you have to do is click on the reference and it will take you to the verse online. Our daily devotional for today comes from Acts 7:1-8:1.
This long passage is about the first martyr of the Christian faith – a man by the name of Stephen. There are many verses in this passage that stand out to me, but the one I want to center on for this devotional is found in Acts 8:1, “Saul was one of the witnesses, and he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen” (NLT). And from Acts 8:2 forward the persecution of the church began by Jewish leaders which caused the disciples to scatter all over the regions of Judea and Samaria. Isn’t this what Jesus told His disciples to do – GO! He didn’t tell them to stay in Jerusalem, but to go to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes that following the church through the book of Acts is like following a wounded deer through freshly fallen snow; pools of blood mark the trail from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem to Nero in Rome” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “Acts,” p. 141). Acts 8:1 is pivotal because it serves as a floodgate which causes the Gospel and the Christian faith to begin to spread.
It is hard to think that “Paul the Apostle” was formerly “Saul of Tarsus.” What Adolf Hitler or Adolf Eichmann were to the Jews during WWII, Saul and Nero were to the Christians in the first century. Both were responsible for a holocaust in their day. In the West, few Christians have ever really experienced persecution. We may experience some jeering, or some side put-downs in the office or some snitty remarks by a neighbor, but persecution? Not in the West.
This same Saul who was responsible for the first martyr in the Christian faith, this same Saul trained and skilled to be the top Pharisee, this same Saul who felt he was protecting the Jewish faith, after killing Stephen, becomes Paul the Apostle beginning in Acts 9. This is the same man who planted churches all over the Roman Empire, who became the greatest Apostle for spreading the Gospel through the Roman Empire, and who was used by God to write ⅔’s of the New Testament for us.
This is the same Saul/Paul who in Philippians 3:5-6 wrote these words: “I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. (6) I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault” (NLT).
What this tells me is that it is not always how you start, but how you finish. For most people, they hate change, but we cannot live without it. Mark Twain once said, “The only one who likes change is a wet baby.” For the Gospel and the Christian faith to spread, God had to change things. And sometimes God allows that change to come by very painful circumstances.
Reflection Assignment: Who is it that if they came to Christ, you would doubt the legitimacy of it? Why? Who is it that is so against the Christian faith, such as a friend or family member, that you wish they would come to Christ? Are you willing to start praying for them consistently and accept the means God uses, even if painful, for them to Christ? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 10:30 “But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, please help me to have faith necessary to stand up to personal putdowns about my faith and relationship with You. I want to be faithful to You no matter how great the pressure is to deny You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside – Pastor Kelly