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Then the devotional contact today. Today’ s Bible reading begins in verse fifty

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- four of fact, chapter seven. Hearing these things, they were angry

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in their hearts and gnashed their teeth
against him. But Stephen, full of

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the Holy Spirit, set his eyes
on heaven, saw the glory of God

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and Jesus, who was at the
right hand of God, and said,

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Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing at

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the right hand of God. Then
they cried loudly, and covered their ears,

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and smote one against him, and
cast him out of the city,

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and stoned him, and the witnesses
put their clothes at the feet of a

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young man named Saul, and stoned
Stephen as he cried and said, Lord

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Jesus, receive my spirit, and
kneel down, and cried with a loud

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voice. Lord, do not take
this sin into account. And having said

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this, he slept I wonder if
the thoughts of Stephen' s murder came

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to the mind of the apostle Paul
as he stood before the Roman Tribunal.

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Although his fellow disciples and converts to
faith had not come to support him,

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He did not want the Heavenly Father
to discipline them. Paul offered a prayer

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of forgiveness, as did Stephen,
who forgave all the men who stoned him

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to death. Believers need to accept
that forgiveness is right when we are harmed

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by grace. It is only the
Lord' s mercy to us is also

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His mercy flowing through us. Forgiving
others is one more step towards becoming more

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alike. A Christ harboring resentment does
not fit with the person full of the

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spirit in which we become as we
are saved. Moreover, we must remember

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that Jesus Christ paid the debt of
sin for those who have done us much

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harm, whether or not they accept
the gift of grace from the Savior.

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Still, no one believes that forgiving
an offense is easy. Some people inflict

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such a terrible evil on others that
they seem not to deserve compassion, but

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it is important to understand that offering
mercy is much better than living with alternatives.

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The bitterness, vengeance and anger that
can torment the spirit until the benevolence

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is over is exhausted and the health
is darkened. Mind, holy spirit will

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help us to forgive. It slowly
brings out our pain, our disappointment and

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our anger and then fills our heart
with mercy. Only when we fully surrender

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to him can we say how Stephen. Lord, do not take this sin

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into account to them.