Seeing Into Heaven

But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side. Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”

Acts 7:55–56 (CEV)

Should you get in trouble if you are doing good things? Stephen was doing great things. He was taking care of people in the church. He was telling people about Jesus. God even had him do miracles so people knew Jesus loved them.

But even though he was doing the right things, people argued with him about Jesus. God helped Stephen win those arguments, which made the people mad. Stephen was dragged into court, where he made a long speech about Jesus. At the end of this speech, God gave him a gift: Stephen saw into Heaven. He was so excited, he yelled out, “Look! It’s Jesus in Heaven!”

It made everyone so mad they decided to kill him! They took him outside and threw rocks at him. But Stephen was still talking about Jesus. He even forgave those people as he died.

It didn’t matter to Stephen whether he lived or died. He just wanted to obey Jesus. And God rewarded his bravery with a glimpse of how awesome Heaven will be. No matter what your family faces, remember that God cares for his brave warriors.

HERO TRAINING

Stephen was ready to go to Heaven to be with Jesus. On a piece of paper, draw a picture of what you think Heaven might look like.

GOD'S WONDERFUL WORLD

We don’t know where Heaven is, but the Bible says Stephen looked up to see it. It might be past all the stars! Right now, it would take nearly 90,000 years to reach the nearest star with our spacecraft.

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help expand your children's Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Swipe to read the passages today.

Psalm 23:4

Psalm 31:14–15

Romans 14:7–8

Philippians 1:20–21

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Tonia Gutting wrote this devotional for the Hero Squad Program of the American Bible Society. Hero Squad provides complimentary faith-based resources to strengthen and encourage military families through God’s Word. For more information or to enroll your military family, check out our website.www.myherosquad.org.