While power and grace are two separate entities, clearly grace breeds power. I speak of spiritual power. I speak of harnessing the infinite, omnipotent power of God. We speak of creative power. We speak of the power that usurps the natural order of things. We speak of what is ultimately, irresistible power.

When humans become conduits of this power, they do so by placing themselves within the flow and current of grace. Grace empowers.

Stephen was such a man. He died a martyr's death. This power and grace came at great cost. You must be willing, even eager to pay a price to be eligible for the empowering of the grace of God. How willing are you to place yourself in harm's way for the purposes of God? Ask the five men who lost their lives on a sandspit in the jungles of Ecuador.

I believe that when a person is awash with the grace of God, personal risk is not an issue. Such an issue does not deter a person on a mission from God. There may be some fear and apprehension, but there is no doubt in willingness. If we doubt, if we are indecisive, we have lost the battle before it begins. If we do not doubt, the result is a boldness that will stand unmovable in the face of odds that could mean certain defeat.

To one so filled with empowering grace, defeat is impossible. Even the loss of one's life is a victory. Ask Stephen. Ask Jesus.