Tag Archive | God

Acts Chapter 5 & 6

Sep14

Good morning y’all. Happy Monday :). Today I’m doing a combination of chapter 5 and 6.

In chapter 5 we see the story of Ananias and Saphirra who both lied to the Holyspirit. In chapter 6 we see the first conflict arise in the church and the persecution Stephen experienced.

Be blessed 🙂

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Acts 5
I was particularly interested in the story of Ananias and his wife Saphirra. Initially I was condemning them and thinking how can you be so stupid and do such but then I asked myself are you sure you don’t do the same?

So here are my thots on Ananias and Saphirra.

– Ananias wasn’t forced by the apostles to sell his land. He chose to do so of his own accord. Evidence of this is found in verse 4 where Peter said to him, “… you chose to sell the land by your own will, so why are you lying?”

“The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” (Acts 5:4 NLT)

Perhaps he felt pressured to sell the land because others were selling and giving off their things so that everyone could have. Verse 36-37 of chapter 4 tells of a Barnabas who sold his land…

“For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles”.
(Acts 4:36-37 NLT)

So basically he did what we call “follow  follow” or following the crowd….He didn’t have any conviction to do it, but just because others were, he decided to do it. His motive wasn’t right at all.

If you don’t have conviction to do something, please don’t do it just because others are. When it becomes tough you won’t be able to see it through.

Perhaps it suddenly occurred to him the impact of selling the land (that they would miss out on it’s financial gain) and so decided that they can’t go through with giving all the proceeds.

– Sin always looks for a partner. His wife was his co-partner in the crime and they both enjoyed the consequences together. Women are we the voice of reason for our husbands or we are the ones pushing them to sin? Proverbs 14:1 comes to mind, which says, “… a wise woman builds her home and a foolish one destroy it… ” I feel Sapphira did the latter.

“A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands”. (Proverbs 14:1 NLT)

In all of this it’s easy to condemn them but I wonder how many of us are actually guilty of the same offence in some form or the other. Those times we cheat and skive off work yet we claim we worked the full hours, the change we keep when we are sent on errand and we say, “well, I’ll give a round figure: a couple of pennies or pounds won’t hurt.”  God is watching us. Had Ananias known he won’t get a chance to repent, perhaps he would have thought twice about lying.

May God help us be honest in our dealings when people are watching and when they are not.

Acts 6
In this chapter,  the church experienced their first conflict. Prior to this, Luke had been painting a picture of a perfect unified loving church. It just goes to show that conflict is inevitable no matter how close and loving a group is. The key thing is how we respond to the conflict.

Few points from the way the apostles handled the conflict.

– The apostles didn’t ignore the issue by saying it’s irrelevant …blah blah. No, they paid attention and acknowledged there was an issue on ground that needed to be resolved. It might have not been important to them but they realised it was important to their members. A good leader will listen to his/her followers; take on board their concerns and look for ways to resolve them effectively so peace and unity can continue to reign.

– They didn’t try to resolve and do everything on their own. A good leader knows how to delegate to others. For the apostles they had other things to do but that didn’t stop them from delegating and assigning all the other tasks to their members. There are some leaders who want to do it all and in the process they struggle and eventually burn out. The apostles understood there was no way they could focus on preaching the word and prayer while also trying to make sure all the widows and children are dealt with accordingly so they delegated.

– Note they didn’t impose on the people the 7 delegates. They asked the people to select them. They empowered their followers by giving them the criteria for the people that can do the job and then asked them to find the people.

– The apostles emphasised the reason they couldn’t take on this role themselves. It wasn’t because they were lazy or felt too proud to be involved with food distribution to widows rather it was so they could focus on the word and prayer. This was their first assignment. They couldn’t afford to be distracted from doing what God has commissioned them to do. Some leaders avoid responsibility because they feel they are too big to do such. They are full of themselves whereas Jesus taught us the opposite. He said we should be servants . A good leader will not have an issue serving his or her followers.

I pray God gives us a servant’s heart; and the wisdom to know when to delegate and when to take on responsibility. I also pray that we will not get distracted from our calling but we would remain focused on that which we have been called to do, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter.

I’m blogging through the book of Acts a chapter a day with Good morning girls. Check us out at http://www.goodmorninggirls.org

***With God all things are possible***

Acts 2 – The promise fulfilled….

Sep8

Good afternoon y’all. Today we continue our study of Acts. We are in chapter 2.

I found out some interesting facts about the celebration of Pentecost. I’ve always thought Pentecost was a celebration that only started on the day the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. It never occurred to me that it was an existing celebration. Here is what I found about Pentecost and the significance of the Holy Spirit coming on that day. The extract below is from David Guzik commentary-

“The Day of Pentecost: This was a Jewish feast held 50 days after Passover. It celebrated the firstfruits of the wheat harvest.
i. In the Jewish rituals of that time, the first sheaf reaped from the barley harvest was presented to God at Passover. But at Pentecost, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest were presented to God; therefore, Pentecost is called the day of the firstfruits(Numbers 28:26).
ii. Jewish tradition also taught that Pentecost marked the day when the Law was given to Israel. The Jews sometimes called Pentecost shimchath torah, or Joy of the Law.
iii. On the Old Testament Day of Pentecost Israel received the Law; on the New Testament Day of Pentecost the Church received the Spirit of Grace in fullness”.

Below are a few points I picked out from today’s chapter.

Be blessed 🙂

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– The disciples were in one accord before the Holy Spirit came. They were united in mind, faith and purpose waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. David Guzik in his commentary for Acts 2 said “Before we can be filled, we must recognize our emptiness; by gathering together for prayer, in obedience, these disciples did just that. They recognized they did not have the resources in themselves to do what they could do or should do; they had to instead rely on the work of God”

–  “And suddenly there came a sound….” (V2)  – The sound came suddenly. It wasn’t planned or expected. I’ve come to realize that most times, God tends to move in a suddenly manner when He is ready to do something new. This is why we have to be alert, ready, and well positioned so we are not caught off guard. The disciples were in one accord waiting for the promise when suddenly the fulfillment of the promise came to pass. Had they been sleeping or gone back to fishing, they might have missed their suddenly moment. I pray we don’t miss our suddenly moment; and that we will be found at our duty post doing what God has called us to do.

– “There appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire,…”(V3) – I tried to understand the significance of the fire then I remembered in the old testament God talks about fire being used to purify: like a refiner’s fire purifying gold. It removes all impurities till only pure gold is left. So the fire represent the Holy Spirit’s purifying work in our lives. David Guzik commentary explains this well for me. It says:

“The idea behind the picture of fire is usually purification, as a refiner uses fire to make pure gold; or fire can burn away what is temporary, leaving only what will last. This is an excellent illustration of the principle that the filling of the Holy Spirit is not just for abstract power, but for purity. In certain places in the Old Testament, God showed His special pleasure with a sacrifice by lighting the fire for it Himself – that is, fire from heaven came down and consumed the sacrifice. The experience of the followers of Jesus on Pentecost is another example of God sending fire from heaven to show His pleasure and power, but this time, it descended upon living sacrifices(Romans 12:1)”.

– Peter the timid one, who denied Jesus earlier all of a sudden became bold and stood up to defend the gospel. It just goes to show that when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, He empowers you to do that which naturally, you cannot do of your own might. Peter was terrified when he was associated with Jesus during the crucifixion, now in front of the same set of Jews, he was bold to declare the gospel of Jesus. I pray that the Holy spirit will fill us with power and help us be witnesses for Jesus wherever we find ourselves.

– Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (v21). There is power in the name of our Lord. The name is available to all. Not just the Jews but now has been extended to the gentiles. The name has authority and power to deliver and to save from all forms of destruction. I’m reminded of proverbs 18:10, which says, “the Name of the LORD is a strong tower. The righteous runs into it and they are saved“. Are you in need of salvation or deliverance? Why not call on the name of the Lord today and be saved.

– The gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all but you can’t receive it if you are still living in sin. Peter, in verse 38 -40, told the crowd they had to repent of their sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus. Repentance is not just a case of saying I’m sorry. It’s a complete 180 degree turnaround from an old way of life to a new one. You have to turn away from your life of sin to a life of obedience to Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon says: “The old-fashioned grace of repentance is not to be dispensed with; there must be sorrow for sin; there must be a broken and a contrite heart. This, God will not despise; but a conversion which does not produce this result, God will not accept as genuine”.
When you turn to God in genuine repentance, He will forgive and save you. What are you waiting for? Why not give Jesus a try today and you too can experience this gift of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit which you have bestowed upon us. This day we ask for fresh outpouring of your Spirit to renew and revive us. Give us boldness to be witnesses for You wherever we find ourselves, in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thots on the chapter.

I’m blogging through the book of Acts a chapter a day with Good Morning Girls. Check us out at www.goodmorninggirls.org

Have a blessed day 🙂

Link to David Guzik commentary on Acts chapter 2 can be found here

***With God all things are possible***