Lovekr07
Member
'Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.” At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. '
Acts 5:1-11
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.5.1-11
In reading the Enduring Word commentary, I learned that the first error of this couple was their motive. The reason for their donation was to appear extremely generous to others by making it seem like they made this large donation when in fact, they actually kept part of it for themselves. It seems like they must have given the impression that they were going to give all of it to God, except they did not. That would be how they could have lied to the Holy Spirit. Whenever we make a vow or promise, we should keep it rather than change our minds. Also, it is important to always check our motives in our decision making. If we discern that our motives are not pure, then we probably should not do it. If we discern that our motives are pure, then what we are doing is pleasing in God’s sight. God knows our hearts and our motives are important to Him. This reminds me of the story of Cain and Abel where the Lord accepted one’s sacrifice, but not the other. To obey is better than a sacrifice and if we are not really doing it for God, then He does not accept our sacrifice. A sacrifice that pleases God is one given from a heart that loves Him, obeys Him, and seeks to please Him without having selfish motive. He does not want an adulterous “sacrifice”. He takes no delight in a sacrifice that violates the first commandment. Lord, I pray that You purify our hearts from all selfish motives so that we can give You the sacrifices that You love and deserve from us. I also pray that we keep all of our promises and never go back on what we say. Help us to hold ourselves accountable for the commitments we make. Forgive us for the times when we made excuses and changed our minds after implying that we were going to do more than we actually did. May we consider our words binding and be careful to only make promises that we know we can keep. Sometimes we can be overly zealous like Peter, but then we end up falling short. This is not the most pleasant message, but a very important one. He deserves ALL of the sacrifice, not just a part of it. He deserves ALL the glory, honor, and praise. He is WORTHY!!! I am so glad that He checks us in our spirits so that we can grow and repent and so that we know how to please Him!! I want nothing more than to please Him
Acts 5:1-11
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.5.1-11
In reading the Enduring Word commentary, I learned that the first error of this couple was their motive. The reason for their donation was to appear extremely generous to others by making it seem like they made this large donation when in fact, they actually kept part of it for themselves. It seems like they must have given the impression that they were going to give all of it to God, except they did not. That would be how they could have lied to the Holy Spirit. Whenever we make a vow or promise, we should keep it rather than change our minds. Also, it is important to always check our motives in our decision making. If we discern that our motives are not pure, then we probably should not do it. If we discern that our motives are pure, then what we are doing is pleasing in God’s sight. God knows our hearts and our motives are important to Him. This reminds me of the story of Cain and Abel where the Lord accepted one’s sacrifice, but not the other. To obey is better than a sacrifice and if we are not really doing it for God, then He does not accept our sacrifice. A sacrifice that pleases God is one given from a heart that loves Him, obeys Him, and seeks to please Him without having selfish motive. He does not want an adulterous “sacrifice”. He takes no delight in a sacrifice that violates the first commandment. Lord, I pray that You purify our hearts from all selfish motives so that we can give You the sacrifices that You love and deserve from us. I also pray that we keep all of our promises and never go back on what we say. Help us to hold ourselves accountable for the commitments we make. Forgive us for the times when we made excuses and changed our minds after implying that we were going to do more than we actually did. May we consider our words binding and be careful to only make promises that we know we can keep. Sometimes we can be overly zealous like Peter, but then we end up falling short. This is not the most pleasant message, but a very important one. He deserves ALL of the sacrifice, not just a part of it. He deserves ALL the glory, honor, and praise. He is WORTHY!!! I am so glad that He checks us in our spirits so that we can grow and repent and so that we know how to please Him!! I want nothing more than to please Him