Post any passage that you'd like today and any thoughts on the next book. We'll start the next book tomorrow.
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, Yes, for so much. But Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out. Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. (Acts 5:1-11 ESV)
I struck me as a very powerful story but yet slightly odd due to it taking place after the resurrection during the early formation of the church. I see that this is no small sin and being an offense against God, the reaction is what we deserve for our sin, but this is after Jesus did die on the cross. Not saying that I know better than God what he should have done in this circumstance but there was no chance for repentance for this couple. In a sense, why am I more deserving than they to get the opportunity to right myself with God? Do yall have any thoughts on this because I have been thinking about it for a lot of the morning?
(They in this next verse refers to the high priest and the Sadducees)
and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:40-42 ESV)
These verses I had to include because I thought that their response was awesome. "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." How cool is that.
But can you let me know or comment if you have any thoughts on my earlier question about that passage?
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
ReplyDelete(Galatians 6:1 ESV)
I am reading a book right now called "False Intimacy" about sexual sin. This verse was quoted to describe the attitude we should take towards anyone caught in sin. It says that we as a body should not condone the sin. Sin is still sin. Instead we should help the person to overcome that sin through love while at the same time watching ourselves to make sure that we are not tempted by that same sin. I think that this is powerful: hate the sin, love the sinner. This does not mean we are to condone the sin or tolerate it, but that we are to help the sinner overcome it.
Applying this verse to the issue of homosexuality shows how society's view is twisted by sin. Society tries to use a viewpoint based on biology and a system of relative truths in order to justify the LBGT community and say that there is nothing wrong with them. They are perfectly natural. The Bible many times over says that they are sexually immoral. Culture rejects the Bible as hateful material as a result. If we hold to the truth of the Bible, they are living in sin and can change. It is our job to love these people for who God has made them but also to help them overcome this sin in their lives. This does not involve persecution, but a spirit of gentleness.
So I read some interesting stuff about that story in Acts 5:1-11 today. If you want to check it out, John Piper wrote a pretty interesting thing on it. It was pretty worth while to list to if you have 9 minutes. Here's the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/poems/peter-ananias-and-sapphira
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
ReplyDeleteActs 2:44-45
This passage has always captured my interest because it is in direct opposition to the Southern Baptist politics that filled the church I grew up in. Extreme conservative thought gives no room for any kind of socialism and yet here we see the believers embracing full fledged communism. Now, I don't believe that this sort of economic system would work very well for an entire country, but it beautifully demonstrates God's love among Christians. So often we get tied up in our own political beliefs for the United States that we forget the kind of policies we should hold with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Like the early church in Acts, we should willingly give up our resources (whether they be finances, time, or effort) in order to support God's kingdom on Earth. I am easily drawn into worrying about my money and how I spend it, but this verse redirects my focus on giving up my selfish desires so that others may benefit.
Glad to know that Acts is very popular, because my post is from Acts 4: 29-30 (ESV)
ReplyDelete[And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.]
This is part of the prayer that Peter and John say after being released from the Sadducees and the priests after they healed the lame man. Coming back from the discipleship retreat this verse speaks to me because it promotes courage and strength against non-believers who attack Christians. However it's interesting to see how the early followers phrase this.
Instead of asking that those against them be destroyed, they ask for God to heal those broken hearts and for the love of Christ to work signs and wonders in those lives. In all of the old testament readings I've seen, almost every time I read of God's angry nature against all manners of sinners. Let's not forget that he wipes out the entire world with a flood. And as sinners ourselves we do deserve His anger. However thanks to Christ's redemption and sacrifice we have the chance to accept His grace and mercy.
So next time in our encounters with the worst of the non-believers (and even those who claim to be Christians but then twist God's message of love into hate) let us pray not just for the will and fortitude to continue spreading the gospel, but also that God can one day be present in their lives so that they too can share in the glory of His kingdom.
"To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." Proverbs 21: 3
ReplyDeleteThis verse reminds me that as we live our lives and go through the motions of sacrificing our time for Christ and spending time in the word and living out our sacrements, it is easy to let our minds slip away from our actions.
This verse points out that external rites and sacrifices that we make don't please our Lord unless they are done with the right internal moral conduct and the right internal worship. We should not just be going through the motions of reading these verses and writing about them. We should be thinking about them intently and asking God how he would like to move our hearts in the process.
Very true. We need to be looking for ways that these verses apply to our lives and be thinking and praying about the action that we can take to apply them. Otherwise we have a great knowledge of God's word but could be living like we don't even know him.
DeleteIf any of yall have any good ideas about what we can do to aid this, let me know. Whether it be goal setting each day or week from what we've read or splitting into smaller groups to keep each other accountable or something else completely different, we can easily give it a try.