Acts 5
Rebecca Lightfoot
At our core,we know when we r being truthful and/or genuine,and when we r not.And we have a natural impulse to hide from these things.Just as all of the dogs our family has had(even the one notorious for being a brat),know & reveal knowledge of doing something bad by the way they tuck their tail when caught...human beings have the same core sense n our heart.We can become so hard hearted and/or narcissistic that we grow insensitive/numb to it.But this is still in us!God created us with this for many reasons,the most important being so we would be made aware of our need for a Savior!But sometimes this need assaults our pride or our selfish desires n such a way that we decide to cover up this need of our heart,& we become hard hearted.This happened with Ananias & Sapphira n Acts5:1-11.They saw others having their lives changed dramatically by their faith n Jesus Christ,& evidently saw this as anything but these people turning to a living relationship w a Living God through Jesus Christ!Ananias&Sapphira acted as if this was a religion w “formulas for membership”,& did not realize that these people were seeking a loving/living relationship w a Living/Loving/Merciful/Gracious God.THIS is why the people around Ananias&Sapphira had lives that were being restored w a love for each other that was from God...lives that were so appealing to Ananias&Sapphira(A&S)!But A&S sought a “formula” nstead of a Relationship,& their hearts became hardened/resistant to Truth. In many ways we r not much unlike A&S!We have all been made aware of something n our lives that should b addressed n ways that we resist.And continued “resisting” leads to a hardened heart n this area of our heart!Just as we can have a small area of our physical heart that is diseased somehow,the heart of who&what we are(our Spirit/our Soul)can become diseased/hardened in small areas.If the warning signs of these small areas n our physical heart are not heeded,we can die.The same thing can happen with our Spirit&Soul if we do not heed the “warning signs”!This is what happened w A&S!Dear Lord,forgive me for the areas of my life that I have allowed to grow cold&hardened because of either my pride or selfishness!Forgive me for allowing myself to act as if YOU are NOT so ALIVE that YOU would know everything about my heart&life!Forgive me for turning from Your Mercies&Graces n these areas of my life,& turning from the restoration & healing n these areas that You desire to bless me with.Please work n my life to renew and as David ask,I ask for you to “Create n me a clean heart O God,& renew a right spirit w/in me.Cast me not away from Your Presence,& take not Your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,& uphold me with a willing spirit.”(Palm51:10-12)