Better an honest heart before God than the praise of people.
We ended yesterday with the first mention of Barnabas ( which means Son of Encouragement), who sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the disciples feet. Luke 4:36, 37
Barnabas gave the full amount, he kept nothing back for himself. He set a standard, or maintained a standard, set by others, Luke 4:34
This story is sadly followed by the tale of Ananias and Sapphira, who also sold a piece of property but Ananias, with his wife’s full knowledge, she agreed, kept back a part of the money for himself. Peter confronted Ananias, ‘how is it that Satan (the source of the lie) 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?
The moral of the story is, God hates hypocrisy. Pretending to be or do something we are not.
Ananias and his wife could have legitimately held back some of the money for themselves, but they wanted to appear( for many it’s all about appearance ) to be giving everything. Satan had caused them to tell the lie and believe it would not be found out! This all at a time when the Spirit of God was moving in such great power in the new Church of God.
Peter, the leader of the Church, had to confront and pass judgement on the couple, both instantly died. They’d given a portion to the apostles, made personal sacrifice, but because of the lie their gift was lost to them.
In today’s Spreaker post, we will be looking at David and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11. David was a great warrior for God and for Israel. He was victorious in battle, but lost the peace. He fell and then tried to cover it up, finally shedding innocent blood.
I believe that a mighty move of God is coming, but the closer we are to the power and presence of God, the less room for any kind of hypocrisy. Better to be honest and true before God, than pretend to give something for the praise of people.
May God bless you this day and give you an honest heart to serve Him.