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Articles from April 2017

Deceit and Denial-One for You, Two for Us!

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“Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself… How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!” Acts 5:3,4c; “And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?”
Acts 5: 9-10 NLT

Little white lies—they’re harmless, right? They weren’t for the couple in today’s Dose verses. “But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.” (Acts 5: 1-2) They were together in this deceit! Peter confronted Ananias first. Ananias fell down dead! Not long afterward, Peter spoke with Sapphira and when she told the same lie as her husband, he confronted her too. Then, she fell dead!

Ananias and Sapphira gave into the temptation to cheat and lie about some property they sold. But why were they struck dead over this? Peter said they had conspired to test the Holy Spirit and lied to God through their actions. This was not a money issue; it was a heart issue. Ananias and Sapphira didn’t have to sell their property—they chose to. Then, instead of being honest about wanting to give some of the proceeds to the church while they kept the rest, they decided that it’d look better if they’d given it all. So, they lied and said they did. They were concerned less about honest motives and more about impressing the people of their church. As a result, they showed no reverence for God, the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in their church body, or responsibility to their fellow body of Believers.

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t simply discipline us with immediate death because of our deceit and denial? He gives grace. But, are we reverencing Him with honest motives and a pure heart? If we’re dealing regularly in deceit and denial, we’re not doing things from godly motives with a heart that truly desires to honor God; we’re keeping up false outward appearances in order to impress others. We fool ourselves, hinder our relationships with Christ and fellow Believers, and ruin our witness to others. Little white lies–not harmless at all!

Are there areas of your life where you’re lying to the Holy Spirit today? Choose to honestly and humbly admit this sin. Then, ask God to help you overcome it. He will!

By grace through faith,

Rita

When We Ask For Prayer

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“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.”
1 Timothy 2 NIV
When prayer request time comes around in my small group, I usually ask for prayers for other people close to me and not myself.

What will people think of me if I ask for this?

I don’t want to waste their prayer time asking for prayers when someone else may need it more.

Can anyone else relate?

These thoughts and feelings are a direct result of pride. You want to uphold your reputation and self-image and asking for prayer might affect that.

“Being humble is asking for prayer and not being too proud to admit that you need it.”

I shy away from asking for prayer because I either feel selfish or like my prayer is silly and that it is something I can do on my own (as to not bother anyone with it)

I don’t need to ask others to pray for my continued battle with that sin.

I don’t need to ask others to pray for my issue because it is something that I can handle with your help God, so I don’t need anyone else.

Self-reliance is not Omnipotence.

I have developed this image of myself and what it is supposed to be, and asking for prayer seems like defeat. Like I am giving up on myself, and asking for prayer is my “surrender” flag.

We need to wave our white flag more.

No prayer is too small. No prayer is not important.

As a church and community, we are called to pray for each other. We pray for each other’s sin, struggles, health, marriages, kids, addictions and spiritual relationships.

It’s ok if it is YOUR sin we pray about. It is ok if it is YOUR marriage we pray about.

Asking for prayer is not a sign of defeat. It does not mean that are weak. It is a sign of surrender and with that surrender there is strength.

It is an honor and a privilege to pray for others. So, love and serve others by giving them the privilege them to lift you up in prayer.

Lifting you up in prayer,

Stephanie

 

 

Photo Credit: image created via wordswag

Mirror Image

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“As waters reflect the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
Proverbs 27:19, NIV

Over a year ago, I enrolled in an online iPhone photography course. Besides receiving instruction from experienced iPhone photographers on how to capture and edit remarkable photos, students are invited to join a Facebook community of their peers and participate in constructive critiques.

While on vacation last summer, I was struck by the crystal-clear reflection of a yellow house along the canal and captured the image with my iPhone. When I edited my photo, I cropped out the majority of the land portion of the house to emphasize its outstanding reflection. After posting my photo in the online community, I received favorable comments, but I also received some stating that I should’ve included in my picture the source of the reflection—the house itself. One comment especially resonated with me: “The reflection is the hero, but without the source, it’s not as powerful.”

Many houses reflected in the canal that evening, but the element that made this reflection outstanding was the angle of the sun. I snapped the photo during the golden hour—the last hour before sunset—the hour when the sun’s rays bring ordinary objects to life with a golden glow. The water mirrored the house above it, but without its remarkable light source, the reflection would’ve lost its impact.

God created us in his image, but we were born into a fallen world and possessed a sinful nature. If we confess our sin and invite Christ to be our Savior, he forgives our sin. From that moment forward, as we devote time to Bible study and prayer, our lives begin to take on the characteristics of Christ. The more time we invest, the more we grow spiritually, and the more accurate the reflection of Christ in us becomes.

The mirrored image of the yellow house was what caught my attention that evening, but when my eyes moved upward, I saw the actual house. How do others respond when they see the image we reflect? Do their eyes travel upward to the origin of the reflection—the light of Jesus Christ?

We either mirror the characteristics of our Heavenly Father or those of a fallen world. Indeed, the image we reflect may be the hero, but without Christ as the light source, it loses its power.

As Easter approaches, may the reflection of Christ in us inspire others to look heavenward and see our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy Easter!

Starr Ayers