Saturday 27 Apr 2013

Saturday Reading: Acts 5:1-4

Key Verse: Acts 5:4
4  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Devotion:
Many times in our lives we look at what we have and we want more. We look at what we could have and we want even more again! This story about Ananias and Sapphira should be the ultimate warning to each of us whether we are seeking fame, fortune or even God. God is watching over us no matter what state we are in or what we are seeking. If we are seeking anything other than God then we are going to be on our own in our search; but that does not mean that God is not there! He will see everything that we do, hear everything we say, listen in on every thought and emotion that we process.

When we try to hide things from God we have already lost because He was there when we tried to think about hiding it! God is not going to ignore us while we make up some story to tell Him about how we lost our way or misplaced things. God is the one that has allowed things into our lives, giving us stewardship over the things around us. He is expecting us to be honest with Him as He is honest with us. We cannot hide anything from God so should not expect to get away with anything.

There are things that I struggle with in life but when I place my faith and trust in my God then I am able to do, see and experience so much more than when I am alone. If you are seeking something then you must make sure that you include God because trying to exclude Him is just not going to work. Ananias and Sapphira both thought that they could get away with God not watching and had to pay the price for their sins. When we include God in our lives we are opening our lives to His control and when we are willing to listen to that advice and guidance that He is giving us, we can benefit from His wisdom!

We expect people to be honest and open with us when we invite them into our lives; when we invite God into our lives we are the ones that have to start being honest and open with God. Only when we are open and honest will we be able to break free from the temptations of the world that entrap us into sin and deceit and live for God as well as with Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you try to hide from God?

Are you still feeling trapped by sin?