Ministry Carries Solemn And Important Responsibilities - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 5:11,

“Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”
 
This is Luke’s observation of the reaction of the church to the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, who had lied to the Holy Spirit about a gift they brought to the apostles. They found what the consequences were for putting to test the Holy Spirit: they were taken home.

As the early church found, the ministry of God's redemption of mankind is serious business. As it cost the very life of the Son of God, participation in this ministry has solemn and important consequences.

In a way, it somewhat reminds me of the two sons of Aaron who offered “strange fire” at the altar and discovered the important and severe consequences of their ministry before God.
 
To be engaged in the service of God, to participate in his purposes, carries solemn and consequential responsibilities.

To be sure, our God is not a God to be trifled with. Today I worship our God who, at important moments, engenders an element of trepidation as I consider him.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Freedom From Slavery To Sin - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 5:1-6,

“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan 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? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.’ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.”

Sin in the church! I am fully persuaded that Ananias and Sapphira were believers and had the unfortunate distinction of being those whose sin was the first recorded in the church after its birth on Pentecost. I don’t mean to imply the first sin committed by believers, but the first recorded in the church after its birth. From this, the early church learned a very bitter and difficult lesson: sin is not eradicated from the new community of believers. As we go through the accounts of the early church, we find believers continue to struggle with sin, and the pull of the sin nature even though they are redeemed, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit for the hope we all have in the resurrection.

While this is cause for dismay, from another perspective, however, it provides an environment where the redeemed can glorify the Lord by choosing him over sin. We have an opportunity, which would not exist were it not for the presence of sin in our lives to make those choices that clearly manifest our passion for God as opposed to passion that the sin nature can so easily generate within us.

We are not merely robots but continue to have a free will that expresses just what we are. Against the backdrop of that sin nature that will continue with us until resurrection day, we reveal just who we are as John notes in 1 John 3:6, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” John goes on to say, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:9-10. We are capable of sinning but we no longer practice sin as a lifestyle.

Yes, just like Ananias and Sapphira, we can and do sin. But in God’s kindness and love for us he has given us his Holy Spirit and we find we are not the slaves to the sin nature we once were, but are now free to glorify him with the choices we make.

I am reminded of Romans 6:17-18, "Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Our God Is Worthy: Will I Speak Of It? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 4:27-30,

“Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After being threatened by the chief priests and elders of Israel, Peter and John went back to the disciples after their release. They reported all that had happened to them in being jailed and threatened for healing a cripple and teaching the people about Jesus at the temple.

The above few verses are the last part of the disciple’s prayer to God upon hearing the news from Peter and John. It is not difficult to hear the appreciation and gratitude in this prayer: the appreciation and gratitude of folks who have had their sins paid for and freely given acceptance with the Creator of “heaven and earth and the sea, and everything in them”, verse 24.

As I read this prayer, I ask myself this morning if I have the same sense of appreciation and gratitude for God as these believers did… After all, have I not also received from our wonderful God all these folks had received? The same God has done the same things for me as he did for these believers in the early church. I note in the context of threat, these believers wanted God to bring on even more opportunities for sharing their faith.

How much greater should my appreciation and gratitude for our wonderful God be expressed by my own eagerness to pursue opportunities to share my faith in the absence of the kind of threat they faced?

I am greatly moved by Peter and John's statement, "As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Verse 20.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Our Intolerant God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Acts 4:12,

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Peter tells the religious leaders of the day that the man they had crucified, Jesus Christ, was in fact the only one through whom salvation could be found.

This tells me our God does not tolerate alternatives to his plans. I suspect if I were God I would be as intolerant as he is. Imagine the lack of political correctness! No Mohammed, no Joseph Smith, no Buddha, no Confucius, just a sweeping condemnation of any “path to God” that isn’t Jesus Christ himself!

Although John tells us that God is love, it would behoove the wise to not underestimate God’s lack of tolerance for the foolishness of any man who would attempt to supplant God’s Son with his own inventions.

Pretty sobering, isn’t it?!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.