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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: HONESTY AND TRUTH

Satan is the father of lies. He loves to whisper things in our ears that cause us to fall into fear, anxiety and even sin. The word says that the truth will set you free. I recently had to have a hard conversation with a friend. I didn’t want to tell them the truth about a situation, but God tells us to not lie.

Telling lies is deceitful and rebellion, which is a part of witchcraft. We walk a fine line sometimes. But God wants us to always give our best, that includes the truth. We don’t always want the truth. It makes us have to measure up and sometimes sacrifice things that our flesh wants to hold on to. But real truth will also set us free from things that hold us back from being all we can be in the kingdom.

John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

This verse is Jesus’ words to a group of Jews. He was telling them to walk in the truth of the word, the intent of the word and not the legalism of the word. The intent of the word the truth would set them free from sin and other trappings of life.

I was doing my daily reading when I came across the story of Ananias and Sapphira. A group of believers in their city decided to sell their possessions and give the money to the work of the Lord. Many sold lands or houses and brought the prices of the things that were sold and placed them at the apostle’s feet.

But Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and kept part of the money for themselves. They decided they would lie about how much they sold it for and would give that amount. It wasn’t wrong for them to keep part of the money, unless they had made a vow to give it all. It was the lie that they told in order to hold back something.

God revealed the lie to Peter.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 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. 5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

Fear of man probably made them lie. They didn’t want to give all they had from the sale but didn’t want to tell them that they were keeping a portion. It wasn’t a requirement. It was just that the others felt like making the sacrifice. Since they were not in the place of giving God their all, He knew that and would have accepted what they freely gave to the work of the Lord.

Notice verse four Peter said to him, Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? (In other words, you had control of the property.)and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?(After it was sold, you still had control of the money. It was your choice.) why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

It does no good to give to the work of the Lord if you do it begrudgingly. God doesn’t need our money. (Contrary to what a lot of prosperity preachers will tell you.) He wants our whole heart. He wants us to freely give of our time, our resources and ourselves.

We don’t give God things just to check off the boxes that make us a good Christian. That is legalism and Jesus died to set us free from a bunch of legalities. If we spend time in the word just to say, I read a certain number of chapters, that is legalism. If we sit and try to make a God connection even if it is only fifteen minutes. God will honor the quality of the time. Daily devotions, prayer time, paying tithes, giving offerings, doing good deeds, attending church are all things we do as believers because we want to grow our relationship with God. The things we sacrifice, our time and resources he wants us to give to him out of our love for him. Not because he is sitting in heaven with a clip board checking off boxes.

After Ananias had been buried his wife Sapphira came about three hours later and shared the same lie with the apostles. She too was struck down in front of the apostles. Many there were struck with fear when they heard what had happened.

I believe this story was put in the bible to let us know God wants our honesty. He wants us to give to him out of a pure heart.

It is like our worship. He doesn’t want lip service. He wants a genuine connection with us, because we choose to follow him and love him. He will honor the honesty of our hearts and our actions.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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