Experience - Day 29

1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.
 
3 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. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.
 
7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”
“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”
 
10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

Rest assured, opposition comes for us all.  Remember Jesus’ words in John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.”  Who is the thief, aka the devil, trying to steal, kill, and destroy?  Anyone and anything that reminds him of his enemy, and in case you didn’t know, you and I are created in the image of his enemy.

Ellen White once wrote, “it is Satan’s constant effort to keep the attention diverted from the Saviour.” (Steps to Christ, p71)  And we know this to be true because we see it in Acts chapter 5, but we experience it in our own lives as well.  The devil just doesn’t seem to want to leave us alone.

And since the devil’s attempts to derail Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t work, now the devil turns his attention on the new humanity created through the resurrection of Jesus.  That new humanity we refer to as the church, Christ’s body.

In the new movement, new humanity, opposition came from several different directions - religious leaders (persecution), social responsibilities (distraction), and moral corruption (struggles from within the movement).

The religious leaders tried to put out the flame of Christ’s church through arresting, persecuting, and even killing the early followers of Jesus.  But nothing they did worked.  In fact, the movement only grew.

As the movement grew, the devil tried to distract the apostles by getting them so focused on the social needs, that they wouldn’t have time to continue to share the message.  Take note, addressing social needs are a good thing, but knowing what you are specifically called to do is a good thing as well.  The apostles were called to share the message of Jesus, so they had to find others called to care for the social needs of others.

Then, ever so early in this movement, the devil tried to derail Christ’s church with moral failings, like that of Ananias and Sapphira.  It’s a crazy story for sure, but at the end of the day, it was another distraction to the cause of Christ.

So how do you and I avoid these attacks and distractions the devil throws our way?  How do we keep on track, continuing to move within the gospel call?

Ellen White had a great answer for that as well.  Just one line, “Talk and think of Jesus. Let self be lost in him.” (Steps to Christ, p71).

When we are under attack for our beliefs, when life isn’t going our way, when we are continuously distracted from our calling by a wide variety of things, we need to help remind each other about what matters most in this life - Jesus.  Talking and thinking of Jesus may not fix all our problems, but it will probably put those problems in perspective and help us weather our current storms.

JOURNAL

1. Have you ever experienced opposition when it comes to your beliefs?  If so, how did you handle that opposition?
2. What are some of the ways the devil tries to distract you from Jesus?  Those ways can be as many as their are people on the planet, a different struggle for each one of us.
3. Who are your people, where do you turn, that helps you talk and think of Jesus?