Don't Be a Pair of Beavers In Life Stopping Up the Flow… Ananias and Sapphira

I’ve watched several shows where they trap beavers because they stop up the water flow.  What I have come to realize as a Christian that many times I have another person’s blessing in life.  I have been given seed to sow and I want to be sensitive when it’s time to sow seed.  I received a $150 check back from escrow on my house in the summer, and my daughter was short $150 on her rent, there was no doubt in my mind that although I could have used that money for many other bills, that was a particular seed for my daughter that came out of the blue at that time, it was meant for her through my hands as the channel of blessing.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God 2 Cor. 9:10-11

I pray about every seed I sow whether it goes to an individual in need or to church.  I’ve gone to church at times just to plant a financial seed at that church.  Just popped in a church to drop an offering in their bucket.  I asked God to help me be a better steward of his finances.  It goes back to the widow who put all her living into the offering plate, that Jesus “noticed” her giving.   Jesus notices our giving no matter how large or small.  God sees our heart.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. 9:7

I’ve pondered many difficult questions like Mary in the Bible, and one is the severe judgment on Ananias and Sapphira (death).  I’ve heard people say, “Well they lied to the apostles – and yes it says they lied to the Holy Spirit.”  I know Christians that have lied to me and others, and I see many half-truths we can fall into at times.  I was tempted at the Irish Festival to want to get my daughter in for $5.00 discount for students, but the cut-off was 19-20 year old students and she was 23 years old.  My daughter was honest about her age and they saw her IUPUI student t-shirt she was wearing, and the women at the gate said they would give her the $5.00 student discount anyway.  Honesty is the best policy.

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? Acts 5:3

Abraham called Sarah his sister and the apple did not fall far from the tree with Isaac is that he called Rebecca his sister too apparently to the same king! Anyway, in dealing with several Christians that lie, I’ve never seen them drop dead and we are talking about the New Testament and this was in the New Testament (the dispensation of grace).

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful." Genesis 26:7

Part of the problem with Ananias and Sapphira, they were like beavers in their selfishness that could stop the blessing or the flow of God.  Similar to the story of Achan that he hid the treasure in his tent, and it caused all these problems with the whole camp of Israel.  In other words, they could have hindered a blessing meant for someone.

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:8

So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent, and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath. They took the things from the tent, brought them to Joshua and all the Israelites and spread them out before the Lord.  Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold wedge, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today." Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. Joshua 7:22-25

Not only that but Annias and Spaphria were not being accountable to their leaders. We have so little accountability in the church any more.  We are all accountable to God, but if I go to a church of 4,000 people it is really hard to even shake the pastor’s hand.  My husband and I were accountable to each other.  I grew up in the Jesus movement where people were like “lords” over God’s flock with too much telling people what to do, and now I see the other extreme where no one is accountable hardly anymore.  I find that very “discouraging” that anyone could care less what happens to anyone in the body of Christ at times!

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. Hebrews 13:7

But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 1 Peter 4:5

I think it takes an “act of God” to get a husband to listen to his wife.  We see that Joseph was going to put Mary away privately until and angel spoke to him that she conceived by the Holy Spirit and also God spoke to Abraham when Sarah wanted Hagar and Ismael to move out of the house.  I can understand Abraham’s plight in not wanting to let go of his own flesh and blood.  When it comes to those difficult problems in marriage, most husbands are not going to listen to their wife, but they are going to go with what they want to do – right or wrong.  Sarah had a lot more faith than I did to go along with Abraham’s half-truth and so did Rebecca.  Abigail did not go along with her husband, because he was risking the whole household safety. 

Moreover, in the area of teaching, I am not allowing a woman to instigate conflict toward a man. Instead, she is to remain calm. 1 Timothy 2:12

I find at those difficult conflicts at home that if your husband will submit himself to a pastor, that is the best.  I was at an impasse with my husband and he finally would go to counseling after several months of our disagreeing on letting his adult son live in our house with a drug problem, he promised a temporary arrangement that turned into a two-year nightmare.  He was willing to finally submit himself to our pastor’s advice and move him out.  It’s important for men to have accountability to other spiritual men.  I have a friend who told me her pastor wants to meet her next potential husband so she does not pick another rotten apple.  Most of my accountability partners beside my husband have been Christian married women.

Several times in the Bible it talks about Mary pondered things in her heart, and I find when I ponder things in my heart (questions) I have about life or the scriptures, eventually they come back, and I find the solution to the problem.  It’s similar to what my former Cobol professor said that if you have a difficult computer coding question go sleep on it, and when he was shaving his beard in the morning, the answer would be there.  Well, I don’t have a beard to shave, but most of my inspiration of scripture comes when I wake up in the morning.

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. Luke 2:19

Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. Luke 2:51

A number of dreams I’ve had that I sought the interpretation to since I’ve had many prophetic dreams of warnings.  I even had a dream about my husband’s pending heart attack, I just did not understand the dream at the time.  Daniel talked about this and Joseph disturbed his brothers and his father when he told them his dream about them bowing down to him.

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Genesis 37:10-11

This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself." Daniel 7:28

It’s the same experience I’ve had with computer programming problems is that usually when my subconscious goes to sleep it works on the solution and the answer to a Bible scripture or a problem comes many times in the morning.  We only use a very small percentage of our brain power so there is a part of our brain we can tap into and that it why I like to listen to the word of God as I fall asleep.  I know some people listen to the news and that seems extremely negative to fall asleep to.  Joyce Meyer said the same thing that she makes sure her mind and thoughts are on God in the morning, because it can affect the attitude of our whole day.