TODAY’S WORD FOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 11, 2015.
HONEST
HONEST
Having a sense of honor; upright; sincere; truthful; genuine; not deceptive or fraudulent; having integrity
Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. Acts 5:4.
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight. Proverbs 12:22.
In the book of Acts (above) God gives us a sobering example of how He views dishonesty. God was moving in the hearts of many of the members of the church. Together some believers agreed to sell their land and give all of the profits to the church to meet the needs of the poor. Both Ananias and Sapphira also sold their land and were expecting commendation for their generous giving to the church. But the couple kept some of the money while dishonestly declaring that they had given the whole amount to the church.
The apostle Peter knew what they had done and asked Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” Peter went on to rebuke them by saying that they had not lied to men but to God. We need to note that God responded not because they did not give all the profits to the church but because they were dishonest in saying they gave all to the church. God’s judgement was immediate and they fell down dead.
One of the Ten Commandments simply and clearly says that we are not to bear false witness (lie). There are no degrees of honesty You are either an honest person or a dishonest person.
An understanding of honesty begins when we recognize that God, who is our ultimate example, is truth and that He cannot lie. God hates falsehoods and makes it clear in the scriptures that Satan is the originator of all lies. Peter knew immediately that the source of Ananias’s and Sapphire’s lie was Satan.
In Proverbs 13:5 we read that a righteous man hates lying. In 1 Corinthians 13:6 we read that love rejoices in truth. God expects people who trust the Word of God should be people whose word can be trusted.
A life of dishonesty and deceit leads to disaster and takes us out of God’s will for our life. We put great emphasis on teaching our children to always be honest and never to lie. The punishment for lying was always more for lying about something than their act of wrongdoing.
Our memory verse for this week is found in I Thessalonians 5:17.
Pray continually.
Help me and my family to be honest and true in all of our activities both in word and deed. Give us the courage to do what is right and always tell the truth so that we can bring to the world we live in a glimpse of Your light and glory.
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