I overheard Nathaniel saying Mr and Mrs Ananais are dead. What a loss! He wasn’t sure when they got married but he’s quite aware they joined the church a while back. How? Peter knew his name and spoke to him in familiar terms even though the church capacity was more than 5000 in the previous chapters in recent years.
These couple had a power of agreement, imagined if they had used it for the right things. They would have had better result in prayer, because God honours agreement.
The death of these duos still amazes me. In the midst of the miraculous going on in the early church, a sudden death was recorded. Satan was at the door, but Ananais was not conscious enough. Just the way Cain was warned that sin was at his door but paid no attention to it.
Acts 5:3: And Peter said, Ananias, why has SATAN FILLED YOUR HEART to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself.
The death could have been avoided if Ananais had rejected the thought Satan introduced into his heart. Satan did not fill his heart in a day, he started with a thought. Someone once said your life moves in the direction of your most predominant thoughts.
Some thoughts are not primarily yours, they were introduced by the enemy, once you accept it, and it is rooted in your heart, it’s game over. The greatest battles that we fight are not physical, they are strongholds in our minds.
Acts 5:4: while it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? WHY HAVE YOU CONCEIVED THIS THING IN YOUR HEART? You have not lied to men but to God.
Here was Ananias on his bed, thinking about the property to sell, the logistics involved, who to meet and who would be willing to buy at a higher price. Suddenly, devil introduced this strange thought, ‘why not do it this way? ‘No one has to know, it’s your property by the way….you have every right to whatever comes from it, the church is rich enough, they get offerings everyday….., no one would know, there is too much to share in church already’ the apostles are probably using bulk of the money and building schools with it……These were suggestions devil gave him and he conceived the thought. Conception takes time, birthing only takes minutes. Devil introduced a thought to him and he processed it over time till SATAN FILLED HIS HEART.
Once you give the devil an opportunity to take a step in your life, he would walk a mile, that’s why 1 Pete 5:9 says to resist him steadfastly.
This year, keep the word in your heart and keep your heart with all diligence. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly and bring into captivity, in obedience to Christ, every thought that exalt itself above the knowledge of God’s Word. Resist the devil steadfastly, don’t wait another minute.
Have a beautiful year with thoughts yielded to God and heart conditioned for Christ. Philippians 4:8.