Protection Out of Obedience

“By this time, the whole church – and, in fact, everyone who heard of these things – had a healthy respect for God. They knew God was not to be trifled with.” (Acts 5:11, MSG)

When you pause and take a few moments to recall the power of God and “review His magnificence,” there is no single thing on this earth or in your life that could ever outshine or outweigh Him. But the keyword here is PAUSE. Without pausing, moments fly by all too fast… and the risk of this is that the almost-too-often quiet/subtle voice of the Lord can become seemingly silent in a sea of distractions and other voices!

Remember what Romans 10:17 says – “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word…” (NIV). Sure, this particular verse may be talking about one’s Salvation, yet allow it to be in reference even to one’s continued spiritual development through His words: Your Bible!

In Acts 4, we continue witnessing the Holy Spirit fire move mightily in our brothers Peter and John. It’s encouraging to see that despite extremely strong opposition from religious leaders, Peter’s rock-solid faith in the One who had “become the cornerstone” (4:8-12) provides a sort of ‘built-in protection’ — that is, no one is able to harm, hurt or punish him or John. And it goes without saying, their efforts [not “of self” but, rather, “for God”] don’t go unnoticed by the Lord! Instead, their obedience is honored and rewarded: “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31, NIV).

We even witness the highly esteemed Pharisee councilman Gamaliel warn his people in Acts 5 that — in my extremely paraphrased words — it would be unwise to go against or speak wrongly about the apostles (meditate on verses 17-42), seeing as they are very clearly “in the flow of God”. He explicitly urges: “HANDS OFF THESE MEN! Let them alone. If [their work] is merely human, it will fall apart… but *if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it* — and you better not be found fighting against God!” (Acts 5:38-9, MSG). Now, flip it… what aspects in your own life are you fighting against God?

Finally, as you answer the question I just asked, also think about areas in your life that are not “in the flow of God” — sexually, mentally, professionally, financially, physically, etc. Live your life LED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT, lest you receive the same fate as Ananias and his lady Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. What did Peter ask Ananias again? I’ll tell you — something that should send chills down your spine! “Ananias, why did you LET Satan fill your heart [deceiving yourself and thus making you] think you could lie to the Holy Spirit?! You only pretended…” (Acts 5:3a, TPT). Brothers/Sisters, keep guarding your heart! And fix your eyes and ears on Christ alone! Let only God’s Truth come forth from your mouth! Amen.  

– Contributed by Bro James Agtuca