June Daily Bible Reading

Blessings to you as you open the Word of God and open your heart to what you read! As we step into the messages of some of the prophets, let’s get a bird’s-eye view of what we will read in Joel, Amos, Zechariah and Malachi:

After much patience with the people of various nations, including His own, the Lord is warning through the prophets that He can no longer tolerate their very wicked behaviors. So, He describes intense consequences to their lifestyles because He will no longer hold back their enemies and He can no longer continue to bless their lives and lands. That’s the bad news. But there is always an opportunity for repentance and a promise of restoration in the end! That’s the good news. In fact, we know that THE good news came when Jesus died and rose again so that all can be saved! Also, we will read about some events that take place in later times all the way to the very end of days.

And now a quick note on Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira – This is the husband and wife team that decided to give money to the church but lied about how much they sold their land for so they could keep back part of the profit. Ananias came first with the money but died on the spot when Peter confronted him about lying to the Holy Spirit – He told Ananias Satan had filled their hearts and they could have just kept the land or been honest about the price. Sapphira came later (probably looking for Ananias), lied, and also died. This passage is challenging because we are reading in the New Testament after the cross, i.e., during the time of grace.

It appears they literally died of shock when they saw that Peter knew by the Holy Spirit what they had done – elsewhere in the book of Acts we see that a sorcerer who was trying to turn someone away from believing went blind for a season. (The Holy Spirit was moving so mightily and the presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong that when Satan in a person confronted the Holy Spirit in a person, it didn’t always go so well.) This incident was a one-time event in the early church days but it’s always a good idea to be honest in the presence of God, just to be on the safe side. That’s really all He asks! He is a God of mercy and grace.

June Daily Bible Reading