30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
01 Acts 06 01-07 THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL AS THE CHURCH LEARNS TO SERVE 02 Acts 06 01 Anything in us that is displeasing God
📖 Acts 06:01-07
02 – 13Jul2023 – *Anything in us that is displeasing God* - _Acts 06:01-07_ - THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL AS THE CHURCH LEARNS TO SERVE - Bible reading: _Psalms 139:23-24_
“Lord Jesus, please alert me if there is anything in me that is displeasing to You. I seek to be pleasing to You always. In Your name, we pray. Amen.”
_Acts 6:1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution._
We saw yesterday that the early church did not brush aside a crisis that was beginning to surface. They dealt with the matter immediately. They could have easily been caught up with the growth that was taking place in the church. The number of disciples was multiplying. They could have decided that this matter about the Hellenist widows was not such an urgent issue to be addressed immediately.
Friends, do we see parallels in our situations today in our personal lives, families, organisations and churches? Aren’t we often so caught up with our growth, with our numbers, with our activities and programmes that we have failed to notice those seemingly little issues that are showing up? We ignore these issues, and we tell ourselves that since the ministry is growing, there is no need to be troubled with this matter.
We must see ourselves, our families, organisations and churches from God’s perspective. We ought not to get carried away by the reactions and responses of people. *It is what causes pain to the heart of God that must make us stop and allow God to heal us in that area.*
_Isaiah 1:16-18 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; *Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil*, (17) Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, *Plead for the widow*. (18) "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool._
When we neglect to deal with the things that are displeasing to God then our sin remains before the eyes of the Lord, however big our ministry may be in the eyes of the world.
This is what the Lord told the prophet Ezekiel to speak and warn the people of Israel. _Ezekiel 22:7 In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; *in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.*
As we go through this entire passage, we will see the things that cause pain to the heart of God, which we today are unashamedly committing. We then expect God to bless us and our ministries. Whereas, we ought to be listening to the voice of God, for He is continuously speaking and telling us that there are several things in our lives which are displeasing before Him.
As we listen to God and are open to His correction of us, we will see several areas where we are offending God. We will acknowledge our sin, repent, seek His forgiveness and then, importantly, we will surrender to His Holy Spirit to lead us to be victorious and pleasing to God in those specific areas where we had earlier failed God.
We have been saying that judgment will begin with the household of God. God seeks that His people will be a pleasant offering before Him. Consider friends, what God will judge amongst His own people.
_Malachi 3:5 And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against *those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien—Because they do not fear Me*," Says the LORD of hosts._
Those who exploit widows and aliens are considered along with adulterers and sorcerers before God. Let us keep in mind that the Hellenistic Jews were treated as second-class by the Hebraic Jews.
James tells us what is pure religion. _James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: *to visit orphans and widows in their trouble*, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world._
As we understand the concerns of God’s heart, it enables us to understand why the early church leaders took immediate cognisance of this matter of the unfair treatment of the Hellenists widows and addressed the matter.
I pray that this will be an important object lesson for His church. May we ask His Holy Spirit to keep us sensitive to any issue in us and among us that is not pleasing to God.
_Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; (24) And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting._
```The Lord will surely alert us of anything in us that displeases Him.```