DAILY BREAD OF LIFE

(KJV.)  ACTS 8:18-22

(18)  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given he offered them money.
(19)  Saying,  Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
(20)  But Peter said unto him,  Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
(21)  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
(22)  Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, it perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.


THE HEART ISSUE

Brethren, at times, we seek the face of the Lord with lengthy prayers; however, Jesus said not pray like we have no faith; for, he knows our heart desires before we pray them; but, there are several reasons why our prayers are not answered speedily, one of those reasons may be because there are unresolved issues in our hearts; and if our hearts are still in darkness the Lord cannot not hear our prayers without repentance, forgiveness and redemption from darkness into the light; therefore, when we approach the throne of grace to seek goodness and mercies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, let us approach him with pureness and humbleness of hearts to receive gifts of grace freely and life everlasting.

Case in point, in the above text, Simon the Sorcerer, means Simon the wizard or warlock; who had bewitched people with negative powers and they believed in him as a great man of God, when he saw the disciples baptizing people, he also went to get baptized; but he had a wrong motive behind his baptism, he thought by his baptism alone, (i)  he will be able to receive more powers from the Holy Ghost to continue to do the same or even much more miracles than what the disciples were doing at the time; evil motive of envy and jealousy; let us rebuke those infiltration spirits;  (ii)  he offered the disciples money and said, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost: evil thought of greediness and fame; let us resist all temptations of fleshly desires.


WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT:

Points to ponder, however, Peter said unto him, (a)  Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money;  Simon the Sorcerer was envious of the disciples for the resurrection powers of the Holy Spirit was in action, doing miracles through them, and have thought that his fame as a Sorcerer was going down the drain and if he could also do the same miracles, then he will be able to maintain his status but Peter rebuked him that he had no business with whatever was going on, for he thought he could buy the gift of God with money; today what favors are we trying to seek among men but are not seeking the face of Jesus Christ for them?  (b)  Peter said unto him, Thou hast no portion in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God; whaoo! the heart issue, today, let us double check our hearts to see if there are things in them that may hinder us from receiving blessings from the Lord;  (c)  if we possess any ungodly behaviors, let us repent of all our wrong doings and purge our hearts from all filthiness of the flesh and ask the resurrection powers of the Holy Spirit to take control and reign supreme in our hearts so we may be able to receive gifts from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Fruits of thought, we learn in today's text that gifts of God can not be purchased with money or with schemes or self efforts; therefore, let us always seek the Lord in spirits to know his ways and to follow after our own callings and gifts of the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit; for we can not all be Evangelists, Prophets or miracle workers but we all have gifts hidden in our spirits that are yet to be discovered, so let us pray, read the scriptures daily and ask the Lord to manifest those gifts in our lives forevermore.


CONCLUSION:

Brethren, there are so many seers and sorcerers among this perverse generation, as believers, if we need to hear the voice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior on issues of our lives, let us seek his face with prayers and supplications; he will surely answer our prayers; if we should hear his voice from his chosen people, let us be careful whose voices we listen to, for there are sorcerers all over planet earth who use demonic spirits to imitate powers of the Holy Spirits; therefore, let us be careful and seek our help from resurrection powers of the Holy Spirits, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior for he has answers to life issues; not only that, but he also forgives sins and grants life everlasting.
Amen and Amen!


QUOTE OF THE DAY:

(KJV.)  I Samuel 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel,  Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.






,