32The group of followers all felt the same way about everything. None of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared everything they had with each other. 33In a powerful way the apostles told everyone that the Lord Jesus was now alive. God greatly blessed his followers, 34and no one went in need of anything. Everyone who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money 35to the apostles. Then they would give the money to anyone who needed it. 36-37Joseph was one of the followers who had sold a piece of property and brought the money to the apostles. He was a Levite from Cyprus, and the apostles called him Barnabas, which means "one who encourages others."
I doubt this is prescriptive, but I do think it is indicative of how Spirit filled Christians operate. God is not telling us, corporately, to divest ourselves of all our possessions. He is telling us here that possessions seem to be less important for people who are filled with the Spirit.
If I could speculate as to how this happens I’d say Spirit-filled Christians have more of a heart for others than they do for themselves. So, when they see a need the tendency is to say “I’ve got some stuff I don’t need…I can help”. I don’t even think God inclines all of us to do it all the time (although He might). I’m tempted to think God inclines enough people to do it often enough to take care of the needs.
This would seem to be a good indicator for us. How much control does the Holy Spirit have? The answer might be in how much stuff we have. The answer would, at least, be found in how tightly we hang on to our stuff.
A wealthy man was once quoted as saying “if you know how much money you have, it means too much to you”. We could probably say the same thing about stuff. If tomorrow the Holy Spirit said “give it away” could we? If not, it means too much…which means the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean enough.
Live boldly out there today…
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