Monday 24 March 2008

The "Scariest" Bible story - My Opinion!

The story in the Bible that scares Me the most is found In Acts 5: 1-11 - The story of Ananias & Sapphira - take heed my friends. If you are not familiar with this story be sure to read verses 32-37 of chapter 4 to get some background.

They lied to God & the Holy Spirit! Whenever we lie to our fellow Christians, our brothers & sisters in Christ, God considers that serious. It is as if we had lied to the Holy Spirit and God directly. We must be honest with each other.

When Ananias lied he died instantly! When his wife was asked about the same situation - she lied to the church as well. Following her husbands lead as they planned and she also died. Look at verse 11, great fear came upon the church. Peter challenges Ananias - verse 3 - "'Why has Satan filled your heart ..." We have a tremendous responsibility as Christians not to let Satan get a foothold in our hearts.

I have heard my brothers & sisters in Christ say some cruel things to each other in the name of Christ. I have done the same. I offend the Holy Spirit when I do that. I have sought His forgiveness and made restitution when necessary. Gossip and rumors are in this same category. Do not offend the Holy Spirit - we are to be Christ like!

I love you all and know very few of you personally. But my prayer daily as I blog is that I show love and compassion to all as we share our Christian beliefs. Some do not share my beliefs but
yet we are friends and have love and compassion for each other. Thanks for your friendship and your comments. God Bless!

10 comments:

Tam said...

I've heard so often that "Christians shoot their wounded more than anyone". I don't really see it that way. I see us as fallible and faulty, full of flesh and as people who make mistakes and even hurt one another unintentionally. It just is broad casted more because as "Christians" we're not suppose to do wrong.

But we do. I, unintentionally hurt a sister in Christ this week. I can't go back and erase that. My heart, and I believe the hearts of all those who share here, are never to purposely hurt.

So let's pray for one another that we will always be on guard, being careful of our words and the intent of our hearts.

Papa, thanks for this. It really stirred my heart.

CrossView said...

Lying- and who is the father of all lies?
Greed- is it ours anyway?

I was raised in "churches". I have seen so much ugly done in the name of Christ. I tend to avoid professed Christians because they have been some of the meanest folks I've known. I'm not talking about human frailties. I'm talking about using God as a battering ram to make folks do things a certain way.

But I am thankful that it has strengthened my relationship with Christ!

But there are those lights that are out there. And ILP, you just shine! =D

Indian Lake Papa said...

Tam - I have hear that the Christian Army is the only army that shoots its own wounded. We really need each other and we need to really stay focused on him.

Crossview - mama is a real giver. At times I tend to hold on to my resources but mama reminds me we need to give back what already belongs to Christ.

Carol said...

You are right...that is a fearful story...perhaps one we read right over too glibbly not stopping to grasp the truth. Lying to anyone, slandering anyone, stealing from anyone, not paying tithe...all of those actions not only hurt the person, store, or church to whom the action was directed, but it is a direct slap to the face of God.

Annanias and Saphira tried to "look good" before others, but God saw right through them...as He does us. They paid the ultimate price for disrespecting God. We are no less accountable, and some day, if we don't make our restitutions, we also face death...eternal death (which is an oxymoron since one never really dies).

Wow...what a SS lesson, Bible lesson, conversation topic this Biblical truth promotes!! When you get back to campfire country, why don't you begin a discussion group around the fire pit that tackles these kind of topics? We need a little depth to our conversations beyond talking about the racoon that died when the lightening struck the tree across the street!

Indian Lake Papa said...

Carol - I'd rather talk about the racoon that died when lightening hit the tree! Thats not as scary! I do miss the campfires. I hope sometime that our blogging friends can experience the campfire scene someday with us.

Anonymous said...

Papa, you are right about hurting people with cruel words and byspreading lies. I have been guilty of that and it has always come back to haunt me. Trust is something that is so hard to win back.

I usually try to stop and think what my grandmother would say if she heard me.

If it can pass the grandmother test it is probably ok.

Indian Lake Papa said...

Ed, Trust can be lost so quickly - and never recovered at times.

Grandma may be listening! :o)

Robin said...

Yes, that is a scary story. After my company leaves I will share my thoughts.

Carol said...

I think something interesting is going on here... When you post, Papa, you normally get oodles of comments. I'm a little surprised at the few comments when it comes to Biblical truth. Hmmmmm......

Indian Lake Papa said...

CDC - It's the quality that counts! Not the quantity. I learn a lot from the comments. This post was not as provoking as some - like my latest!:o)