The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Speaking the Truth to Each Other, and Especially to God!

14 Sep 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   14 September 2026   Acts 5:11.

Acts 5:11.         And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard it.

Now this Monday begins a full five-day work and school week; no holidays to ease the pain. (smile) And though it’s a somewhat cool and cloudy day, we’ll be thankful for it anyway. Today, we’ll look at a very interesting story back in the early days of the church re distribution of possessions. The Holy Spirit was working constantly and filling the hearts of many believers, so that the church was growing by leaps and bounds. And the writer of Acts describes the situation thus: ‘And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought (any) of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.’ (Acts 4:32)

Well that would be a very good position for the church to be in today, but unfortunately that wouldn’t work in today’s atmosphere of disunity and division. The writer of Acts continues: ‘And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices (proceeds) of the things that were sold. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.’ (Acts 4:33-35)

Yes friends, the church was small enough at the time for them to have a kind of communal establishment, though totally on a voluntary basis, where everything was put into one pot and then shared as needed. And it seemed to be running quite smoothly until a couple of incidents happened. The Bible tells us: ‘But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back a part of the price (proceeds), his wife also being privy to (aware of) it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.’ (Acts 5: 1-2)

Ah mih people, there we have the beginning of dishonesty and dissension in the church. ‘But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power (control)? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost (breathed his last): and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound (wrapped) him up, and carried him out, and buried him.’ (Acts 5:3-6)

Yuh see mih bredrin, what can happen when you don’t tell the truth, especially to God. And the sad part is that Ananias was in no way contracted to give them all the money, or any money at all, because the whole thing was voluntary; you gave what you wanted to give. And as the scholars say: ‘Ananias’s sin was not that of keeping back part of what he sold, but his hypocrisy about it.’

But the story doesn’t end there. The Bible continues: ‘And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which had buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.’ (Acts 5:7-10)

Oh friends, yuh see what can happen when we lie and deceive. It’s like the saying from the 1808 epic poem Marmion by Scottish author and poet Sir Walter Scott (Canto 6, Stanza 17). “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” It just leads from one lie or deception to another and thus complicates the situation till it’s nigh impossible to unravel or escape the consequences like Ananias and Sapphira.  And look at what happened to the church after that. The Bible says: ‘And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard it.’ (Acts 5:11)

Now that was indeed a sad situation which should never have happened, but that’s what happens when we allow Satan to twist our thinking. And sadly, that kind of situation is endemic, like a disease in today’s world, for almost everything is fraught with lies, fraud and deception. Our world is so corrupted and filled with greed, that those are now the norms rather than the exceptions. That means we must be exceptionally careful in all our dealings, even with our fellow believers. And though that’s not a nice thing to contemplate, it’s the truth, so as they say, better to be safe than sorry.

And to help with all our problems, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, seeking divine aid in these deceitful and treacherous times. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together.

We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour!

We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!

And having received that divine aid, let’s go out and do as we promised; make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks! Much LOVE!

…deception will keep you entangled in bondage…but the truth shall set you free…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien 

Nothing causes the Quick Downfall of a Society, like a Culture of Ungodliness and Deceitfulness!

11 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Acts 5:11.        And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

And it’s a perfect lazy-day Saturday friends! A dry day, with bright sunshine reflecting off of new snow. What could be more beautiful? Excellent staying home and being lazy weather too. However, if you must go out, please remember that though the snow looks beautiful, it can be very treacherous once you get involved in it. Just like a … I was about to use a comparative example, but took it back, because our women readers would definitely not be pleased with it. (smile) 

Anyway, let’s get down to business, and offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity and truth. As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And as always, if our prayer was sincere and heartfelt, we can soon feel the Lord’s calming presence flowing in and through us to manifest the peace that He’s so faithfully promised. And talking about promises, I want to revisit our Bit from yesterday where Cousin Sol, as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes warned us about making insincere promises both to God and man. ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl. 5:4-5) 

And that’s the gospel truth friends! It’s so much better if we don’t make promises, than make them and break them. And it’s something that our fraudulent and scheming world ought to pay attention to. However, that would not serve their deceitful and cunning purposes. But for us who believe, there’s a story in the bible that proves just how frightful and deadly broken promises and lies can be. It was in the early days of the church when the believers were living communally, and some were selling their valuables and contributing to the upkeep of the community. 

The Bible, the  Book of Acts, recounts it thus: ‘But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to (aware of) it, and brought a certain part of it, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.’ (Acts 5:1-2) They behaved like, or implied that what they’d given was the full price of the land. But little did they know that the Holy Spirit was working. 

And the Bible continues: ‘But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power (control)? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto the Holy Ghost.’ (Acts 5:3-4) In other words, Peter was saying, it was your money, and it wasn’t stipulated that you give all of it, you could have given how much ever you wanted. You didn’t have to lie. 

Oh friends, yuh see, when we lie unto men, we are also lying unto God, for He sees, knows and controls all from His high heaven. And if you don’t believe me, then listen to the remainder of this story. ‘And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost (breathed his last): and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound (wrapped) him up, and carried him out, and buried him.’ (Acts 5:5-6) 

Ah mih people, our omnipotent God can certainly move in mysterious and mighty ways! I hope that will be a lesson to many of us who have become caught up in the lying and deceitful ways of this evil and ungodly world. But the best part of the story is yet to come. The Bible says: ‘And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 

Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt (test) the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway (instantly) at his feet, and yielded up the ghost (breathed her last): and the young men came in, and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.’ (Acts 5:7-11) 

Now that’s what we’d call poetic justice! Oh, how I wish many more of us would suffer that kind of fate when we do the evil deeds we do, so that it could be a lesson to others. It brings to mind this quote from Marmion, a play by Sir Walter Scott, written in 1808, which says: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive” It’s often used to describe the negative consequences of lying and how it affects people’s lives. 

And this commentary further explains: ‘The quote’s meaning is that when someone acts dishonestly, they start a chain reaction of problems that can eventually get out of control. The “tangled web” metaphor compares the act of lying to a spider spinning its web. If the web gets tangled, the points don’t line up properly, and the web becomes a mess.’ 

And so does our lying and deceitfulness! Remember, our actions don’t only affect us, but also many of the people around us. So please allow the story of Ananias and Sapphira to wake us up to the reality of what our ungodliness and evil behaviour can do to those around us. Much LOVE!

…a culture of lies and broken promises…will eventually cause the downfall of a society…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien