The Hallow in Halloween

The ‘Hallow’ in Halloween

“I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.”   Ezekiel 20:19-20

The word Hallow means to “make or set apart as holy” and to respect or honor greatly; revere.  Jesus himself told the disciples an example of prayer is what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” and he used these words; “hallowed be thy name.”  It is obvious that the word ‘Hallow’ is directly linked to God [our Father which is in heaven].  How did this word change to Halloween and the way it is celebrated today?

Originally this celebration was an unholy ritual used by the Roman’s and the Celtic Druids [you can look this up anywhere on the internet]. During the Middle Ages (about 600 years ago), the Roman Catholic Church at that time, decided to make the change-over from pagan religion to Christianity a bit easier, and therefore they allowed the new converts to maintain some of their pagan feasts. It was agreed, however, that from now on they would be celebrated as "Christian" feasts. So instead of praying to their heathen gods, they would now pray to, and remember the deaths of saints. For this reason the church decided to call November 1 the "Day of All Saints”.  The mass was to be celebrated on that day as "All Hallows Mass." In consequence of this, the evening prior to this day was named, "All Hallows ", which subsequently was abbreviated as "Halloween." In spite of this effort to make October 31 a "holy evening," all the old customs continued to be practiced, and made this evening anything BUT a holy evening!

As we know, Halloween is definitely not celebrated as a Holy Day or Eve.  It tends to be directed toward things of evil which are against Christian beliefs, because of the comparison of a Hallowed God, the Father and the Hallow of evil practices by the cults.  It also brings the danger of young people dabbling in things of evil spirits.

Is there anything wrong in our children dressing up in costumes and going out to gather up candy?  Probably not in itself, because most of these children are not thinking they are doing anything evil; they are just having fun.  Knowing the history of Halloween, it is up to parents to decipher the pros and cons for their children.  The Bible says we should train up our children in the ways of the Lord. If you feel this does not oppose the Word of God, you will probably let your children ‘Trick or Treat’.  However, as time goes on God is being taking out of most holidays, including Christmas.

However we can see how this worldly approach turns Holy things of God into Evil things. We have alternatives to Halloween such as Harvest Parties, Family Get-togethers or School activities.  Kids can dress up like cartoon characters, Bible characters or animals, but dressing up like something dead or evil should not be something you should select for your children.   Some of these things must be so offensive to our heavenly Father, like pregnant angels, or pregnant nuns; cute little devils or ghosts.  How about zombies?  They might sound funny to some, but are against the Word of God. Should we as Christians even consider Halloween, or try to make other things to take its place?  Why would we want to appease our children by doing the same thing the world does, only in different way? Don’t forget who you are dealing with, Satan himself, and he is not without power.  Maybe you should read your Bible.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27]  People are not going to wander around half dead and half alive. The Devil isn’t cute!  God’s heavenly creation – angels, are not going to be pregnant for they are neither male nor female.  Let’s be real; there is nothing funny about evil! 

Shall we continue to enjoy what seems to be harmless activities?  When are YOU going to make a stand for God, Our heavenly father?

A word of advice, when you are out trick or treating on Halloween and you get a creepy feeling that someone or something may be watching you, or following you, you are probably right.  Just remember these spirits are not from God, so where do you think they come from? They are not 'hallowed', so they must be 'hollow', which means ‘empty’.

Read what Jesus tells us in Luke 8:26-36.  We’ve made movies about demons; we’ve made jokes about demons; we’ve called our children ‘imps’ which are demons.  We love being scared by demons on Halloween and so Satan has won another round be making people not believe demons are real.  If you like being scared, then believe what the Bible says; Demons are real!  Satan is real!

God's Phone Number

God’s Phone Number

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

Why is it that we think we can take care of everything by our self?  Don’t you realize that God is closer than the nearest phone?  When you call his number the answer is right there, “I am here and there is so much I want to show you; things that you don’t know anything about.”  There is nothing that he can’t help you with; you don’t have to face things alone.

Years ago when I first began ministering, it was so exciting that I didn’t even realize that I put my plans in motion and then told God what I was going to do.  One day I prayed and asked God if he would tell me what was in the future for my ministry.  I called on God and he answered me, but he didn’t show me great and mighty things. His answer to me was, “If I told you what was to come, you would get in my way”!

That taught me a great lesson; don’t get ahead of God.  This is a struggle for me because I am of a strong nature and I love planning and advancing quickly with my ideas.  Then I am reminded to not leave God out of the equation.

In Old Testament days, if people still weren’t sure what they should do they would send out a fleece. Example was Gideon in Judges 6:36 when he lay the fleece of a lamb or goat on the ground and asked God that when morning had come that the ground would be dry but the fleece would be wet.  Then he would know that he was doing what God wanted him to do.  The fleece was all wet in the morning, but still Gideon was not sure so he tested God again. Again God gave Gideon the sign to go ahead with what God wanted him to do.

In the New Testament God gave his people instruction on matters of decision. 2 Corinthian 13:1 says it like this, "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established."  I found this to be true many years ago.  When we were first saved, my husband and I decided to study the Bible, we found in Malachi that we should be tithing.  Neither one of us knew anything about tithing 10% of our income to the church. We weren’t quite convinced that we should tithe because we had a really tight budget and I mean tight.

The next day I received a Christian magazine in the mail and it had a big article about tithing.  I went to work that morning and when I turned on the car radio, a man was talking about blessings of tithing.  That evening we were at the dinner table, and the TV was on in the living room which we could see from where we sat.  Would you believe a man was speaking on tithing?  All three of these encounters in one day spoke about Malachi 3:8-10 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

From that day on, so many years ago, we have not missed a tithe and God has blessed us in so many ways.  I would not dream of ‘not tithing’, even if we could not be in church, we made it up the following week.  I have heard many say, “We just can’t afford to tithe.  I look at it this way, I can’t afford to not tithe!  We called on God and he answered us.  We must accept his answer.  It’s always the best thing to do. 

Most of us make big decisions as we travel though life.  Don’t move on these things before calling on God.  He has the best answer.  We are in the process of wanting to move and we need to sell our house before we buy another one.  We have had two witnesses that I believe are from God and I’m waiting on the third one.  I have asked God about it and if he says ‘no’ that will be it, but if there is a third witness we will know to go ahead with the plans.

God loves us so much he wants the very best for our lives, in fact in  3 John 1:2 he gives us this message “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55:6

Searching for Peace Within

Searching for Peace Within

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”   John 14:27

In these troubled times, some people find it hard to find peace.  I think of this past week and the terrible wild fires burning block after block of homes.  Who can even imagine the fear; the grief and the loss of those in the midst of such destruction?  There are still so many not accounted for.

We have had so many catastrophic events to happen here in the last few months, many have asked if we are entering into the “End of Days”.  There is the threat of North Korea and the repercussion of Iran’s deal with former president Obama.  These are not times of peace in our country, let alone the world.  These things affect some more than others.

As for myself, I believe that ‘God is God’ and he can handle it far better than I can.  I can still close my eyes at night and have a good night’s sleep.  “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.”            [Psalm 33:5] I look at it this way, “He who keeps you will not slumber.” [Psalm121:3]  So if God doesn’t sleep, why should I stay awake worrying about things I can’t do anything about?

Going back to the scripture for today, Jesus really stressed the point of peace.  He says that he has given us a spiritual peace unlike anything the world can offer us. He even goes further by saying, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  Peace and fear do not mix; you can’t have both at the same time.  Let’s begin with the word, ‘fear’.

This is a very familiar word to me.  I spent the first 40 years of my life living in fear; fear of everything. I was afraid to live and afraid to die.  In earlier years I had tried to commit suicide three different times and when I look back now, I am amazed at how the Lord saved me from dying and in wonder of how I could have ever done such a thing. At the very lowest point in my life, I had an experience with Jesus Christ and asked him to come into my heart (mind) and promised to serve him the rest of my life and I try to do that every day.

I began to read the Bible and study it, and there was a scripture that stood out to me, “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4.  Notice that it says, “I sought the Lord” and he did hear me and took away those fears. Praise God!  Yes, there are times when I worry about a loved one or grieve over something, but I know for a certainty that God can handle it and prayer sustains me. From this comes peace of mind.

Now comes the word, “Peace”. The world will never be at peace so don’t expect that to happen.  We should pray for peace for certain things.  Pray for peace for our country and God tells us we should “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.” [Psalm 122:6] Think about this, way back in the time of King David, God says we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem because it is the apple of God’s eye.  If you ever think of all the countries who hate Jerusalem and want to destroy it, this is why.  They are ruled by Satan and want to destroy anything that God loves.

The word, “Hate” should not be in a Christian’s vocabulary.  We are called by God to love others and so we should.  When I write about other religions; that is what I’m writing about; not hating these people, but who they serve and the evil things they do.  Yet, the world calls us “Haters”; that is so wrong.  I pray that every single person would come to know Jesus as their Savior; Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist’s and all those who don’t know God.

When I write about life styles, I’m not hating the people who choose to live those ways. I love them and it grieves me beyond what you can imagine to know they are not living for Christ, because according to God’s Word, they are not going to heaven. I have found that most people living a different life style do not have peace in their life.

Friends, there is an old song that I try to follow and it explains the stand I make as a Christian.  It explains how I can find peace in times of anxiety and distress.  You may be in a storm or some crisis; you may be afraid for yourself or someone you love, but it cannot erase the peace of God unless you allow it to.  If you make a decision to follow Jesus, you will find peace that has eluded you in the past.  I promise you will never regret turning your life over to Him.

I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow                                                                                               No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.

     Though none go with me, still I will follow;
     Though none go with me, still I will follow;
     Though none go with me, still I will follow;
     No turning back, no turning back.

A Time of Distress

A Time of Distress

“But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.”  Psalm 18:6 (NLT)

I really didn’t want to write about Las Vegas, but because it is so fresh I feel I should.  In May of this year, I wrote a Blog about “Suddenly”.  When I saw what happened in Las Vegas, my mind immediately went to that word, “Suddenly”.  This killing spree was so sudden; fun and music one minute, to terror and death the next.

A massacre, as they called it, is nothing new.  It happened many times down through the ages and there seemed to be no way it could have been prevented.  In the olden times they didn’t have television, radio, computers or Facebook to spread the news around.  I dare say that today everyone has heard about it around the world.  Then the critics began their tirade about whose fault it is along with the madman who did the shooting.

First critic I heard was that our guns had not been confiscated here in America.  They complain that if we didn’t have guns this wouldn’t have happened.  My answer to that is, if the average American didn’t have guns, there are millions out there on the black market, and if you wanted someone dead, you would find a way to do it. 

The second thing was, there was not enough security at the hotels.  My thoughts on this is as big as these hotels are, they are not going to frisk everyone who wants a room.  Hotels are not like airports with all their security systems.  No one is going to go through all your luggage or shopping bags each time guests are going in and out.  This is not a police state.

Now for the big one; why didn’t God stop it from happening?  Our God is a big God and he can do anything He wants.  However, we live in an evil world and evil things happen to the rich and the poor; the old and the young, the leaders and the followers.  God created the world to be wonderful place and then He put people in it. Because of their disobedience, it became evil. We are not puppets who do only what our master tells us, but God also gave us a mind so we could choose what we wanted to do.

We live in perilous times. We are threatened all around us and within us. Our country has been blessed by God, but we have turned away from Him.  Most Christians are aware we are living in the “latter” days. The years of freedom in America has gone from good to bad so quickly. I know I have said this before, but what was once good and righteous is now evil and fanatical. Christians are now “Haters” because they want people to follow God and they don’t accept the evil of the world.

God has a plan for every person’s life, but that doesn’t mean we choose to follow it.  Prisons are full because of bad choices.  We don’t have to follow His choice or plans if we don’t want to although God’s ways are the best.  It was not Gods plan for this madman to go into a hotel and start killing all these helpless people. Where do you think this man is today?  There are only two places to go when you die; Heaven or Hell.

Any one of us can die ‘suddenly’.  Are you ready?

A Time of Deception

A Time of Deception

“Take Heed that no one Deceives You”    Matthew 24:4

There has been no greater time of deception in this world than right now!  Lying goes hand and hand with Deception.   Our government holds the largest number of liars of any other organization. They even lie to cover up the lie that they told in the first place.  Who can you really trust?  It surely isn’t our government leaders.

The only one we can trust is God Almighty!  He does not lie, he never deceives and He is truth.  In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  This is where you go for Truth and Life.  There is no deception in God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. So how do we get answers for our lives?  Open the Bible which is the Word of God and pray that the Holy Spirit will give you the answer.  I promise you that He will if you are open to it.

This world has always been drawn into deception by Satan.  He wants nothing more than for you to believe the lies that are constantly being thrown your way.  Pray for your children in college; Satan has sent his demons in to many of the staff members, including the teachers, to proclaim lies about history, Christian leaders and sin that is against the Word of God. These young minds have set out to learn about the world and the times we live in.  Colleges are set on teaching a lie about sin being right and good being wrong.

No one is perfect and that’s the truth, but true Christians are not ‘haters’, they just believe the truth in the Bible.  The days of slavery were gone a long time ago, but the troublemakers are bringing it back to the forefront again and to make everything seem racial.  Speaking for myself, I was raised in a small town where we were all neighbors and cared for each other.  I have always respected people for who they are and not what they look like and raised my children the same way.  I have never believed in slavery and understood the horror of it, but I didn’t feel guilty about what other people did years ago.

We have had black and white families in our church and never think about a racial divide.  We are like brothers and sisters.  Many of us are good friends are good friends and never have anything to do with this controversial stuff.  We are Americans who should all be working together to improve our country. All these protests never seem to lead to anything good, but generally turn ugly and people end up getting hurt. 

The point of all this is, if we can’t stand together for our country, how can we possibly look past the deception and go on to the reality of what is happening?  North Korea is looking for a battle with the U.S.  All this other stuff is minor if N. Korea sets off a nuclear weapon. Don’t people realize that once a nuclear bomb hits here or anyplace else, there will be retaliation?  Then who is going to worry about who is right and who is wrong? 

Look at the news coverage on Puerto Rico with no houses standing and no water or electricity.  If you don’t think it can never happen here, you are living in a dream world.  Just like Jesus said in Matthew 24, there is a time coming when it will be ‘nation against nation’.  That time is here now.  What is happening now is just the beginning.

This is a warning of what is to come.  Young people, don’t buy into Satan’s pack of lies.  Believe in the Truth of God. People of this country, don’t listen to the deception of others, but Stand for the Truth!  You’ve heard the statement that ‘Life is what you make it’.  That’s a lie, because without God you’ll never make it at all.  Without God, you are headed to Hell.  You may be rich and successful and own a lot of things, but I have never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul.

Life isn’t what you make it, but it is, “Who you choose to live for.” There are only two choices; God or Satan.  If you haven’t made that choice yet, it is not too late. God loves you and won’t give up on you until your last breath.   Forget all the different agendas; look towards God and call out to Him.  Perhaps you think he has let you down, or that He didn’t answer your prayers.  God always answers us; it just may not be when you want it or the way you wanted it, but if you look back you’ll see that He was there all the time.

Do not let the enemy of your soul deceive you. God loves you just like you are and is waiting for you to call on His name.  Don’t give up on God and He won’t give up on you!