REALITY CHECK
The Fall Holy Days have passed.
How wonderful they were!
Now we all have come back home to the routines of our daily lives. Once again we are confronted with the fact that Christ has not yet returned to earth. The reality we face is that the millennial reign has not yet begun.
In the words of the Great Apostle Paul; we must keep running our race with patience and endurance.
Sadly; even with all the rehearsing we did at The Feast of Tabernacles celebrations, now we quickly grasp the reality that despite our hopes and dreams, Jesus has not yet established His millennial Kingdom on this earth. Acceptance seems to be in order. Humanity can be very imperfect. Often those around us can be insensitive toward what we perceive to be the heart of God.
It is a hard reality check every year.
God never said this was going to be easy. There could be a few hard times ahead, especially in the next few weeks.
THE MOST PAGAN TIME OF THE YEAR IS APROACHING
For many of us late September into early October can be the most wonderful and invigorating time of our year. Then comes the worldly traditions of late October, November and December. These time periods can bring some of the most pagan activities into the path of our daily lives.
We are constantly bombarded with worldly practices. They just seem to come out of the blue. Some are at home through media and friends and relatives who haven’t a clue about what God truly desires.
Others are at work through the day-to-day activities of the marketplace.
Some filter through our schools through a blend of cultures that have influenced our many and varried forms of community education.
These pagan concepts even come to us through the religious establishments of our own communities. They seem to have become a part of overall life-in-general.
Day-to-day in the fall and winter life moments are packed full of unmindful seasonal intrusions that sometimes disturb us. They cause us to pause and pray and seek God’s will and Word. We constantly have to overlook, overcome and walk away. How nice it would be to enjoy the beautiful season God created without those rude interruptions.
ALL THINGS OF GOD HAVE A COUNTERFEIT
Every year the pagan practices of our current culture become more and more open and accepted.
Why are we always surprised to find that every good thing of God has a counterfeit from God’s enemy named Satan. It was, and still is, his desire to become like God. He could never achieve that; so he fools only himself and a few others by imitating the ways of God in his own twisted versions of cultural significance.
In his feble attempt to be higher than God, Satan deceptively creates his own counterfeit holidays. The unknowing and unconcerned world often goes along with each new trick he pulls out of his hat.
Do you think I’m just being a bit overboard and a stick in the mud? Could I be making silly and unimportant things into monsters and demons? Am I over-reacting?
I DO hear your thoughts on the subject. They are loud and clear. I stop to consider your point and I certainly get the gest.
But…..
Well; could you stop complaining for a minute and start listening for just a bit?
Here is our chance to communicate as we continue to grow as Christians.
AN OPPORTUNITY AROUND EVERY CORNER
Let’s hold back our pointing fingers and pour out some kindness, grace and love to those who have no idea about how wonderful the world can be without a lot of evil and sensual indulgences that go frightfully into the themes of October – December activities.
I’ll be the first to admit that these themes are not at all godly. They are VERY worldly.
Yet; this is our golden opportunity to love our neighbors as ourselves.
A VISION OF JESUS AT WORK
Every year about this time I get a vision of Jesus walking through Jerusalem. In this vision He is stopping to talk with tax collectors, prostitutes and thieves.
He did not turn them away. As a matter of fact; He showed them unconditional love.
Can we do this too?
I wonder.
Can we love people in spite of their sinful natures?
Jesus did.
THE TRUE LOVE OF JESUS RUNS DEEP AND WIDE
Sometimes I think we are not capable of reaching and understanding the depths of this kind of love.
For one reason or another; there are people out there that God has not yet called into His Kingdom. He hasn’t YET convicted them of the things that many of us feel are pagan and ungodly. There is a day of salvation for everyone though. It is an appointed time. Still for many, it just hasn’t happened yet.
Have you forgotten that this state was once where you lived too?
Remember your old address and think about your neighbor still living there.
What drew you away from that place? Was it a sermon on how to do everything right? I doubt it. Most likely it was simply an act of love and kindness.
So where do you go with that?
A VISIT WITH THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTRY
When Jesus approached the woman caught in adultery (and paganism is a type of adultery to the things that are pleasing to God) He didn’t accuse.
He didn’t point a finger in her face and say “Woman! You deserve to be stoned!”
He bent down and wrote something in the sand.
What do you think he was writing?
Maybe he was listing the names of her well-known, respected and admired lovers. Wouldn’t the world around her be shocked to read that list? Do you think they were standing in the middle of the crowd pointing their finger at her?
Maybe he was writing the words of The Golden Rule – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Maybe Jesus was thinking of the fact that we are all the handiwork of our Creator, God. Perhaps He wrote “I knew you before you were born.”
Could Jesus have known the REAL intentions that God had purposed for this poor woman who had for a million reasons caused by the enemy lost her way to the pathway of truth?
What was He scribbling in the dirt?
IF YOU LOOK AWAY FROM YOUR NEIGHBOR’S SINS; YOU MIGHT SPY SOME OF YOUR OWN
All we can truly know is that Christ showed compassion and kindness to a woman who had been caught in “a particular” sin. In the end; aren’t we all that woman?
If we are truly following Christ; we must become like Him.
We must be kind and considerate and compassionate toward others around us who have not yet heard the same messages from God that we have.
WHAT WAS ON GOD’S MIND THE MOMENT HE CONVICTED YOU?
Do you ever think about what went through the mind of Jesus in the very moment that He came down and convicted your heart that sin was wrong?
Perhaps He was thinking; this one has never had the pleasure of placing the stars in the sky as I had with My Father. She has never watched as He formed another tiny little human being and sent them down to earth to live. He has never seen God make a mountain or create a waterfall.
Can you imagine the compassion that Christ must have felt for us simply because we as humans have not yet had the opportunity of being that intimate with God The Father?
The reality is He loved us so much that He died so that we could one day experience the things which He alone has shared with God.
Isn’t it amazing?
Shouldn’t we show the same compassion for others?
We must show mercy and not offense.
IT IS GOD’S PLACE TO JUDGE; NOT OURS
Who is the judge of the world after all?
Perhaps one day God will allow us to rule and reign with Him. He has promised that hasn’t he? However; we are not there yet.
First we must learn the art of being humble.
Christ had to do this; why should we be exempt from it? We are not yet appointed rulers over many. None of us have been given the right to judge others.
Truly it is God’s place and not our own.
LOVING THE SINNER ISN’T THE SAME AS ACCEPTING THEIR SIN
So; exactly what am I saying?
Am I saying that we should condone the things that happen at Halloween?
Definitely not!
Loving the sinner isn’t the same as accepting their sin.
We are not to join in with them in the things that God has convicted us against. At the same time, we are not to judge them. God is the judge of all.
It is our job to look into our own hearts and examine what God has taught us and move forward in that way that He has shown us.
It isn’t easy to keep this balance.
It is very, very hard as a matter of fact.
A HUGE BALANCING ACT
These simple facts of showing grace and not judging others is one of the biggest things God has taught me over the last twenty years of my life. I have come to terms with the fact that self-righteousness is a sin, just like any other sin.
Self-righteousness is as bad as murder.
It is as bad as pagan practices.
Self-righteousness is as bad as stealing.
It is as bad as adultery.
I think you get the point.
All of the commandments carry the same weight with God. A sin is a sin is a sin. They don’t get measured out in degrees of what is wrong.
If you point your finger at your neighbor doing what is wrong; you fall under the sin of self-righteousness. Now let me take this a step further and say also; it isn’t wrong to correct in love.
LOVING CORRECTION IS NEVER WRONG
If your neighbor comes to you asking your opinion; definitely be honest and express your belief to them. There is certainly nothing wrong with doing so. It is actually a good thing. You would be wrong not to do so.
Any neighbor who decides to approach you with such a question will probably be one who has seen the love and compassion you have for others.
SHOW COMPASSION TO ALL
If you have constantly criticized the actions of another though; don’t expect that person to come seeking your opinion. Don’t expect them to value your commitments.
Really?
Would I be so bold as to not say a word when someone unknowingly knocks on my door and demands “trick-r-treat?”
Yes I would be just that bold; and just that trusting of God.
This is one of those times for me to turn the other cheek and be kind to my neighbor.
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO TURN THE OTHER CHEEKT CHEEK
Why?
Don’t I believe that most of the things Halloween is centered around are wrong practices?
Yes; I do.
I’ll offer a further explanation of that in a later article in this series of articles about Halloween.
Right now I want to say something that is more important. I want to share the thought that I believe every single person has a soul. Souls are fragile. They can be damaged and harmed. Souls must be nurtured. We must be very careful when attending to other people’s souls.
EVERY SINGLE PERSON HAS A SOUL
What do you think matters to God more than anything else?
Souls.
Souls are ALL that matter to God.
If we are to work with God Our Father; we must value souls; for they are precious.
Many souls are out there seeking God; they just don’t realize it. They only know that something is missing. Hence they try to fill that empty place in their heart with some type of fake excitement; like a concert, or a poem, or a book, or even Halloween.
SOULS MATTER TO GOD
One day heaven will come to earth and Christ will reign. In that day every eye will see. Every heart will know.
Right now though; Heaven is still the unseen place where the throne of God exists outside of our time.
We humans have only experienced a part of Heaven, that of Emanuel; God with us.
One day God will bring this all together in an amazing new way. All the earth will be in total awe of the things He will explain to us.
My Dad used to say “you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.” In this moment of time and in this world that we live in; you just can’t find the totality of Heaven in any earthly place.
Generally, you can’t find such a Holy God existing in the midst of so many earthly activities. People are still seeking. So many people are searching for what it is that will make them complete.
LET HEAVEN SHINE OUT THROUGH YOU
If you look around with hope and faith, sometimes you CAN get a glimpse of heaven in someone else’s eyes.
Occasionally, you CAN find a moment of pause in all of the evil that exists.
A door or a window will begin to open up and let the light of Christ shine through. This CAN happen when the people of God move with Him within His work. There is a type of holy rhythm we must achieve. We have to learn how to approach things as Christ did.
God’s people must do God’s will while showing love and compassion for others. There must always be a loving balance in our relationships with others.
If I point my finger in the face of someone not doing God’s will and preach them a sermon about the evils of Halloween; they most likely will decide to roll my yard and leave laughing at me.
The people concerned will never return to my doorway.
They will never remember a kindness that I have done for them. Hence; they will not see God from looking into my eyes. Satan will confuse them by letting them think I hate them.
They will never know me as an ambassador of the love of Christ.
So what do I do?
MY ANSWER TO THE COMPLICATED WORLD WE LIVE IN
I smile; and drop one of my little candy packets containing scripture verses inside their bag.
They probably will never realize where that scripture came from; but I have a vision of them opening their candy bag later and yelling “Mom! Look at this secret mystery message I found in my candy!”
Then the Mom comes to read it. God does the rest. He works in the memory of the Mom’s mind.
Perhaps she will ponder the meaning of that Word from God.
He works in the memory of the child.
The child will be very curious about this mysterious message that somehow appeared inside his bag of candy. Why did it get there and what does it mean? Maybe they will begin to seek answers to the meaning of the scripture.
YOU MUST CHOOSE THE BEST ROUTE
Or maybe the Mom will wad up the paper verse and toss it in the trash. The person taking out the garbage will see it and curiously unfold it and read it.
Who knows?
All I know is if you pray about things first; God will do the rest.
Or you could take the alternative route that a lot of my friends take and turn out all of your lights. You can go hide out deep inside your basement. You CAN avoid the evil of the night that way too.
You choose.
GOD IS BIGGER THAN THE PAGAN ACTIVITIES
I know; I’m not supposed to support such pagan activities; but do you think this activity would really bother Jesus? He is the very one I got the example from in the first place. I think he called it “turn the other check.”
The idea is to counter the evil of the world with love and compassion and somehow manage to present the truth in the midst of the falsehoods.
How many stories in the bible prove that God loves great reversals?
What about Esther?
What about Joseph?
Perhaps a little kindness can reverse a little evil.
If you pray about it, and if you are serious enough, God will always show you how to do this.
How big is your God?
Halloween in general is an evil and pagan tradition; but how many evil and pagan practices of the past have been put to rest by a Christian showing kindness?
My Great God is certainly bigger than Halloween!
SOMETIMES STIFF-NECKED PEOPLE JUST CAN’T CHANGE THEIR WAYS
I think it was very telling when God referred to the children of Israel and their sin of the golden calf as being a “stiff-necked” people.
The implication is that they can’t change their ways. They are very stubborn. These people are totally unwilling to listen to reason, even if it is sound and solid reason. They will not hear the truth, even when the reason comes from The One and Only God of Heaven and Earth.
The world is very unreasonable when it comes to realizing the pagan possibilities of Halloween.
Also; Christians can be very unreasonable when it comes to the act of turning the other cheek.
We sometimes fail to let kindness rule over self-righteousness in our dealings with people who have not yet learned God’s ways.
Often we must examine our own selves and motives first. It is time to quit worrying about whether or not our neighbors have things right or wrong. Let God judge them. He is more qualified.
Our only job is to love them.
So many of us continue to live our lives just like those stiff-necked Israelites. We take the issue to two extremes; either we participate with the world, or we show a lack of compassion for those who are lost in the world.
PRAY FOR A SOFT-HEART
We can’t seem to manage to change our ways and become soft-hearted. Most of us just can’t be pliable and flexible to our situations and circumstances. It has to be our way or the highway!
With this lack of compassion, we can’t allow our God working inside us to become bigger than all the sin and idolatry that surrounds us. Our own ideas are all we want to accept or hear about. We can’t seem to find a way to work around the problem by creating some more imaginative solutions and simply trusting God to work in them.
No; instead we just have to stand on our bandbox and make our point!
Actually though; that is NOT what Jesus did with the woman at the well. He let her come to her own conclusions by the way He acted toward her. She saw Him and His love and responded to it.
PEOPLE WILL DRAW THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS BY THE WAY WE RESPOND TO WHAT THEY ARE DOING
I think there is so much value in approaching and trying to recognize the different levels of how people relate to God. On many years in the past I’ve chosen to take that “slightly different” approach with Halloween.
My aim not to promote the idea of Halloween; but to bring so much of God into the same place that the rest of it eventually dissipates and goes away on its own.
Like Joseph who dealt patiently with his brothers; I want to learn how to fight evil simply by doing good.
Sometimes that can become a very complicated and slippery slope.
SHOULD WE PARTICIPATE IN HALLOWEEN THEN?
Okay; so you get the “be kind to your neighbor” part of this article. However; am I for this slight participation in the practice of Halloween-in-general or not? That is what you really want to know; right?
The answer to that question involves a LONG detailed explanation. You can read it in a future article in this week’s series of articles about Halloween.
In the meantime I will simply say; I plan to show the love and compassion of Christ to each and everyone I meet; anytime; anywhere.
THE SILENT AND EFFECTIVE GOSPEL
Kindness and silence and giving is the way that the gospel gets passed on without saying a word.
Try it and see.
You may be surprised at the results.
Also you may quickly become excited about the things you might discover God doing in the process. This could involve things you have never noticed before.
PLEASE DON’T TAKE OFFENSE TO MY SUGGESTIONS
To my friends who have very bravely and courageously stepped out of the world, who only desire to live for God with all of their hearts; forgive me if I have offended you with ANY of the above comments.
I love each and every one of you. Also, I greatly admire your courage and boldness for Christ. I truly do love your zest for worship and order and your knowledge of what is right and wrong.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate such things and how right I think they are.
THE MAIN MESSAGE IS ALWAYS LOVE
In love; I simply say that we must have balance in the living of our lives in this world for the little time that it continues to last.
Christ WILL come when the time is right. He will set all things in order. In the meantime, we must not throw out the baby with the bath water. We must be ministering to those souls that are left stranded in the cesspool of evil.
As the Body of Christ, we must not allow the world to see us as over-critical fanatics. We must allow the love and compassion of Christ to take front and center in our dealings with people who do not think or act the same as we do.
In all things; love is the first and most important step toward better human relations. Without it we are nothing but a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. This is the way of Jesus. It is the highest commandment.
Let’s use every opportunity to join God in His work; and let’s approach others in the same kind way that He did.
After all; God is love
GOD IS LOVE
For the rest of the articles pondering the subject of Halloween; just click into these links: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/who-is-satan-part-two-of-the-haughting-subject-of-halloween-series-pieces-of-the-puzzle/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/out-of-egypt-part-three-of-the-haunting-subject-of-halloween-pieces-of-the-puzzle/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/whatever-things-are-lovely-part-four-the-haunting-subject-of-halloween-series-pieces-of-the-puzzle/
If you enjoy pondering the things that are Christian and the things that are NOT Christian, and you want to know the truth about such things; you would enjoy looking through our articles posted in the PIECES OF THE PUZZLE topics of this blog.
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