When You Know Better, You Do the Same Things

I remember the time that I threw a party to celebrate God coming through for me with an apartment and a job. I was so excited about this party because a few of my friends were coming from out of town and I had invited a pretty large group of friends that were already in the city. Preparations were in full swing when I realized that we didn't have enough alcohol. I was just about ready to panic, but one of my friends went out and picked up extra bottles of vodka so that we would not run out.

The party went over without a hitch. We ate, drank, and were very merry. This party would have just been a part of a memory if it had not been for what happened after. The next day I invited a few of the party goers to church. The response that I received was the same. "Why would I go to church with you when the church folks were the drunkest ones at the party?"

I attempted to persuade them, but each person shut me down with the same response. At first I was angry. How dare they just decide they will not go to church with me because people were drinking. Who exactly did they think they were? I was so indignant that I began to talk about how they were going straight to hell for turning down an invitation to fellowship with God. I didn't have my epiphany moment until months later.

I was the one in the wrong. I was the one who told all my friends that I had given my life to God. I was the one who threw a party under the guise of it being for God when in all actuality it was about me and my friends hanging out and getting drunk. I was the one who dressed up like a Christian, talked liked a Christian, and lived the same life I'd been living before. I was the one who knew better but still continued to do the same thing.

Owning the fact that I was to blame meant I had to also own that I had not actually given anything to God. I had a religious experience, but I had done nothing to foster a real relationship. You see a real relationship with God will cause you to want to keep company that looks, talks, and acts like Him. But first, I had to learn how to be the company that I was seeking.

Proverbs 13:20 NIV

Walk with the wise and become wise,

    for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Adayinthelife:-)

Where Does God Fit Into Halloween?

3 John 1:11 NIV

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

We see in 3 John 1:11 we are instructed to not imitate what is evil, but instead to imitate what is good. Imitate means to follow as a model. So do not follow or model evil. This is a simple enough directive because as children we are taught the difference between good and evil.

In my house, witches, ghosts, goblins, vampires and mummies were evil. We knew that these things were all a part of a culture that we could not participate in. That is until Halloween rolled around. I never thought anything about the mixed message and my mentioning it now is not a slight to my parents. This is about making sure that what we stand for as Christians and what we teach children lines up always with the word of God.

We look first at witches. A witch is a woman claiming or believed to have magical powers and practice sorcery. A witch is also a believer or follower of Wicca.

Where does God fit into dressing in the costume of a witch? The bible says in

Exodus 20:3 KJV

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

A Christian who is a true believer and follower of God cannot imitate or model themselves after someone who believes and follows a religion built on the practice of magic and sorcery. Doing so places your allegiance and that of the child you have dressed as a witch with one who is not the one true God.

This leads me to ghosts and mummies. I will address them together because they are both symbols of the dead. Ghost is defined as the spirit of a dead person, especially one believed to appear in bodily likeness to living persons or to haunt former habitats. A secondary definition for ghost is a demon or spirit. A mummy is the dead body of a human or animal that has been embalmed and prepared for burial.

Why would a Christian imitate a ghost or a mummy for Halloween? We are to be imitators of Christ Jesus who came that we might have life. Christians are to be filled with the spirit of the Lord almighty. His spirit will cause you to want to look, think, and act like Him. His spirit will lead you to worship and praise not creating scary noises and frightening images. Where does God fit into celebrating Halloween?

I follow ghosts and mummies with vampires and werewolves, who because of movies like Twilight, are more popular than ever. A vampire is a corpse supposed, in European folklore, to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth.

A secondary definition is a small bat that feeds on the blood of mammals or birds

Imitating a vampire blatantly disrespects Jesus. A key aspect of the Christian faith is Jesus's death and resurrection. We remember that He is the sacrifice for our sins. His blood was shed that we might live and have the opportunity to be reunited with God. So how can we profess to live and believe that and dress up like a vampire? How can we spend time and energy making sure our fake blood is carefully applied when we are to daily remember Jesus's blood sacrifice? Where does God fit into celebrating Halloween?

I know that there are parents who would not dress their child as one of these things. I know also that there are adults that would not dress this way either. But, I say to you no costume that you can buy, borrow or make will line up with the word of the Lord. There is only one way to dress up and please God. 

If we look to Ephesians 6:13-17 NIV

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

This is the the only way a Christian should dress up. Now I know that Halloween not just costumes. So for your dessert, I'll give you just a taste about pumpkins and candy.

As for pumpkins, use them as God intended. To eat. Scripture tells us in

Exodus 20:4 KJV

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

Carving pumpkins to celebrate Halloween goes against this commandment. Why would God tell us not to do something, but okay it for Halloween? 

Finally, I know that we think we have to give candy. We say I hear you on the costumes, I'm going to bake a pie with that pumpkin, but certainly there is no harm in giving the children a little something sweet to eat. I wholeheartedly agree, but let me tell you the best kind of sweet treat.

Psalm 19:9-10 NIV reads in part

The decrees (or words) of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

So sisters and brothers this Halloween freely give the word of the Lord. It is the sweetest treat you can eat.

Adayinthelife:-)

Coming Out of the Dark

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 NIV

Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”    And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

I had this great concept for my post today but then I got sidetracked because someone unfriended me on Facebook. I will admit to spending about 20 minutes trying to figure out who it was. Who decided to unfriend me on Facebook????

Well, I couldn't figure it out so I'm forced to explain why it's so important in the first place. I was unfriended right after I posted about Halloween. Math is not my subject, but l can put 2 and 2 together. The person found my post offensive. It was so divisive that I receive the dreaded unfriend. Guess what? I'm okay with that.

You see the bible tells me to come out from among them and be separate. It tells me to not be yoked with unbelievers so if my posting what thus saith the Lord means we cannot be friends. Okay.

Halloween has become sacred. It is the treasured holiday of both saint and sinner. So beloved is Halloween that Christians search high and low for creative ways to participate without looking like they believe in Halloween. The common phrase is "we're having a fall festival" or " we're just having some neighborhood kids come to a party at the house". Come out from among them says the Lord our God.

He tells us in 1 Peter 2:9 NIV

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

A chosen people does not look for ways to fit in with the world. A holy nation has to stand out. Happy Halloween is not declaring the praises of God and He is the light.

I wasted enough of my days in darkness. I cannot pretend that Halloween lines up with living a life for God. I cannot pretend celebrating it does not distinguish my light.

I urge you Christians, atheists, sinners, saints to stop disconnecting from the Truth and get connected with the Light.

Adayinthelife :-)

Love Is Still Missing

People hang on to relationships that are not meant to be out of greed. Greed is an intense and selfish desire for something. The woman who spends time with a man that she does not want is greedy. The man who refuses to let go of his ex is the same. Each will say I love too much to leave. Remaining in a relationship that God did not ordain is not out of love. It is indicative of  what happens in the cycle of greed.

One bad relationship leads you to believe that you will never have a successful one. You find yourself wondering why am I with this person or we just can't seem to get along. The fighting and arguing begins to take a toll. You know without a doubt this is not the person that God has chosen to be your spouse. So you decide to breakup. But, instead of letting go and allowing yourself to heal, you hold on tighter. You continue to call even though you know the relationship is not going anywhere. You go to dinner, stop by the house, and eventually you're back having sex. All the while, you are dating someone else. You may be hopeful or even a little invested in the relationship, but still you hang on to your ex. The fear of never having someone to love you consumes you until you begin to think that "having" two people in your life means that you are in fact loved.

You find ways to split your time with one and then the other. All the while you brag to your friends about how they are both so into you and you have them exactly where you want them. Truth is you are so empty. There is a gaping whole where you pretend all of their love resides. You do your best to fill it with more dates, more phone calls, more sex. But nothing seems to work. No amount of things can make up for the love that you truly yearn for. When its all said and done love is still missing, but greed never left.

Adayinthelife:-)

The Spirit is Willing, But the Flesh is Weak...

King David allowed his flesh to pull him into an adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Their affair is one that is often referenced because of the great lengths he went to to ensure that his flesh was satisfied. He slept with her with no regard for her position as wife to Uriah. He slept with her with no regard to his commitment to God. 

David's sexual sin was no different from yours or mine. Sex with Bathsheba was what he wanted. And thus, it is what he did. But he didn't stop there. He went beyond the fulfillment of a one night stand. He went beyond the scope of a summer affair. David satisfied his flesh when he slept with her, but he satisfied his God when he made her his wife.

The bible states in 1 Corinthians 7:9 NIV

But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Now many will ask are you suggesting that everyone who sleeps together should get married? In short, yes. This is because the bible tells us that sex should precede marriage. The bible also tells us that for every temptation there is a way out. If we are provided with an alternative and we reject it, should we not be responsible for doing what is right? Right in the time of Jacob was that if you slept with her, she was then your wife. Right in the time of David meant that if you slept with her, she became your wife the queen.

Right in 2013 seems to mean if you sleep with her, it's then on to the next. Or if you sleep with her, ask God for forgiveness, and sleep with her again.

Jesus said

Matthew 24:35 NIV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Is not the bible the word of  God? One of the most quoted passages in scripture states that he who finds a wife finds a good thing and finds favor with God. As Christians, if we choose to submit our flesh to sexual temptation, shouldn't we also choose to follow the word of God?

Hebrews 13:4 NIV

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Adayinthelife:-)

In The Day That You Seek Him

Have you ever found yourself sitting on the sidelines of life? Maybe you were the star football player who was benched after losing favor with the head coach. Or the straight A student who couldn't earn a good grade with the new teacher. Perhaps you were the president of the company who was ousted in a corporate takeover. In my case, I was the one who was so depressed that I forgot how to function.

I dropped out of college despite being on scholarship. I quit my job. I did nothing except sit around day in and day out waiting for something to happen.
In many ways, I was like the man who sat for years by the pool at Bethesda. The bible says in   John 5:2-7 NIV

Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”    “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

This man sat year after year for 38 years knowing that if he could make it into the pool his life would change.

I did the same thing. I knew that if I would move that my life would change. I knew that if I picked myself up and asked God for help that He would hear me. But, I didn't. I didn't because every time I thought about where I was in life I allowed what everyone else was doing to hold me back. They graduated first so I might as well sit here. Sit and wait for someone to trouble the waters.

Well I thank God for releasing me from that. I thank God that He allowed me to see that if I took one step toward Him, He would take an even bigger one towards me. His word tells us that when we seek Him, He will be found. My advice to you is to get up and start looking for Jesus. That's the only way to find your help.

Adayinthelife:-)