Dear
Friends,
I pray
you have had a good start to your week!
I wanted to write some things that
have been a burden on my heart this week. Please bear with me as I share.
The first is the
title of this message. For many folks Halloween is something fun to dress up
for, esp. with the little people in your life. For some
of us this event has deeper spiritual ramifications because we have learned what
is behind the traditions, what
it really means
to
those
who do not believe that Jesus is God, but that their god is Satan. He is spoken
of in Scripture as being
'the god of this world' that has blinded
folks who do not know Jesus to the Truth (2 Cor. 4:4).
I'm going
to give you a little challenge. Go to Wikipedia.com
and type 'Halloween.' A cursory read esp.
from sections 2.1 to 4,
will give the history
behind Halloween, certain 'traditions' (pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns). It is eye opening
and I
pray you will take it
seriously and see if from a spiritual standpoint. Ask yourself the question: Am
I a
spreading spiritual 'light' or darkness by advocating, following these
'traditions.' What Would Jesus Do?"
As
Christians we are to be 'salt and light' in this world (Matt. 5:13-16). Just
as salt adds flavor to food and light is supposed to bring brightness to
darkness, so we are
Christians are supposed to add a good 'flavor' to this world and shine for Jesus
in our lives, not add to the spiritual darkness. We are called to be
an "example
of the believers,...in conversation (lifestyle)." 1 Tim. 4:12
I am very
grateful that my parents choose to stop celebrating Halloween in our home when I
was born. They had trusted the Lord Jesus to save them shortly before my
birth and then
when I was little, they found a pamphlet at church that explained the deeper
meaning behind this night. They later read the book "Live Free" by Tom C.
McKenney and it opened their spiritual eyes to the deeper meaning behind this scary
night. The Lord used it in a powerful way in our lives and I have felt very
compelled to share this spiritual light with you through this devot.
Secondly, I would love to ask each of you to join with me in praying once a
day for our persecuted brothers and sisters in the world. I was thinking today
of the girls who are still being held captive in Nigeria; the ladies/children
who have been taken by force by ISIS in Iraq; RUN Ministry (a ministry helping
on the ground in Iraq) workers who have been murdered by ISIS and are in desperate need of prayer at this time; the refugees who
RUN is been taking in and taking care; a Christian mom, Asia Bibli, in Pakistan who is due to hang
for her faith (Her story is along the lines of Miriam). There is a petition on
aclj.org calling for her release that will only take a minute to sign. It's on
the left side of the screen, scroll down a bit. Please sign!
Our prayers can change things. James 5:16 says that 'the effectual ('able
to produce a desired effect'-meriam-mebster.com), fervent prayer of a
righteous man availeth much."
Pray you have a blessed week and please consider all has been given this
week. The Lord burdened my heart to share, so please take it as a message from
Him:)
Scripture Link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+3%3A17-21&version=KJV
(An invite to walk in spiritual light)
Devot. http://www.icr.org/article/devil-halloween/
