2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m led to continue discussing the temptations that Satan puts in our paths, all the while knowing that truth matters to God so very much. If there is one message that I hope has come out of the last few messages I’ve written. It is that through Christ, God has given us the power we need to reject Satan’s temptations. However, I feel it’s important to talk about how to respond to some of the specific ones mentioned in yesterday’s message. These are horoscopes, listening to astrologers, celebrating Halloween, having one’s palm read, psychic phone lines, attending New Age church services, and the like. From the time of the Tower of Babel in GN 11, Satan has devised organized methods for spreading evil. Our God-assigned task is to have the discernment to recognize them for what they are, avoid them, and help others to see why they should avoid them too.
Kay Arthur in her book about spiritual warfare gives us a list of steps we should take if we are involved in any way with astrology. 1) Get rid of any written material on this subject. Do not pass it on, but destroy it or trash it, so it can’t be passed on. 2) Send God some “knee-mail” by confessing your sin to Him. 3) Offer thanks to God for the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. 1 JN 1: 9, “But if we confess our sins to God, He will keep His promise and do what is right: He will forgive us our sins and purify us from our wrongdoing.” 4) Refuse any work or influence the enemy may have gained in your life. These are sensible steps to take; ones that will put us right back in line with the Lord’s will. We must remember that God has made His will concerning trying to contact any other gods or spirits other than Him right from the beginning [EX 20: 5; EX 22: 20; 1 SAM 28: 3-19; 1 SAM 31: 1-4; 1 K 11: 1-4, 39; 1 K 18 [Elijah and the prophets of Baal]; EZK 8: 7-18 [Idolatry in Jerusalem just before the first dyaspora]; AC 19: 11-20 [The sons of Sceva]. This may seem like a long list of citations to investigate, but it’s well worth our time. No only will we see that the message of God’s will is consistent, but it will be seen that it spans most of mankind’s history and still applies today and in the future.
The subject of celebrating Halloween is controversial. I’m well aware of that. However, let me take the opportunity to express what I understand about it. Like most of Satan’s other temptations, it is presented in what appears to be a very innocuous form: children having fun. I’m not a killjoy, and don’t want to take away a holiday for children to enjoy. However, it is my personal belief that this October holiday should be a Fall festival without all the mean-spirited inclusion of what is scary and connected in any way to the occult. Games like bobbing of apples and the like should not be excluded. Nor should costumes. Visits to people’s houses without any attempt to do harm or annoy are perfectly okay, as long as small children are accompanied by responsible adults. Making these visits to collect for UNICEF or some other worthy organization is fine. What I believe needs to be eliminated are teenagers with harm on their agendas making these visits, opportunities for evil people to hide sharp instruments or drugs in the goodies passed out, and all references to witchcraft, occult, astrology, or anything that is designed to frighten innocent people, harm them, or do property damage. When I have expressed my views to others, I have sometimes been accused taking myself too seriously or wanting to rob the fun out of the celebration. But, we must look at what we are celebrating and see how it aligns or doesn’t align with God’s teaching. Ouija boards, Dungeons and Dragons, and other such games should be eliminated. I realize not all of you will agree with me, but please put God’s will first, as I am trying to do in deciding how you feel about this.
Consider these citations. 1 JN 4: 4, “But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world.” REV 12: 11, “Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die.” You’ll remember what follows this citation is the one in which we are told that the enemy is angry, because he knows he has only a little time left to do his dirty work. There are two more steps to take, ones that shouldn’t be forgotten. 5) Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. Remember JN 15: 7, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish and you shall have it.” 6) Spend time praising the Father. PS 22: 22-25, “I will tell my people what You have done; I will praise You in their assembly: ‘Praise Him, you servants of the Lord! Honor Him, you descendants of Jacob! Worship Him, you people of Israel [that includes any believer because of RO 11: 16-24]! He does not neglect the poor or ignore their suffering; He does not turn away from them, but answers when they call for help.’ In the full assembly I will praise You for what You have done; in the presence of those who worship You I will offer the sacrifices I promised.” These, Dear Ones, are sensible and spiritually responsible steps to take when Satan has tried to pull you into his evil.
PRAYER: O Lord, through the Spirit You lead me to cite 2 TIM 3: 16-17 as a reminder of just how important Your word is in helping us to deal with the challenges to our faith-even the very subtle ones. “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.” You know that Satan can be very crafty and that even seemingly intelligent people can find themselves lured into sin. For that reason, You command us to spend time studying Your word and to have an active two-way prayer life with You. We stand before You today in utter gratitude for Your sensitivity to our problems, willingness to give us a way out of slavery to sin by the sacrifice of Your Son, for Your daily guidance in helping us to make wise decisions, and for Your patience and compassion. David wrote the content of our hearts today. PS 5: 1, “O Lord, hear me praying; listen to my plea, O God my King, for I will never pray to anyone but You.” Praying to You helps us to make wise decisions. PS 119: 10, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments.” You have answered this plea through the Psalmist in PS 32: 8, “I will instruct Thee and teach Thee in the way which Thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye.” Just as You stand there in the gap for us, we pledge to do the same; to offer You our lives as a “living sacrifice of service, pleasing and acceptable to You [RO 12: 2]. You have promised to make Your will known to us, so that we can obey it. Thus, we dedicate ourselves to trusting, obeying, offering You honor and glory, adoration, worship, thanks, and praise You. These things we pray in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
As painful as it is to discuss the kinds of evil in today’s society, it must be done. I am led to take up this subject in tomorrow’s message upon a backdrop of what God has to say about it in the Scriptures. No one likes to think about evil, but its existence on earth is a fact. By taking us on the path in this series of messages that He is, God continues to supply us with great and effective “combat intelligence” and to show us just how we are armed for victory in Christ. The more He informs us, the better we are equipped to handle whatever Satan sends our way. Our Abba demonstrates the enormity of His love for us every time we read a citation that offers us comfort and encouragement. Christ suffered on earth so that He would truly understand the suffering that is behind our prayers sent to Him in heaven. That’s not all. He and the Holy Spirit take our prayers to the Father and plead in our behalf [RO 8: 26-27; HE 4: 15 & 7: 25]. Peter and I send our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn