What were the wise men doing when they sought to find the Lord Jesus Christ after His birth?
They were celebrating Who He was, that is God and what He came to do, that was to die for the sins of the world, they were not throwing a celebration party that He was born.
Nowhere in the Word of God do we see the birth of Christ being celebrated after that first encounter with the wise men. The wise men came sometime after Christ’s birth, when He would have been about two years old. In the years following, there were no indications that anyone celebrated each year, the day of Christ’s birth.
The gifts that the wise men brought were gold, frankinsence and myrr. The Gold was for the care of the King throughout His life and the spices were for anointing His body after His death on the cross.
The wise men came because they knew the scriptures that said Christ would come to die a cruel death for the sins of mankind. They were focused on His right to Kingship and His purpose in coming.
The concoction of the modern “Christmas” was a distraction from the mission of Christ in our midst. It was brought by ungodly men in the Catholic church as a means of inculcating into the “mass”, pagan practices to entice the people away from the real purpose of the first coming of Christ, that was to shed every drop of blood in payment for the sins of mankind. Only the death of the Perfect Lamb could solve the problem of sin.
By the way, it is not known by most non-Catholics that the “sacrifice of the mass”, the Catholic service every week is a demonstration of the re-sacrificing Christ in every service. This is an abomination to God, that His sacrifice, that was once done on the cross is re-done every week, since the Catholic church does not believe once was enough and that the priests must do it over and over again.
Those who thought they were being very clever in getting the people distracted from the purpose of Christ, by adding pagan rituals to the Christian faith, served only to pervert the mission and purpose of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Once a pagan ritual has been “Christianized” it is nearly impossible to convince the people that it is not of God.
And here we are centuries later, deeply rooted in a tradition that was not only not given by God in His word but even condemned by Him. Yet the Christians hold onto this ritual as though it were gospel truth, lying against the word of God, saying God loves it when in fact He hates it.
Every command of God has been ignored by Christians today, excuses made to justify their sins against God while calling them good.
God hates divorce and the people of God are claiming He allows it for particular sins. This is a lie against His word, as well as the Easter celebration, the Halloween celebration and much more that purports to honor Him but in fact dishonors Him.
Not very many people realize that Christmas was banned by the Pilgrims in the beginning of this country because it was pagan and because it was a riotous drunken holiday, very much like today. Only one thing is different for believers these days, there is not drunkenness on wine during this time, but there is drunkenness in addiction to tradition that does not honor God the way He wishes to be honored.
Christ gave us only one celebration, it was a command from Him and remains a command today, that is the Lord’s supper, the very tradition ordained of God is the one ignored by most Christians today. Few participate in this celebration, while most indulge in the Christ-mas as presented by the Catholic church.
Let me explain “brain washing”, it goes like this, whenever we are deeply invested in something that has is not truth, but are so compelled to practice it that we cannot think of doing anything else without a grave sense of doom if we do not, then we can count ourselves as “brain washed.”
No one can give me even one Scripture that shows that the birth of Christ was celebrated throughout his life, every year with parties and gifts. This tradition came out of the Catholic church in Germany, where the pagan Christmas tree was brought into the house, re-purposed, in a manner of speaking, from the pagan worship of the trees to become a symbol of the cross of Christ. I can’t think of anything so silly, as to equate the cross of Christ with a fir tree decorated with colorful balls and lights.
We did these things in our own home, early on I was convinced something was wrong but could not put my finger on it. My husband was not saved and we were still Catholic, so I indulged the household, all the while feeling something deeply amiss. After awhile I made rules that no pictures of "santa" would be allowed, but that we could do the other things. They household accepted this, but I remained tormented that something was not right about all that went on in this holiday.
When someone loves to engage in pagan rituals but their Christian faith cannot reconcile it, they pretend it is Christian by assigning the pagan symbols with Christianity, making themselves feel justified to indulge in that which normally would be anathema.
Jeremiah 10:1-5 “10 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.2 Thus says the LORD,
“Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3 For the customs of the peoples are [a]delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4 “They decorate it with silver and with gold;
They fasten it with nails and with hammers
So that it will not totter.
5 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”
When we add paganism to Christianity we do only one thing, that is to pervert the ways of God in order to enjoy that which is displeasing to Him, even worse than that an abomination.
Easter is another Catholic holiday just like Christmas, it was given to include the pagan practices in Christianity, to entice the pagans to join the church.
The devil’s lie that we can incorporate evil practices as long as we add some Christianity to it, is probably the most clever and addicting lie Satan could have encouraged.
Once a people is used to the comfort and pleasure of a familiar lie, it is nearly impossible to convince them of the truth.
Let’s be honest, believers who cannot let go of the pagan holidays that have Christ tacked onto the end of them, really cannot let go of the happy feelings those holidays brought, the enjoyment of family, the gifts the revelry associated with them, is addicting.
The day I asked God to show me only truth and to open my eyes to anything I was doing that did not please Him, was the day my eyes were widely and deeply opened to all these things. I no longer had a desire for that which dishonors God.
There are many godly people who are born again, who remain entrenched in these holidays, absolutely unconvinced of their pagan origins. They cannot let go of the things that made them so happy and comfortable down through the years. Those things that gave them comfort and joy are deeply imbedded into their inner heart, so much so that they actually believe these holidays must be of God because they have added Christ to them.
Has anyone noticed that those holidays that God never gave us, are the ones that have gone crazy with indulgence by the unsaved world. Yes, the unsaved world loves them, practices the paganism as though it cannot avoid it, controlled by the addiction of these times.
Their false god, Santa, is mentioned continually throughout the season while Christ is not. The children look to this false god to give them all the material pleasures they want, while there is no love for Christ. The pagan tree is placed in the house to gaze upon, while the Bible is completely neglected.
At Easter the children are looking to the “Easter egg” hunts that are a symbol of fertility, given by the fertility goddess “Estes”, another name for Easter.
The one holiday that seems to be a no brainer for most believers is Halloween, that one they seem to understand, the others are harder and more insidious and covert. When something is covert, it looks very much like truth but in fact is a lie.
The unsaved community and most Christians, completely ignore the Lord’s supper, that is the one God gave and is pleased with, it is the only one that has not been perverted because it was not given by man, but by God. Notice too that the unsaved world has no interest in it as they do the other holidays that were given by man.
There was a day in my youthful ignorance that I once said, “we must keep Christ in Christmas”, but as the Lord opened my eyes that phrase was changed, it now says, “we must get Christ out of Christmas”, it was never His and continues to be an abomination to Him.
God said this in another time and place but it still applies in principle to us today:
Amos 5:20-22 “…20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? 21 "I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.…”
Do not take the Scriptures lightly, search them diligently to find out what is pleasing to the Lord and do that, obey His specific commands while rejecting all that man has offered as a replacement. If you do this, you will not miss those beggarly holidays that only serve to titillate the senses, they will be nothing anymore.
I must warn though, that if you have been led by God to remove all that dishonors Him, you will be rejected by your friends and family for following your heart that leads to God. Even if you never speak to them about it, they will be offended that you do not participate.
Your relatives will hate you for giving up Christmas when they were more comfortable with you when you came to the Christmas gathering with your shack up honey. They didn't mind the sin in your life as long as you indulged in their holidays.
Superficial Christians often neglect the important matters in favor of the superficial appearance oriented, pleasurable goings on.
Sin is not very important to those who love holidays, but the holidays are to fight for, getting the picture now?
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