All this fun that we are teaching the children, is causing disrespect for Christ and disdain for the principles of hard work and diligence. Our enjoyment of life should come from our work and the little things during the times of rest.
There is little satisfying about play, God showed us in His Word that work is the only thing that satisfies.
Personally I find nothing more enjoyable than watching God's creation interacting with us and each other. Animal antics are God's movies for us.
Play can be and often is addictive, the more we do it the more we want and the less we enjoy it. I have known people who have lots of money are always playing and never seem to be content or satisfied.
Psalm 128:2 "When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you."
Proverbs 13:4 "The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied."
Proverbs 10:4 "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."
Ecc. 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going."
2 Chronicles 31:21 "And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered."
Proverbs 12:11 "Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense."
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Which god will Your Children Choose?
When the next holiday comes, it might be good for all believers to ask themselves, if they are doing what God told them to do, or are they following human tradition.
It doesn't matter to me whether it was Christ's birthday or not, what matters to me is that He never told us to celebrate His birth.
Everyone who lives outside the womb had a birth, but only One was crucified for the sins of others, died and rose from the dead, that was Christ Jesus.
God never told us to have a day set aside once a year for His resurrection either.
He instituted the Lord's Supper to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
We have no need of another holiday for His resurrection because His Lord's Supper was for that. Christ never gave us exact dates for when to celebrate His Supper, except to say, "whenever you meet together." No church today is obeying this, because they are not doing it every time they meet. Many churches are doing it once a month and even once a year, and it is left at an obscure time so that most do not show up for it.
Exact dates are not the issue in our celebrations, it is about the celebration itself. We must ask the question frequently when we are growing in the Lord..."Did Christ tell me to do that?"
I do not judge anyone who chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ or the resurrection on the traditional man made holidays, the people I know, think of Christ when they do. However if we are indulging in all the other trappings of the worldly part of these holidays, then perhaps we should examine our own hearts.
The Easter Bunny and Santa have no place in the lives of believers. Egg hunts and visiting Santa at the mall flies in the face of Christ. As believers we should leave these practices alone, leave them to the pagans who love to pretend things that are not true and even confuse children, leaving them feeling about Christ the way they feel about Santa.
When we teach children to love Santa, we are giving them a view of God that is monstrously incorrect. The whole idea of Santa stems from a good works standpoint.
Santa gives you good things if you are "good enough." Christ tells us that we cannot earn heaven by good works, we must place our trust in Him.
Santa tells the children if they don't rob, steal or cheat and do their home work they are worthy of gifts. Christ tells us to desire spiritual wealth and joy rather than happiness.
Everything about the doctrines of Santa, demeans the doctrines of Christ. The devil did a bang up job when he presented a false god for the children to love. AS the children grew up, they had a hard time giving up all their fluffy feelings about Santa and passed them on to their children. Now we have an entire culture, adults included who love to wish Santa were real, in other words.....a false god.
When we ponder and fondly look at a Santa, wishing he were real, talking about him, pretending he does things for us, we have a god in our hearts. Many parents don't realize that they are teaching their children during the week that we love our god Santa, and going to church on Sunday hearing that Jesus Christ is the only God.
Which god will a child choose when he sees that happy jolly fellow who gives them toys and candy, comparing him to the God who died for our sin, expects our trust in Him and commands holiness?
It doesn't matter to me whether it was Christ's birthday or not, what matters to me is that He never told us to celebrate His birth.
Everyone who lives outside the womb had a birth, but only One was crucified for the sins of others, died and rose from the dead, that was Christ Jesus.
God never told us to have a day set aside once a year for His resurrection either.
He instituted the Lord's Supper to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
We have no need of another holiday for His resurrection because His Lord's Supper was for that. Christ never gave us exact dates for when to celebrate His Supper, except to say, "whenever you meet together." No church today is obeying this, because they are not doing it every time they meet. Many churches are doing it once a month and even once a year, and it is left at an obscure time so that most do not show up for it.
Exact dates are not the issue in our celebrations, it is about the celebration itself. We must ask the question frequently when we are growing in the Lord..."Did Christ tell me to do that?"
I do not judge anyone who chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ or the resurrection on the traditional man made holidays, the people I know, think of Christ when they do. However if we are indulging in all the other trappings of the worldly part of these holidays, then perhaps we should examine our own hearts.
The Easter Bunny and Santa have no place in the lives of believers. Egg hunts and visiting Santa at the mall flies in the face of Christ. As believers we should leave these practices alone, leave them to the pagans who love to pretend things that are not true and even confuse children, leaving them feeling about Christ the way they feel about Santa.
When we teach children to love Santa, we are giving them a view of God that is monstrously incorrect. The whole idea of Santa stems from a good works standpoint.
Santa gives you good things if you are "good enough." Christ tells us that we cannot earn heaven by good works, we must place our trust in Him.
Santa tells the children if they don't rob, steal or cheat and do their home work they are worthy of gifts. Christ tells us to desire spiritual wealth and joy rather than happiness.
Everything about the doctrines of Santa, demeans the doctrines of Christ. The devil did a bang up job when he presented a false god for the children to love. AS the children grew up, they had a hard time giving up all their fluffy feelings about Santa and passed them on to their children. Now we have an entire culture, adults included who love to wish Santa were real, in other words.....a false god.
When we ponder and fondly look at a Santa, wishing he were real, talking about him, pretending he does things for us, we have a god in our hearts. Many parents don't realize that they are teaching their children during the week that we love our god Santa, and going to church on Sunday hearing that Jesus Christ is the only God.
Which god will a child choose when he sees that happy jolly fellow who gives them toys and candy, comparing him to the God who died for our sin, expects our trust in Him and commands holiness?
Evil Hinders Our Walk and Destroys Our Peace
I wonder how many people have had the inclings that I have had in the past few years?
In a comment a gentlemen stated that he had been in Starbucks and a sense of evil came over him, when he left the shop that feeling left. I can relate to this! Many times I could sense evil in my presence and when I left the situation, the evil feeling left me.
I believe the Holy Spirit gives us a sense of foreboding when we encounter evil. It may be evil spirits, which I believe have increased in their activity, or just the evil itself that leaves us feeling oppressed. Our sense is to flee, to get to a place of safety, such as our homes.
Romans 8:9 "9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
When a believer can remain in sinful and evil situations without discomfort, then it may be they were never born again. The Holy Spirit is very active in the lives of those who belong to Him.
Romans 8:9 "9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
John 14:17 "17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
The Holy Spirit speaks to us and we repeat to others what He says.
1 John 4:6 "6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
Matthew 10:20 "20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."
When the Holy Spirit speaks in promptings, we should listen to Him.
Ephesians 4:30 "30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
1 Peter 4:14 "14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.[a] On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."
We are not here to please people nor are we here to please ourselves, we are here to glorify God. If we are born again and love God, then we will love to please Him and hate evil as He does.
Romans 12:9 "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."
Do we love God? If we do, then we will hate evil, knowing it will hinder our walk and destroy our peace.
In a comment a gentlemen stated that he had been in Starbucks and a sense of evil came over him, when he left the shop that feeling left. I can relate to this! Many times I could sense evil in my presence and when I left the situation, the evil feeling left me.
I believe the Holy Spirit gives us a sense of foreboding when we encounter evil. It may be evil spirits, which I believe have increased in their activity, or just the evil itself that leaves us feeling oppressed. Our sense is to flee, to get to a place of safety, such as our homes.
Romans 8:9 "9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
When a believer can remain in sinful and evil situations without discomfort, then it may be they were never born again. The Holy Spirit is very active in the lives of those who belong to Him.
Romans 8:9 "9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
John 14:17 "17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you."
The Holy Spirit speaks to us and we repeat to others what He says.
1 John 4:6 "6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
Matthew 10:20 "20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."
When the Holy Spirit speaks in promptings, we should listen to Him.
Ephesians 4:30 "30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
1 Peter 4:14 "14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.[a] On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified."
We are not here to please people nor are we here to please ourselves, we are here to glorify God. If we are born again and love God, then we will love to please Him and hate evil as He does.
Romans 12:9 "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."
Do we love God? If we do, then we will hate evil, knowing it will hinder our walk and destroy our peace.
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