Tradition You Say? Do Not be Deceived!!!

And so you cancel the word of God in order

to hand down your own tradition. And this is

only one example among many others.
Mark 7:13

The passage is from the context of when Jesus was teaching the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law about inner purity; how they ignore God's laws and substitute it for their tradition.

This month of October, a certain tradition is celebrated by the world in earnest, I am pretty sure you have seen the signs and advertisements all over the place. I am talking about the tradition of Halloween. Many adults and children perceive this to be a harmless evening of masquerading for "tricks or treats". The reality is that this is not a harmless celebration. Its roots and overtones is in satanism and devil worship.


The dictionary defines trick as: a crafty or underhanded device, manoeuvre, stratagem, or the like, intended to deceive or cheat; artifice; ruse; wile.

The sad truth is the devil is tricking - deceiving and cheating a whole lot of people, including Christians into celebrating a "seemingly" harmless day. The enemy is also encouraging those who celebrate this day to take on the persona of evil and deceptive nature.


To help you understand the roots of this celebration, I did a bit of research.

Origin of the tradition of Halloween: Halloween has strong roots in paganism an witchcraft. It began as the Druid festival of Samhain. the celts considered November 1 as the day of death. The druids also thought that on 31 October, on the eve of the feast, Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died during the previous year to return to their former home to visit the living.


Human and animal sacrifices: For thousand of years, druid priests have conducted diabolical worship ceremonies in which cats, horses, sheep, and human beings were rounded up, stuffed with wicca cages and burned to death. These were required to appease Samhain.


Trick or Treat: To obtain the sacrifice offerings, druid priests would go from house to house asking for fatted calves, black sheep and human beings. Those who were promised prosperity, and those who refused to give were threatened and cursed. This is the origin of 'trick or treat'. You still think it's about candies?


Jack-O-Lantern: This has its origin in the candle-lit pumpkin or skull, which served as a 'signal' to mark those homes that supported the druids' religion. They were seeking the 'treat'; when the terror of halloween began. The Wikipedia describes Jack-O-Lantern as "the symbol of a damned soul" Wikipedia. Do you still think its about carving the prettiest pumpkin on the block?

House of Horrors: A popular hero of halloween is count dracula. Well, you better believe that this is based on the story and persona of a real person. His name was Vlad from Transylvania. He was a prince and during his reign it was reported that he killed many men and women. He would devise a plan to rid his country of the burden of beggars, the handicapped, the sick and the aged by inviting them to a feast at one of his palaces. He fed them well and got them drunk. then asked them " Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in the world?" When his guest said 'yes', he dracula, will order the palace to be boarded up and set it on fire. How about that for a hat trick?! Do you still think dracula is a cute and harmless hero?

As I mentioned earlier, some Christians feel that they and their children are missing out on some sort of 'cool' club or party celebration and feel the need to conform and join in. Have you noticed that the theme around halloween and its celebrations is of a dark nature; death, evil and fear?. As the years have progressed, the costumes have got even more grotesque - truly stuff nightmares are made of! Not exactly a beautiful nightmare is it now?

However, Solomon 2:15 warns us that "Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards". You see, when little foxes are hungry and search for food, they will enter into gape orchards and eat the ground crop. Because they are very small and unable to reach the top grape bunches, they would kill the whole vine instead, thus instead of the farmer loosing a few of his crop, he would loose much more - a whole vineyard.

Compromising our believes and the light of the earth that we are, to celebrate halloween (and other evil rooted, earthly traditions) might be seen as harmless, however, it is such compromises that opens the door to a bigger evil in our lives. The fact that something has been done for centuries and it is called 'tradition', does not make it acceptable for us or our children to participate in it; hence the opening verse of this post. When we read through the bible, it is evident that the Israelites, usually fell out of step with God's will, when they reverted back to embrace and celebrate their earthly tradition, as opposed to following God's word.

1 Peter 2:9 tells us that "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[a] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." This means we are not meant to conform to the ways of the world, even though it has been a long standing tradition, it still does not change what the bible says about the difference between light and darkness. As long as it is not of God and it is of darkness, we have no business taking part in it!.

With all things, it is either of God or of the devil, there is no middle ground. The responsibility lies with us to take everything we do with our lives, back to the Bible and confirm what God's word says about it.

Parents have the responsibility to shield their children from evil practices and celebrations such as halloween. We should not partake or let our children partake in these sort of celebrations. 1 Corinthians 10:21 categorically tells us that "You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too" Light and darkness cannot reside within the same space or body, it is impossible!.

I pray that we do not behave like the gentiles described in 2 Kings 17:17 which reads "They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire.[a] They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger."

But obey God's word as He commands in Ephesians 5:11, which reads "Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them."

Have a great rest of the week and weekend being the light of the world and the salt of the earth of your environment; whilst making God famous along your way.


Much Love
Remi

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Research- google (online articles), wickipedia, dictionary.com

COMMIT YOUR PLANS...

It is wise to...

"Commit your actions to the Lord

and your plans will succeed".

Proverbs 16:3

For you see, without God's help...
"You may think you are on the
right road and still end up dead"
Proverbs 14:12

Without His help...

"We can make our plans, but the

Lord determines our steps".

Proverbs 16:9

We as "People can make all kinds of plans,
but only the Lord's plan will happen".
Proverbs 16:21

So with this in mind, "DO NOT boast of

[yourself and] tomorrow, for you know

not what a day may bring forth"

Proverbs 27:1

Therefore, ALWAYS remember to...

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

don't try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God's voice in everything you do,

everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep

you on track. Don't assume that you know it all"

Proverbs 3: 5-6

Much Love....Remi

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STRETCH OUT...

"...and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."

He stretched it out, and his hand was restored"

Mathew 3:5

This passage is from the story of the miracle of Jesus, the healing of a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath day. Jesus asked the man to arise and stand in full view of everyone and then commanded him to stretch forth his hands in doing so, he was healed.

• For something to be withered it means it has become shrunken, or dry incapable of action. when something becomes shrunken, it means it is filled with wrinkles, and appears to be shriveled as in shrinking.

• To stretch means to draw out or extend to the full length or to be expanded to a larger size.

A woman cannot carry a baby to full term without 'stretching out'. It is hard for us to live out the realities of God's promises and our desires and dreams if we don't 'stretch out' in obedience, working diligently doing the Father's will.

As you start a new week, 'stretch out' unravelling shrunken dreams, aspirations and promises gifted to you by the Father. 'stretch forward', beyond your present limitations, from where you are to where you ought to be. 'Stretch out' removing all the wrinkles that cover your potential to attain.

I encourage you to 'stretch out' in action, faith, diligence, perseverance, excellence and in belief that, whilst you are faithful working on the dreams God has given you, He is always faithful to perfect everything concerning you.

'Stretch out' in faith, peace and love, expanding in victory on all sides; whilst making God famous along your way.

Much Love

Remi

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What is 'THAT'... in your 'HAND'?

"Then the Lord asked him,
“What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied".

Exodus 4:2

When God made it known to Moses that he had been chosen to deliver the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, the first thing Moses did was protest - like most of us would! I can almost hear the conversation between Moses and God going like thus:

"WHAT? You want me to do WHAT? God, why now, why me? I mean look at me, I think you have the wrong person. All you need to do is look down the road and you will see that Mr A is the perfect candidate for this job. I mean, he has got all it takes. He is a great speaker, a great multi-tasker and an accomplished man in the society. As for me, I don't have the skills, I can't even speak properly and you want me to go and talk to the king of Egypt! Besides, I am not an important person in society, so even if I do go to the king of Egypt, he would never listen to me, or believe that you have sent me".

In response to Moses protests, God asked him the question::

"What is that in your hand"?

When I look at the state of the world's economy, I envisage this is the question God is asking most of us at this point in time. At the back of the dreams, visions, inspirations and much more He has given us, He is asking us the question "what is that in your hand"? The sad thing is, I bet most of us, are responding back in protest with answers such as "I don't have anything in my hand, to I don't have the right tools in my hands."

However, this type of thinking is far from the truth. You see, our hands are the seeds that is called "talents, skills, gifts and abilities. Romans 12: 6 states that "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well". We all have talents and abilities that God has given us, and we are required as children of God to work on developing them and then use them to further God's kingdom.

"what are we doing with that which is in our hand?"

When most individuals think of gifts that can be used to further God's kingdom, the thoughts more often than not, surround spiritual gifts such as prayers, singing or working in the 'corporate church' in some shape or form. This is good, however, our everyday ordinary skills are also our gifts and abilities.

For example, some people are extremely talented in DIY, some are talented in cooking, some talented in establishing friendships, some have an extremely good eye for detail and much more. We must take these simply everyday abilities and submit them to God, for Him to use. Like Moses, we must lay them down and watch them come alive. When they come alive, they will have the power to help those around us, and eventually we will see God move in our lives like Moses did in his.

If God had a conversation with you today and asked the question:
"What is in your hand and what are you doing with it"?

What will your answer be?

Will it be "A Shepherd's staff" or will you say, a skill, ability and gift at your disposal Lord, for the advancement of your kingdom?

I encourage you all to submit your gifts, talents, skills and abilities to God. Lay them down at the master's feet, watch them come alive, thrive and show someone the way to eternal life!

I beseech you to actively work on and develop them into a powerful tools. Use them to display the true nature of God, thus, helping the advancement of His kingdom; whilst making Him famous along your way.

Much Love
Remi
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THE CENTURION SERVANT

Now a centurion had a bond servant who was
held in honor and highly valued by him, who was sick
and at the point of death. And when the centurion
heard of Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him,
requesting Him to come and make his bond
servant well. And when they reached Jesus,
they begged Him earnestly, saying, He is worthy
that You should do this for him, For he loves our
nation and he built us our synagogue [at his own expense].
Luke 7: 3-5

This passage of scripture is about the story of when Jesus went into the city of Capernaum, which is by Galilee. At that time, there was a certain centurion who had a 'favourite servant' who was sick and at the point of death. When the centurion heard that Jesus was in the city, he called some Jewish elders and sent them to seek Jesus, asking them to tell Him (Jesus) to come and heal his bond servant. When the Jewish elders sought out Jesus and found Him, they 'begged' Him earnestly to come and heal the centurion’s servant. The basis of their plea was that the ‘centurion is a worthy and good man, so much that he even build them a synagogue in their city, with his own money’.

Before I go any further and to help us understand the angle of this post, let me explain the meaning of a few key words.

• Centurion: Roman officer in command of hundred men
• Bond Servant: a person who serves in bondage; slave
• Favourite: someone something regarded with special favor or liking
• Begged: to ask humbly, begging for help
• Earnestly: serious in intention, purpose, or effort
• Worthy: having adequate or great merit, character
• Good: morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man
  

When most of us hear or are taught the story of the Centurion, we are taught from the angle of the great faith the centurion showed in verse 7 -9 of the same chapter, where he tells Jesus not to physically come to the his house, but to send His healing word and command, that it was sufficient enough to heal the sick servant.

However, I want to bring this passage to you from a different angle. Sometime last week, I was listening to the audio Bible (God bless the makers), whilst on the treadmill (yes, I am still fitness crazy) to this passage, God gave me new understanding. I played the whole chapter back about 10 times, if not more, and God revealed to me another dimension of this passage.

The Holy Spirit started teaching me with a series of questions which went like this - “why would a centurion, who was in charge of 100 men, pick out this particular servant? After all he was a Bond servant, a slave? Why did he love the servant so much that he was moved to the point of finding a cure for him. He was moved to seek help from the Jewish elders (highly respectable men of the city, who were then moved to favour him), and SEND THEM on an errand. He sent them to go and find Jesus and for them to bring Jesus back to his house to heal the servant”?

I was taught this: For the centurion to love his bond servant this much, the servant must have been very diligent in all that he did. He must have worked in excellence and integrity, which must have been only through the spirit of humility, for we must not forget he was slave. He must have been a trust worthy and good man, for the master to set him apart from the other men (99 others), This reminds me of Joseph, who was still diligent in using his gifts, even when he was in prison - Genesis 40: 1- 20.

Question for us all: Can your good works and your living set you apart from others in your time of need? Can your boss, your parents, your friends, your elders, or the ones in charge of you, see you in your time of need and be moved to compassion to want to go the extra mile to help you. Selah…

The lessons, however, did not end there, for another series of questions ensued … “Why did the Jewish elders take time to listen to the centurion, and why did he (the centurion) find favour in their sight? They did not only listen, but they obeyed. They WENT and sought out Jesus, and the Bible says they’ begged’ Jesus to come to the centurion’s aid.”

I was taught this: The centurion’s good work and living and his love for all things God brought him favour before the Jewish elders and before Jesus Christ.

The lesson from this passage is not complete without understanding how the Jewish elders came about to come and seek Jesus.

For you see, if the bond servant had not been a good man, he would not have found favour with the centurion. If he had not found favour with the centurion, there would have been no need for the centurion to find favour from the Jewish elders. If the centurion had not need to find favour from the Jewish elders, they would have no need to seek out Jesus, and there would have beeb no opportunity for the centurion to exercise his faith (which encourges us all today). Ultimately, thre would have been no healing for the bond servant.

Needless to say, at this point in time, I realised that I was peddling furiously on the cross trainer, mouth open and heart racing (must have been a confusing and shocking sight to the fellow gymers!)

My charge to everyone (myself included), is that in the name of Jesus Christ that, whatever we find yourself doing, we should make a decision to 'DO IT WELL'. Do it with all your mind, might, spirit and soul. Do it is as unto the Lord as we are taught in Colossians 3:23-24 which reads “Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work”. We do not know how, what and whom God will use to promote us to the next level, or bring to our aid in our time of need; which will surely come.

Thus, as you commence a new week, as you live out the intricacies of every second, minute, hour, day of this week, I encourage you to work in the spirit of excellence, deligence and of integrity.

I encourage you to work with a good and pure heart, clothed with humility and in so doing, by God’s grace and power, imitating the wonderful saviour, master Jesus; making the excellent God famous along your way.

Much Love

Remi

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Delegated Right, Power & Authority - USE IT!

"Look, I have given you authority over

all the power of the enemy, and you can

walk among snakes and scorpions and

crush them. Nothing will injure you.
Luke 10:19

Authority is defined as: a power or right delegated or given.

There is no authority except that which God has established. Our authority is established in God.

As children of God, and believers to the fact that Jesus Christ, died and on the third day rose, and resurrected to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the father, having authority and dominion over all things and a name above every name; we have been given by God, delegated authority to use this powerful name of Jesus Christ, whilst we are here on earth.

The source of our authority is rooted in God and His power as written in Ephesians 1:19-23, it reads “ 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. (NLT)

How do we understand the authority we have and use as a believer? We do this by embracing:

• Knowledge: We must have absolute knowledge of our position and meaning in Jesus Christ and Satan’s defeat. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ and become saved, we become identified in the eyes of God and of satan with the Crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We become co-resurrected, co-ascended, co-seated, Join heirs with Jesus Christ. This means that we have delegated authority, power and dominion over satan through the name of Jesus Christ. The saddest thing is that God knows this, even satan knows this, but most believers don’t know this. It is impossible to exercise the authority you do not know you have! Hosea 4:6a reads “My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me ….”

• Belief & Faith: We must believe and have unwavering faith in God’s word. To belief and be a believer means that we have personally accepted, confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour, and therefore have eternal life in Him as described in John 3:36, which reads “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”. To declare believe in God means we have faith in Him and in His word (He and His word are one). Belief and faith is by no means passive feeling or decision it is active. The exercise of our authority through faith in the word of God that we belief is meant to produce works, through our words and actions as explained in James 2:26, which reads "Just as the body is dead without breath,[so also faith is dead without good works.Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works".


• Humility: This when an individual is not proud or arrogant, and is modest. Humility is what will help us to keep exercising the power, authority and dominion we have as a child of God. There will be times when pride will dictate that we don't embrace a modest stance, or hold back the tongue. However, we must understand that with humility comes God's infinite wisdom as we are taught in Proverbs 11:2, which reads "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom". With God's wisdom, we will know how and when to exercise our authority; when to abase and when to abound.



• Boldness: True boldness comes from realising our positions and authority in Jesus Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Like David realised his true position in God, he was bold to face the Giant Goliath in 1 Samuel, 17:49, which reads “Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground”.
  


• Awareness: A realisation that as a child of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ as declared in Galatians4: 6–7, which reads “6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”,. As joint heirs, we are in the place of intense spiritual conflict, hence on the devil's rather, hence we must exercise our authority. If we are already on the devil’s side, he will have no reason to pay us any attention. However he will do anything to stop the believer who has a clear understanding of his or her authority, inheritance and rightful place in Jesus Christ. He is afraid and mindful of such an individual because he knows they have the wisdom and the determination to enforce and maintain the dominion Jesus Christ gave us. He knows they have the wisdom to put he and his demons in their rightful place ... permanently underfoot!
  

As you step into the new month of October, the 1st day of the last three months of the year 2009, I encourage you to awaken to the realisation of your God given authority as a believer, as a child of God. I encourage you to seek God, study His word and ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand that you do have the Right , Power and Authority over that ‘circumstance’, ‘wilderness’ or ‘issue’ that you are going through. I beseech you to rise up and actively use your authority, to change your situation and enable you to make tremendous haste and speed, both physically and spiritually.

So, to that mountain, that situation, that problem, that sickness, that exam result, that breakdown, that hindrance, or road block in your way, I command you to alter your stance, arise, point your prophetic finger at it and declare along the lines of… “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (The Crucifixion, burial, resurrection and seating and His victory over death and over satan) I command you to ……… (insert your victory song right there!).

Exercise your God given authority, in every area of your life, further enabling you to finish this year strong and well; whilst making God famous along the way.

Much Love

Remi

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