Deuteronomy 18:10-13, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11) or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12) For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13) You shall be blameless before the Lord your God."
In keeping with the theme of Halloween and all of its darkness that it conjures up and brings with it, I'm repurposing an 8 year old "thought" from when I first began this blog. As many of you know, but many more don't, in the very early stages of this blog, most of what I would write were just thoughts if you will. The posts would slowly begin to get more in depth and more challenging the more that I was led. I'm not going to "link" to the article because it's not very long and I'm copying the 4 paragraphs to expound on them in more depth and detail, the way this blog has evolved and is meant to be! For those who are my regular followers already know when I "copy" my own work, mostly a few paragraphs here and there, I will notate it within my article so as not to mislead. I do feel it important to sometimes revisit and repurpose something written mostly as a thought to expound upon in greater detail due to the climate of the world and moreso, due to the need for knowledge. It doesn't happen too often that I'm led to do so, but today is one of those days that I was laying around, feeling a certain urgency to write once again. I suddenly was reminded of this old thought and this post was birthed into life! As I'd just mentioned in my recent article, "Halloween and the Battle with the Devil," found here, and other "October" articles, it's a very dark, spiritual time and I'm terribly sensitive to the heavenly battles during this time of year. As it's almost Halloween, and the country is preparing for "fun," my spirit is very stirred and unsettled this year, more than years in the past. The whole world is in a dark place as it is and many countries have experienced different forms of demonic battles. However, one should note that not all countries in this world celebrate Halloween and surely NOT like the United States does! Many people who migrate to this country is shocked at the enthusiasm for which this particular day is "celebrated" and the sheer amount of money spent on "fear and death" is ludicrous when that money could be spent in a much more wholesome, God directed way!
There has been an influx of "Zombie" articles, discussions and celebrations. There's even some groups who wrote a "How To" manual to "slay" zombies in the event of a "zombie apocalypse." Yes, this is widely believed not only here in America, but worldwide! This is clearly of the devil himself and he is getting much joy out of watching so many believe this lie! Please understand, zombies are demonic and even if there was going to be a zombie "apocalypse," you can't kill a "spirit." I'll speak more on this later. Anyway, as you look around, zombies are being talked about so much, that a good portion of specific groups of people believe the Hollywood version actually exists! Movies by the dozens have been made and are being made about them and with much greater graphic visuals. In the beginning, Hollywood zombies weren't "believable" as they are today with the advanced technology and the advanced "knowledge" to the point of realism. Hollywood did it again, didn't they? Harmless fun? Fantasy? A good scare? Hardly! The one thing you haven't heard throughout this darkness, sadly, is the voices of Christians standing together against this evil, diabolical lie of the enemy. In fact, some are actually playing into this agenda, and spiritually speaking, is in direct violation of God's commands to His children! As I've mentioned previously in other articles, you just can't "slap" a Christian name on something that originated in evil and think it's OK. Let's, first, examine what a "Zombie" is and see what's so celebratory about them, if anything at all. The official countdown definition of a Zombie is as follows: 7) a dead body that has been reanimated by black magic. 6) derives from the West African Kimbundu word “nzambi,” which is the name for a snake god or any "divine" spirit. It later came to mean “reanimated corpse” in the voodoo tradition 5) a supernatural spirit that reanimates a dead body 4) a corpse brought to life in this manner 3) the snake god of voodoo cults in the West Indies, especially Haiti, and in scattered areas of the southern US 2) the python god revered in parts of West Africa and the ultimate description is 1) "the body of a dead person given the semblance of life, but mute and will-less, by a supernatural force, usually for some evil purpose, the supernatural force itself."
Let those definitions sink in because if you are among those who are "celebrating" them on Halloween, or are obsessed with them, know that you are obsessing and celebrating death and demonic entities. I'm not going to sugarcoat this in any way as these days are growing darker and darker and the ONLY Light can be found in Jesus Christ! He IS the Light and even the demons must flee a born again Christ believer at the mention of His wonderful, powerful name! So far, the description of a zombie alone, should warrant your discerning spirits to recognize that the way the world is embracing "zombies" and introducing them as harmless, unreal, fun and games, and nothing more than an imagination from a fictional writer is nothing more than celebrating and embracing "unclean spirits," "familiar spirits," or otherwise known as demonic spirits. Embracing the lies of the enemy. This is strictly forbidden in the Bible and we are not to call upon, talk to, or as Deuteronomy 18:10-13 says, "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11) or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12) For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13) You shall be blameless before the Lord your God." Also, in Leviticus 19:31, "'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." This is a powerful scripture because God KNEW and KNOWS the dangers of Satan and all of his wiles. He loves us so much that He wants to protect us from all that is evil and unclean! The Bible is our instruction manual!! We need to use it more wisely!
Now that we go that out of the way, let's take a look at just one of the references in the Bible regarding the truth of what a "zombie" really is, and believe me, it's NOT the Hollywood, washed out, fantasy version! Rather, it's much more darker and sinister and because it's what God tells us, it makes it more powerful and understood! Mark 5:1-9 is talking about the demon-possessed man from Gadarenes, and says, "Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2) And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3) who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4) because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6) When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7) And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me." 8) For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!" 9 Then He asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many." This makes it very clear that "unclean, familiar spirits" are responsible for the possession of the man out of the tombs. This verse came to mind when all of the so-called "zombie attacks" were beginning to spread through the news like wildfires in a drought! The media spun those reports in the worst of ways and flooded the circuits for a few years then suddenly "stopped" reporting on it because they did what their master, Satan, required of them. So they moved on. Of course, the media, as "unbiased" as they want you to THINK they are, kept redirecting the TRUTH by saying, and blaming it on a new drug called "bath salts" or "flakka." Now, don't get me wrong, I understand drugs can have some very severe affects on the user, and will definitely open a door for the demonic possession to take place, but the magnitude of the attacks, and the actions of those that were involved, closely resembled the description in Mark! While Mark 5:1-9 makes it clear about what unclean spirits can do to a body, the most powerful lesson we can learn is it ALSO makes clear that even demons recognized and worshipped Jesus! That proves, beyond any one's wild imagination, that our LORD God is the Creator of even Satan and his minions, that even they must bow before Him and take His commands and orders as given! I watched, and read, some of the accounts of these "attacks" and although drugs could be involved, there was something much more malevolent going on than just "drugs." The media just wanted to redirect the evil onto placing blame on a synthetic drug. Watching the "drug" videos of those who are allegedly on them, closely resembles demonic possession and many witnesses have said the same thing!
So I'm going to break from this for just a second and give you just a small illustration of how zombies can represent "inner zombies" for Christians. Sounds crazy, I know. But bear with me as I share this thought. While researching a little more on this topic, I came across an analogy of something similar that I thought could partly be ideologically used to illustrate this. The reason I say that Christians have inner zombies is they have become born again, Christ believers who have repented of sin and believe with their whole heart and soul that Jesus Christ paid their sin debt in full. Their sins have been "crucified" and they are now indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Non-believers haven't done that yet so therefore, they don't have "inner zombies." Let me explain further. We know the Bible, which is the inerrant God-breathed word of our Creator God, tells us we're all born with a "sinful nature." One which is deeply rooted within our soul. It contains and carries with it plenty of sinful, appealing and tempting desires that run contrary to the will of God. That sinful nature, which we all have, is alive and well until a certain point. You see, when a person becomes a born again true Christian and is fully spiritually converted through faith in Jesus Christ, the sinful nature is then "crucified" and it dies. Well, mostly it dies because that very nature tends to find a way of always trying to rise back up inside a believer, rearing its ugly head. In the non-believer, it doesn't need to "rise back up" because it was never "crucified" and and replaced with the convicting of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In the unbeliever that sin nature is still in heavy control. Hence, the comparison of the "zombie" imagery. Whereas a believer, a Christian, that sinful nature died upon your conversion but along the way while living in this fallen world with Satan as its "god," our inner zombie didn't care about the "memo" and continues to fight for the life within you! You see, it's no different that the fictitious zombie might do in the movies or books. Even the apostle Paul had an illustrative "inner zombie." He wrote in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find." What about the sinful nature of an unbeliever? Well, as mentioned above, it hasn't been crucified yet and is still very much in control. It's still the dominant feature of the unbeliever's soul and life but for the Christian, their life and spirit is now under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Bible makes that perfectly clear. Romans 8:9 tells us this, "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."
With that said and put aside, I want to reiterate that if the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside of you, then you are a believer as clearly indicated in Romans 8:9. This means you are a born again Christian through faith alone by Grace alone. And with that, you now desire to do, and delight in doing, the will of God. At least in your inner being that is. On the other hand, it's your "inner zombie" that will never, ever want to do God's will and will fight to the battle with your inner new born again being. Those two will be at odds because the "old you," the "sinful you," will never want to get any better but you must understand that the "old, sinful" you isn't the REAL YOU! You see, that's you old sinful nature. However, the REAL YOU is who you ARE in Christ and who you want to be in Christ! As a born again Christian, a new desire replaces the old "sinful" nature and desires! That's what the shed blood of Jesus Christ did for us! Made us new creatures! And as a believer, you don't actually need to give into your sinful nature anymore. The "inner zombie" don't have to push you around any longer and can be fought off through the power of Jesus Christ! Romans 6:6, "knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." There's some AMAZING news if you are a believer in Jesus Christ found in Romans 6:18, "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." So it is here that I will inject that as long as we are living IN the world, we will struggle and fight against the fleshly temptations and those "inner zombies" will continue to tug at our weaknesses because it's our old ways of living that are fighting for life in our current state. All those inner battles are coming from your inner "zombie." Why? Well, the sinful nature is a fighter but is dead. It's persistent because it wants to wear you down and seems to grow stronger whenever we say "yes" to his pathetic prodding and whimpering and tempting. Understand that any time we give into him and his lies, we always regret it and are convicted by it. That's the sign of the Holy Spirit. That "old self," the "inner zombie," the temptation from the "devil," always attempts to get us to do the "zombie walk." Instead, we need to stick with our "CHRIST WALK" and continue to fight the ongoing battle!! What is a Christian to do with the old "nature" who's always lurking in the shadows waiting for that prime opportunity to rise up and sneak attack? Just say "no." I know it's easier said than done, but by God's Grace it works. Titus 2:11-12, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,"
Moving along, "zombie" is the undead, an evil, unclean spirit inhabiting a body. The Bible doesn't use the word to describe it because it already has a name! Zombie is what the "world" called it so it sounded less threatening, frightening and would be more readily "accepted" than what it really IS. And, as you can see by all the parades, the celebrations, costumes, masks, parties, candy, the millions and millions of dollars the movie industry brought in, it caught on. However, mostly to those who are blinded to the truth. Is this something that sounds like it would be fun, harmless or even something to embrace, much less, celebrate? No, not hardly! Is this something that sounds like it glorifies our Lord in any way? Absolutely not! It is, however, exactly what Hollywood, the world, the news and the media doesn't want you to know! TRUTH! If you knew the TRUTH, well, the adversary loses and nobody will want to embrace the impending "zombie apocalypse" that he's conjuring up for those who will take the bite of his bait. Satan is hard at work telling the lies of the century, getting all of his puppets lined up to do his dirty deeds and to propagate his evil agenda. We don't have to be afraid of the enemy, or his impersonations of the living and the dead....we need not fear because our Lord has given us the power to trample underfoot all the wiles, fiery darts and the power of the enemy, in His name alone! It's in the Bible, in Luke 10:19, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Clear as a bell! In 1 John 4:1-4, He says, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2) By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3) and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4) You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Also in James 4:7-8 we are told "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." God and His Son Jesus are who we need to be embracing and celebrating, not just during this time of year, on Halloween, but every single day of the year! He is the great Overcomer!
Let's take a look at the origins of goblins which are also very prevalent this time of year along with ghosts which the title of this post refers to as demons. Demons are the final collective name for everything surrounding the "holiday" characters. Britannica describes the Goblin, in Western folklore, as a "wandering sprite that is usually mischievous but often malicious. Goblins supposedly live in grottoes but attach themselves to households, where they are believed to bang upon pots and pans, snatch nightclothes off the bodies of sleeping people, move furniture at night, and flee after rapping on walls and doors. They are thought to help parents discipline children by rewarding the latter with presents when they are good and punishing them when they are disobedient. The word goblin derives Middle English gobelin, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin gobelinus, ultimately from Greek kobalos "rogue." On dictionary.com, they are described as "Like ghouls, goblins are malicious, though perhaps not as nightmarish as the flesh eaters above. A goblin is a "grotesque sprite or elf," and some can assume human and animal form and assail people. If a creature is malicious, it can also be described as evil-minded, injurious, or vengeful." I spent some time in Germany and traveled through parts of Europe and without a doubt, it is steeped in mythological "creatures" and goblins are prominently displayed throughout villages, depicted in paintings and on buildings. Had I known then what I know now! One last description and origin of goblins can be found on etymonline.com. "early 14c., "a devil, incubus, mischievous and ugly fairy," from Norman French gobelin (12c., as Medieval Latin Gobelinus, the name of a spirit haunting the region of Evreux, in chronicle of Ordericus Vitalis), of uncertain origin; said to be unrelated to German kobold (see cobalt), or from Medieval Latin cabalus, from Greek kobalos "impudent rogue, knave," kobaloi "wicked spirits invoked by rogues," of unknown origin. Another suggestion is that it is a diminutive of the proper name Gobel." Sometimes, it's been said, that the kobold is helpful and sings to children. But all too often, it hides valuable household items, kicks people, and erupts in rage when it doesn’t get enough food. Not anything I'd like to be associated with but once again, I spent time in Germany and the "kobold" is still part of their culture, or it was when I was there in the 80's. In addition to that lesson on the origins of goblins, there's also "Pooka," pronounced poo-ka, and is from the old Irish word ‘púca’, which literally means ‘goblin.’
There is nothing in any part of the above that would glorify the Lord and everything that would be against all that He has lovingly warned us against! While researching, I came across several hideous images of goblins that were enough to make even an adult have nightmares, much less a child! And to think these mythological creatures and the "stories" are, and were, used to frighten children into obedience, ward off evil spirits, and terrorize adults makes no sense to me! Beings that a goblin is a monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures throughout several countries, one would think to stand clear of anything that originates through mythology as that, in and of itself, is steeped in the demonic. You see, these "goblins" are ascribed various and very conflicting abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of their original conception. In each one however, the devil is behind them and appears to be their "life force" for a lack of a better term. They are almost always small and grotesque, mischievous or even outright malicious, while also greedy, especially for gold and jewelry as the legend states. They often have magical abilities similar to a demon. See? Similar to a demon. These are the same "cute" little costumes that are made for our innocent children to peruse around towns begging for candy unawares of its horrific origins and unaware of participating in assisting the devil in his agenda being spread about town on the most evil of nights! Remember, this is a night when numerous "innocent" people, children and adults alike, find a "fascination" with the occult! The very thing in direct opposition to our Savior Jesus Christ!
As anyone with eyes to see, this time of year it’s nearly impossible not to see ghosts, witches, goblins, zombies, vampires, demons and other dark figures that seem to saturate every tv show, movie theaters, retail stores and other businesses. Those same figures, including gravesites, jack-o-lanterns, and all sorts of lawn decorations populate the landscape of neighborhoods, some go above and beyond for a scare tactic. Along with these atrocities, there are "haunted" houses, hayrides, etc., although many of those attractions might be less this year due only to the current "pandemic." Pop culture of every kind has literally become saturated with this darkness. I mean, in many ways, due to our sinful nature, it's kind of in our DNA to seek out the darkness and the dark things of this world....as UN-believers. We are born unsaved, sinful and fallen. We must be taught right from wrong, dark from Light, good from bad. Every child lies, not because they've been taught, but because it's their sin nature. They must be taught not to tell lies. Mankind has a long history with the dark side. Take some time and look at the history of some of these pagan activities to see how far back people has had an infatuation with the dark side. Everything from inventing festivals and parade that celebrate death, to spiritists and mediums, to the horrors of the gladiator rings, and to the horrors of celebrations such as Halloween and the creations of horror movies/folklore/novels. In today's society, the "ghouls, goblins, zombies" are really part of something much bigger, and much darker! What does God's word say about a fascination with the dark things of this world, of the dark side? John 3:19-20, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20) For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." I stated that today, there is something much darker and deeper with this fascination and by that I mean many years ago, the "darkness" was celebrated very strategically, during Halloween. It was always understood there was a "silent" group of worshipers and those who were into the dark arts as that's been around since the dawn of man. However, it's grown from that to something celebrated, fascinated and accepted into daily life.
How, you might ask? Well, with the popularity of all the tv shows, beginning way back with Bewitched and Dark Shadows, leading sneakily up to the Twilight movies, American Horror Story, Harry Potter (which by the way uses REAL incantations and spells!) Walking Dead and so on, the darkness has become a staple in everyday life. Whereby reaching many many more innocent victims being pulled into Satan's web of lies. It's become a year-round, relentless, diabolical exposure and is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid. Most are blatantly showing us the dark side, but many more are being subtly shown to suck in those that are a little harder to fool. Satan knows what he's doing but it's up to us to resist the devil so he will flee! James 4:7, "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The saturation of these things have gave it more acceptance and gave way to such horror as more commonplace. If they saturate the airwaves, tv, movies, games, and anything else "entertaining" then it will eventually "condition" the masses over time into submission to where they don't "see" it as evil as it truly is and they aren't as "shocked" and "abhorred" by what once was disgusting to them. It's a ploy used by the enemy to desensitize us with the constant escalation of violence, graphic psychological torture and terror so much to the point that the mere exposure of what used to give us a thrill now doesn’t even barely make us flinch! See back many years ago with the introduction of Bewitched and Dark Shadows and the scary "music" that would accompany it, they were exciting to a society that was truly more guarded against depravity and without access to anything darker. But now? There seems to be no limits. The intense violence, the surreal special effects, the psychological terror, and all the gore keeps getting more intense yet, it also feeds the carnal sinful person inside and draws people in deeper. Most still don't take notice because they are so used to seeing it every day!
I still want these posts to be a warning and not to instill fear, however, sometimes, one must teeter on fear before a warning is heeded. As Christians, there's nothing to fear from Satan. However, for the unbelievers, there is plenty to fear! Your souls are at stake! Your children's mental state and innocence are at stake. We are to protect the children from evil and the evil one whether we have any or not. As Christians, we know God is not the author of fear and Jesus Christ overcame death. That does not give us a free pass to participate nor propagate evil or celebrating alongside with the darkness! We shouldn't spend our money on evil things. Every dime spent on costumes, parties, favors, decorations and masks go right back into the pockets of all of the evil people behind those things and that is not a responsible thing to do. We also know that evil does not run unbridled in this world because God is in control, not Satan. I have heard both sides to participating in Halloween, Trick or Treating, or in anything related. I respect everyone's opinion and I respect their decisions. I, on the other hand, feel it should be understood exactly what this is all about, the origins and how it could be a detrimental stumbling block to you, your children or those you love and care about. This darkness is real. I'm not saying, nor have a I ever implied that EVERYONE who participates on this night is going to be possessed, go to Hell or end up in the occult. What I AM saying, is there will be people who do, and there are going to be people who acquire a fascination with the occult as a result of these participatory events. I'm also saying if you justify celebrating Halloween knowing what it's steeped in, then is it going to be any different for you to justify watching horror movies, going to psychics or mediums? A line must be drawn and not crossed and for clear direction in what should and shouldn't be in our activities, can be found throughout the Bible! Christians and Halloween go together like oil and water......
Halloween seriously emphasizes the occult to a blinding degree and since Satan has fooled the masses into believing these things are fake or don't exist, or not as bad as others say it is, many people will unknowingly take part in some form of this dark celebration. I've noticed each year the proverbially used scripture, Isaiah 5:20, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" continues to get ignored more and more and from my perspective, it's so clear as to what Christians do by participating in this time of year and this "festival of death." They ARE calling evil good because they aren't resisting it. They ARE putting darkness for light because they're justifying it. And for those who participate in Harvest Festival's at church and still give candy out during Trunk and Treat alternative celebration, all of the above scripture is violated! The Bible says ALOT about the occult and I'd say God knows a thing or two about it because He SAID it and WARNED us against it! I've said before in a past post, I celebrated it many years ago as well and with many of the same justifications. In my defense, I wasn't walking as close with the Lord as I should have been during that time of my life, though not an excuse but nevertheless, I was still a Christian partaking in something I shouldn't have been involved in. I didn't think it made a difference. I didn't think it would hurt anything. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. That's just it. I didn't THINK! Until that one glorious day when the TRUTH of this "holiday" was revealed in a grand way, only the way the Lord could reveal it to me, that I was immediately set free! I immediately repented, asked for His forgiveness and turned from that whole scenario. I immediately stopped participating in Halloween. I stopped watching any psychological thriller. I stopped watching the tv shows or movies with any hints of occult themes. I stopped buying and passing out candy. All stopped. The Lord purged it all so I can speak from experience to some degree here. I never got interested in the occult, Ouija boards, séances or anything like that nor went down that path. However, the interest in darker psychological movies, tv shows and dressing up ceased and so did the desire for those things. The veil was torn off of my eyes and I saw through the darkness like I'd never been able to do before. Psychological thrillers are just as dangerous as those that are what's called "horror" or "slasher" movies. Movies with blatant occult themes or bold occult storylines have always stirred my spirit and "scared" me because I've always known those things were REAL. I simply stayed away from those things however, the enemy knew what movies I WOULD gravitate towards and with the Lord in the driver's seat, ALL of those interests and "intriguing" movies were completely purged. Even to the point that I took every DVD I owned at the time that had ANYTHING to do with any dark theme, I went in each one and scratched up each disc and threw them away! Why did I scratch them up? So nobody would ever watch those same dark movies. I did not want to be responsible for someone else's interests getting piqued over something evil! All the money I wasted on those DVD's and not one ounce of regret for scratching them up and getting them out of my house! Praise the good Lord!!! Now? Well, my spirit will not allow me to see those images on even a tv commercial without feeling disgusted and feeling the darkness behind it. It now gives me a sickening taste in my mouth that I ever participated in Halloween and wasn't able to see the side of darkness that was right in front of my face all along. I also wasn't able to see the connection to the psychological thrillers and Halloween until my "freedom" day took place! That one act of freedom changed so much within me!
The Bible will change your mind about these things and many other things of the world! I promise you this! You don’t even have to read very far into the first book of Genesis to discover the creature, the serpent the devil, who invented the philosophy behind trick or treating. Think about this verse for a second. Genesis 3:1, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?" As you can see in this verse, Satan’s goal was to make evil seem good by placing doubt into Eve's mind. He eventually convinced her that the forbidden fruit wasn’t really forbidden. It wasn't really "bad." You see the pattern? Then he tried to convince her that eating the fruit would be good but he lied to her. We see that in Genesis 3:4-5, "Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5) For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." She took the "treat" which was her eating the forbidden fruit. She didn’t realize she'd been tricked until it was too late. Satan gave her a treat because he tricked her. At the very root, all of those people connected with the very real occult world deeply desire, to some varying degrees, to have power and control like our Creator God. They are willing to dabble in forms of witchcraft and the occult to obtain these "powers" that can never, nor will ever, be received, because they like the "feeling" of power and independence it provides.
I want each of you, my dear readers, brothers and sisters in Christ and friends, to understand Halloween is undeniably connected with the occult. Oct. 31 was aptly chosen because of the ancient Celtic ritual of Samhain. It was the day that celebrated the end of fall and the beginning of winter. I've went a little deeper into its origins before but Samhain was known as the day when the veil between the demonic world and the natural world was at its thinnest and is likely why those involved in the occult make sacrifices to their "god" on this day/night. Our Pilgrim forefathers knew very well of the Halloween occultic roots. So much so that they banned celebrating Halloween in America at one point. Halloween wasn't celebrated in America until 1845. By all accounts, that's not really that long! At that time, the multiplied thousands of Irish emigrants flooded into New York because of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-46. And brought with them was the old Druid holiday of Halloween. Then gradually, the celebration of this day spread throughout the rest of the country. Halloween wasn't the original name of this Druid celebration, but rather, it began long before Christ among the ancient Celtic peoples (Britons, Gauls, Scots, Irish). They observed the end of summer with sacrifices to SAMAN (Shamhain). He was "the lord of death and evil spirits." This marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Before I continue, just a side note about the Saman. Depending on your source material, the Druid lord of death and evil spirits was called Saman, Samana, Shamhain or Samhain. All of these names referenced the SAME being. His particular "holiday" was called "The Vigil Of Saman" or Samhain (pronounced so-wein). Now what you probably don't know is that you have likely already seen a modern day version of SAMAN without even knowing it. This pagan god was shown as a ghostly, skeleton holding a sickle in his hand. He later became aptly known as THE GRIM REAPER. Coincidence? Doubtful!
Leviticus 19:31, "‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." The Lord can't get much clearer! If we seek after these familiar spirits, these evil spirits, we can surely be defiled by them. As true, born again Christians we cannot be possessed BY them, but we can be tormented and harassed. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling within us and He occupies and resides there. No demon can take up residence with the Holy Spirit. The non-believers can be possessed however, and it's not a risk I want to see anyone taking with their souls! There's such an ugliness in Halloween and all that Satan has let loose upon this world. I'm not sure why anyone would want to celebrate it knowing how we are to focus upon our Savior and His attributes. 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." We know that Christ had no sin in Him through that scripture so then God did not allow His physical body to decay or to decompose. His body celebrated His holiness, pure and without blemish. 1 Peter 1:19, "but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." We know that the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Sin is the death in both the spiritual and physical sense. Christ came as the Holy Lamb of God to take away our sin - the very disease that infects us inside and out, so that we may ultimately live to have a holy, clean, fully alive and fully perfect body in heaven. Philippians 3:20-21, "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21) who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself." So with knowing all of that, why on earth would we WANT to celebrate the pure ugliness within each of us, the decaying and dying physically, by transforming ourselves into gaping wounds and gore? Why would we WANT to display death and horror in such graphic portrayals as zombies, ax-murderers and goblins? But moreso, why would we CHOOSE to please Satan by aligning ourselves with his darkness?! We, the born again Christians, are God's redeemed and we should not have anything to do with the darkness. Ephesians 5:11, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." Even if some Christians still believe "aligning" themselves with Halloween is nothing more than harmless costume parties playing dress up for free candy, it still is giving a grand gesture nod of approval to the WHOLE of Halloween. We are a unique people, called out from the rest, to be set aside from the world and the worldly culture around us.
So in closing, focus on the Light. The Light of Jesus Christ! The best place to start in focusing on the Light is with our Creator God. Let's see what His Word has to say about following Jesus in John 3:16-19, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18) "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19) And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." By having an obsession to seek the darkness, or with the darkness, is a judgment in a way from God’s perspective of those who refuse the Light. Who refuse Jesus Christ! Focusing on the dark will produce dark thoughts, dark actions, a dark heart. There's inherent danger and risks in the darkness. We must understand Jesus and His goodness, Holiness, Righteousness and His Love. Philippians 4:8-9, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things. 9) The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you."
So as you go out into the world, as your eyes are opened to the TRUTH, don't get lost IN it! The end is drawing nigh, there is falling away and many diversions created to take our eyes off of God, His Creation and His Voice!!! Let's not embrace the agenda of Satan or the world around us.....let's embrace God's Grace and the Light of Jesus Christ instead! Amen! If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, now is the time to call upon His name! Admit you're a sinner, believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the Cross and shed His blood to pay your sin debt in full and rose three days later. Be adopted into His kingdom because it's never too late!
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