HALLOWEEN AND GRACE
Monday – October 31, 2016
Greetings from Eastern Gate Ministries International, the publisher of The Three Minute Word in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. As I am sure we all know today is Halloween. And let me say right off the bat that believers in Jesus Christ should have no part in this celebration. A cursory search of the internet suggests that no one is quite sure of the origins of Halloween. Some say it is of purely pagan (non-Christian) origin, others say it was of Christian origin and has morphed into the current state which is a celebration, an honoring, of all that is dark. Brother and sister we are of the Light not the darkness. It would appear to me simply by the name alone that it was of Christian origin and has become perverted over the centuries. The etymology of the word ‘Halloween’ dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin. The word “Hallowe’en” means “hallowed evening” or “holy evening”. This was a holiday to celebrate and commemorate the saints and martyrs of the Church much like we celebrate Memorial Day to commemorate those who have died defending the United States of America. Wikipedia also had the following information about the origin of the folklore giving rise to the Jack-O-Lantern.
“On route home after a night’s drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.” Link – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
Let me reiterate, Christians have no business participating in Halloween other than educating themselves and their children as to why this is an evil holiday.
Now let us get back to the good news of Scripture from the Book or Epistle of Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:5-7 (KJV)
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
I spent quite a bit of space last week speaking about Grace, the work of Grace, and that Grace is the Holy Spirit. The things that happen in our lives that we call the grace of God or the favor of God are the results of our love of God (obedience to His Word) and orchestrated by the Holy Spirit according to the will of God. Let’s take a look at Ephesians 2:7 in a different translation.
Ephesians 2:7 (YLT)
7 that He might show, in the ages that are coming, the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus,
The exceeding inexhaustible kindnesses that God the Father is now showing and will forever show toward us is His Grace and the expression of His Grace. The lynch pin of it all is our being in Christ Jesus. Remember that the use of the word Christ signifies that we are in the Messiah and full participants of His salvation. Second, we are in, intimately joined with the Anointed One who is not only our example but our Shepherd, the Head of the Church. Third, we must be in, immersed in, the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit resides within us from the time of salvation, He is the quickening Spirit. We are immersed in the Holy Spirit, He is smeared all over us with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is also a filling of the Spirit of God that occurs at the time of the Baptism of the Spirit (Acts 2:4). I have heard it said that the filling of the Holy Spirit must be maintained however it appears to me that it is more of an issue of not offending or hindering the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Head of the body of Christ, the body of Anointing in the earth. He is the King of kings in the Kingdom of God. He is the High Priest and we are the lesser priests in the earth. This is a really good deal ladies and gentlemen. Before I finish with this verse and the discussion of Grace let me point something out about the definition of the word ‘grace’ in the Greek. The transliteration of the Greek word is ‘charis’ in English meaning graciousness. The root word or origin of the word ‘charis’ is ‘chairō’ meaning to be cheerful, calmly happy, and being well-off. So long as we are focused on our Heavenly Father on Jesus we will have a calmness, a happiness, a cheerfulness because we are well-off. Our Father is God the Father, Jehovah, and we are in Christ Jesus.
The storms of life come but they cannot envelope us and damage us so long as we maintain our focus on and our faith in Him. When we are about the Father’s business being salt and light in our assignment, He is about our earthly business. It is so important that we study the Word of God, that we practice the voice of God, and that we follow that voice. Otherwise we can find ourselves outside His protections, which happens when we get caught up with the cares of life.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
