Easter Sunday; Boy is this Holiday Misunderstood!

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Although most people think of Easter as a Christan holiday, would you believe it if I told you it is actually not?

Easter gets it's root from pagan holiday rituals to celebrate spring and new life. The pagans used Easter to celebrate the god of fertility believing that she controlled the growth around them and if they didn't worship her she would harden their land and close their wombs.

When I look at Easter I don't see Christ in any common celebrations of this holiday either. Hunting Easter eggs, the Easter bunny, and candy are all the current celebration of the world around us and I don't believe that the dancing to the god of fertility exactly portrays Christ either. These things all has pagan roots and came not from the word of God, but from men and women trying to understand their world without God's view.

Don't get me wrong here, I don't believe that abstaining from holidays is going to help your children understand Christ better and I do believe that making things to point to Christ is a much better way to do it, but I think another key is not to emphasize those things that are not of God. Going to things like the Passion Play, or even putting on a Passion Play, reading about Jesus's sacrifice on the cross and even having a resurrection  party are all things we can do to celebrate Christ with this holiday.

But alas I'm not done rambling yet. You knew there was more didn't you?

This is not how God intended for us to celebrate his work on the cross.

What? Blasphemy you say? Well I don't see any references to Easter in scripture do you?

He gave us the high holy days in his word, those days that were written in the Torah to celebrate remember and worship him. Those days were all pictures that he wanted us to remember and to relive so that we would better understand who he is and how his words were fulfilled by Jesus dying on that cross.

The people of the old treatment had no idea the depth of what they were celebrating when they celebrated Passover. This holiday was made for them to celebrate their exodus from the slavery and bondage in Egypt. How many of us realize it was also made for us to celebrate our exodus from slavery and bondage to sin?

The pascal lamb or passover  lamb was the lamb sacrificed on that sad night that the angel of death tread through the streets raking the firstborn sons of Egypt. the first celebration if this holiday was on that night as they were to sacrifice the lamb and put the blood if this lamb on their door to show their covering of the Lords protection.

Looking more closely at the instructions gives us a big clue. They were to drain the blood of the pascal lamb and put the basin of blood on the ground at the base of the door (usually in the  center of the door way) then they were to take and dip the branches in the blood and strike the  top of the door and then the two side posts if the door. Do you see the picture yet? The basin for the nails in his feet, the top of the door marking the crown of thorns and lastly the sides marking the nails in his hands, altogether forming a cross on the door that the angel of death saw to tell him to passover that house for the Lord resided with those inside.

Is this staying to look like God's celebration for us yet? It should.Paul makes it very clear when he tells us that Jesus is our passover lamb, sent to take away the sins of the world. If this isn't a more obvious instruction, I don't know what is.

With all that being said, in this house hold we celebrate passover, and plan to explain Easter to our girls as well. Easter dinner with family and friend will most likely be common for us as well, but for me I want to hold the celebration of Passover in higher esteem since God specifically designed it for me to celebrate him with.

Ultimately, whatever we do we need to be sure to turn our eyes and hearts to his calling. He has instructed us to not stumble each other with legalism, so one plan to celebrate shouldn't hinder you from celebrating Christ as you see fit! But I am curious to know how many people know the roots of the things they celebrate. Have you researched the holidays you celebrate?

Celebrate for HE IS RISEN!

Does your family celebrate Passover? Why or why not? How do you celebrate Easter?

Devotional Excerpt: Regrets and The Past

Why wasn't I saved sooner? Why did I have to go through all the things I went through because of my sin? The Lord tells us in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15) that we are set apart for his purpose from the womb, why then did I have to do the awful things I did, or deal with the consequences of my actions? 

When reading through a bible study I have been following recently, one thing smacked me square in the face, I'm harboring feelings of regret. I never used to do this, I used to hold the philosophy that no matter how something turned out, it was what was meant to be and every experience was worth it. So why was I holding on to these feelings? Realizing my sin. Knowing that the things I have done bring disgrace to the Lord, how could I say they are worth it? The 'what if's' took hold of my mind and heart and weighed heavily on  me. How could I ever face up to things that scar my dear Lord's reputation just by the fact that I am now his.

My husband and I have only been married a short time even though we were engaged to be married 14 years ago. We both made choices and sinned both together and apart that led to a 10 year separation. We married other people, had extremely rough marriages and divorces and the Lord led us back to each other.

Although I grew up in a Christian home and lived a 'Christian' life as a child, when My husband and I originally met, I didn't know the Lord. I knew of him, and I honestly hated him. Circumstances in my childhood had led to bitter feelings towards God. 'If there is a God, I want nothing to do with him' I thought. I was not anywhere near what the Lord had planned for my future.

Through a painful marriage to an abusive husband the Lord brought me to understanding, and a place of repentance. The Lord met with me, in my sin, convicted me and redeemed me to use me for his plan. However, I was still living in sin. I was married by law to a man that the Lord did not intend for me. I was struggling against the Lord in every way because of this. My peers all pushed me to stay in my marriage and attempt to bring him to the Lord, to love this man as my husband the way it was intended.(1 Cor 7:13-14) Although in a lot of cases and ways this road of thinking is proper and correct, I had forgotten about what marriage really is. I had forgotten about my first husband. The man I was sharing a home with was not what the Lord desired for me, and somewhere inside me I knew it. Psalm 127:1~ Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh in vain. The Lord had given me a husband and built a relationship for me, even before I became the Lord's child, I had turned my back on it.

I worked hard to ignore the Lord telling me that this wasn't right for me. I threw back his words of encouragement to the married as he gently showed me time and time again of his laws in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy of what engagement means,and what actions required marriage. He gently reminded me over and over about my first husband. This battle between self and the Lord lasted three years. I had known all along that I belonged with Mike, I knew when we separated that we were doing something wrong. I had long thought about leaving and going back to the man who had stolen my heart and married me as a young girl. If it weren't for my confusion and circumstances, I would have left and gone to him years before.

As a baby Christian I thought the Bible was clear and obvious, rules are rules and the rules were that you stayed married, period. I didn't bother to read the Bible, those were rules I knew growing up that's what every Christian says about marriage, I didn't need to read the Bible for the Lord's take on it. But I had still forgotten, I was married to Mike. In the Bible an engagement was a marriage. The marriage contract started from the day a couple became engaged. The law required a divorce decree to separate an engaged couple just as though they were married. (We see this in the story of Mary and Joseph for example, they were betrothed to each other and when it came known to Joseph that she was with child he intended to divorce her quietly until the Lord sent an angel to inform him that Jesus was to be born of his beloved and she had not betrayed him, Matt 1:18-20) To make even clearer the case that we were married the laws of Deuteronomy concerning fornication state that any couple caught in the act of consentual fornication were to be married quickly. (Deut 22:28-29) So by our sin of having sex while engaged but not married, we married each other spiritually. In essence I was living polygamy. In spite of the Lord leading me to this understanding, I ignored him and tried to fix my worldly marriage because people who didn't know my story or understand the abuse I was taking would look down on me for leaving!

You can't let what someone might think of you, even in the church, stop you from doing what the Lord prompts you to do. Things are sometimes more complex and sometimes people with the best intentions don't know you or your story well enough to guide you in a Biblical manner. I've learned that no matter what people say, you must allow the Lord to guide you around the Bible. He is the author of it as well as your creator, he knows what you need to read and when. This is not to say that you shouldn't seek Godly counsel, you must always seek Godly counsel, but you also must seek to understand the Lord's law and his leading and guiding as well. Not only that, scripture interprets scripture and the Lord will make things stand out all over the place if he is guiding you. One reference can be misinterpreted, repeated consistently and in several places the Lord will concrete the concept he is teaching you.

With that being said, I still fought to save my worldly marriage for three years. Finally after my prayer and cries for understanding the Lord brought to light my husbands affairs. The affairs that had undoubtedly been going on for the entirety of our life together. The Lord had released me from the bonds of my worldly prison. (Matt 5:32, 1 Corinthians 7:15- If the unbeliever should depart, the brother or sister holds no bondage) Now given this story, and the brief peek inside my past, can you see where the regrets and 'what if's' leading to them hide?

In reading through Lord help me grow spiritually strong in 28 days by Kay Arthur and David Arthur, day 9 speaks to my soul. She paraphrased her story (much as I did here) and explains how she was entrenched in a deep jealousy of the teenagers she was teaching because they, if they heeded her advice, had the opportunity to skip the dreadful things she endured because of sin. Then she shared what the Lord led her to.

The apostle Paul, formerly Saul, has a life story that would definitely bring forth some regret. He prosecuted and murdered Christians as a steadfast Jew thinking that these men and women were insane to believe that Jesus was the Christ Messiah and one true King. How high must his regret list have been? Yet we see him humble and Jesus led in the letters he writes as Paul to the Christian churches in the gentile nations. His sin and his past brought him to understand his desperate need for Jesus' work on the cross. He is one of the most influential New Testament authors, he is also one of the best examples of what God can use for his purposes.

The Bible tells us that everything written in it is written for our learning. When you look at Paul's life before Christ, the ugly sins that he perpetrated are driving curiosity into those who saw him later head over heels for Christ. What would that curiosity have driven these people to do? I know what curiosity leads me to, research. When I research truly seeking out truth, guess what, I find the truth. That's exactly what was intended because the truth can only be truly found in one, Jesus Christ. So taken that into consideration, what is my past for? Why did I have to be saved so late in the game? Why did I let my sin carry me away from my beloved? For Christ's purposes, he saved me when he was ready.(Gal 1: 15-16) Just like Paul, I have a past that shows my desperate need for Jesus. My need for Christ is like oxygen, we need it to survive, and I only understand it and fully comprehend it because of my sin. (Rom 8:1) But maybe that isn't all it's for. Maybe Jesus plans something more for it. Just like Paul reached some others through his story. Jesus might plan to reach someone through me.

Maybe your past is something you wish to bury and forget. Maybe you regret it like I did, but maybe just maybe there is a bigger reason to ask yourself  'Who is Jesus going to reach using my story?'

Is there something you struggle with because you are ignoring the prompting of the Lord? I pray that the Lord release you from those bonds and abundantly clarify his will for you.

Devotion Excerpt: Who is this God we serve anyways?

With the challenges of Christian life, what are we passing on to others around us? Do we know who God really is?

This week in an effort to know God I am going to be more intentional about my devotions. The sitting down and just reading is great, it's important, but I want more. I need desperately to know this God that we pray to work for and are supposed to teach our kids about. No matter how often in my life I've thought "I totally understand God" I am beginning to realize it has never been true. I really don't know God like I would like to. I don't understand the depths and heights and lengths of his love, chances are I never will. But I do know that I can make an effort to know him better. We all know that every relationship begins with getting to know each other. So here is the beginning. . .

To know God as I am reading I am going to start taking special notice of where God is mentioned in the script I read. For example:

Romans 11:33-36 reads ~
Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and unfathomable his ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
or who has first given to Him  that it might be paid back to Him again?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.



Do you see him? Do you see how this passage describes who God is?


The first part praises him for his knowledge and wisdom, tells of his character in how we will never fully see it all at once. The next asks why we think we know when we don't. The third asks why we think it was us who brought us what we have. The fourth explains who did, God. He created all, Sustains all, and Owns all. That is why we need to glorify him.

That is how I am trying to read the text from now on. What does the text say about the God of the universe?
My hope is that by reading it this way, I will come to have a better understanding of who God is and what he has to say to me.

Which brings me to part two of my new study method. Life application.My life is supposed to mirror Christ to the world around me. Does it always? Do I truly show God to the world? The first step is to know who God is the next is to apply his attributes to my life.

In the passage above it states that the Lord knows all and has wisdom beyond what I can even imagine. So in my time of need, God already knew. I can have peace in the fact that God knows what comes next too. How many people can we say that about? and If he already knows and is wise who should I turn to for the answers? God's word. The Bible tells us that we cannot counsel the Lord, but he can most certainly counsel us! The next reminds us that He gave us what we have, even that which He takes away. We have nothing without him.Which also means we have all through him. We shouldn't worry about anything because he holds the future. He will sustain us.

Now if I apply this to my life. Say that giant bill that looms that I have no idea how to pay, or even the Job applications my husband hasn't heard back from. The possibility of a move. None of these things should worry my or trouble me. God knows, God has a plan to pay that bill, the perfect place for us to live is already in the works and God will hand Daddy-O the job he needs when the time is right. So what do I do? Relax! Rest in him and let him take care of it. Makes it so easy right? But only if I truly throw it on him. If I worry and fret and dwell on the maybe's I dwindle away that precious time Jesus is giving me to rest. What does my obedience look like to the rest of the world that needs to see God? Guess what? They can see him! When I obey the Lord and rest, they see the peace of Christ surrounding me. How cool is that?

What kind of things do you look for when you read God's word? Is there a devotion method that has brought you a better understanding of God?

The Great Halloween Debate

Photo Credit: http://blog.tinyprints.com/Cards/fall-decorating-ideas/

A post I was reading re-kindled a few thoughts I have studied in depth on Holidays. I thought I would share them here. Today I will share specifically on Halloween, later on I will post more on other Holidays especially Biblical Holidays.

While I will primarily rely on Wiki Links for my sources know that I have done furious research in the past to this effect and I would encourage anyone with a passion for anything to do the same. (thorough research, be a Burriean as Paul states)

There is a great debate in the Christian community about Halloween and what should Christians do about it?
Here I thought I would shed some light on some preconceived notions.

Halloween is not a secular holiday.

Yes you heard me correctly. Halloween is actually based on a Christian root. Misunderstanding early Christians clinging to the Abraham's Bosom of the Old Testament came up with this idea of purgatory when told that Abraham's Bosom no longer existed. (as Christ abolished the need for separation from the Father through his death and resurrection) The idea was that recently deceased would go to purgatory to wait until the one time every year that they could all continue on into heaven. This continuation was All Hallow's and therefore All Hallow's Eve was a day to celebrate the saints and bless them as they went into paradise. As you can guess the Devil knowing full and well that the idea of purgatory being false used this idea to spark fear. It was twisted by saying that souls could haunt the earth on all hallow's eve and seek their revenge one final time before entering their final destination whether that be Heaven or Hell. This incited fear and people would don costumes to hide from the spirits. This tradition spread much more than honoring the saints. (The devil is clever you know!) and now it has become either very ugly or very perverse.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

So how do we fix it? How do we celebrate a holiday that has become so ugly?

Personally I don't think abstaining is a good idea. Jewish kids in this country that abstain from Christmas celebrations are often jealous of friends and neighbors that get to participate and there becomes a negative stamina about their parents ideals on the holiday. Here is what my family is doing to "change what is"

1. We will be doing costumes, I think letting kids "dress up" spurs creativity and helps them to grow and learn. However we will be doing "cute" costumes and later on (once they are out of baby phase) they will have to come up with creative costumes. i.e. my sister one year got a bunch of mini boxes of  cereal and knives glued to some black clothing and went as a cereal killer . . . Which they can then help to build. We will not allow Gory, Gross, Demonic or Sexual Costumes. We will be emphasizing that this is just for fun etc.

2. We will not be participating in Trick-or-Treating. There really is no need for all the sugar and etc. Instead we will be eating a healthy "feast" and trying to talk any family members or friends into joining us.

3. Fall activity time. The week surrounding Halloween will be perfect for creating fall luminaries, wreaths, and garlands. As well as making pumpkin pies, pumpkin spice lattes and other fall favorite recipes.

and finally 4. The most important part I think is to give kids a proper understanding of what happens after we die. We will discuss Christ and what we can expect as "souls". This will more than likely change in what it looks like as our kids grow, but this is what I want to center our conversation around as we feast with friends and family.

Other things we may or may not do as a family throughout the years to come:

Harvest Carnivals- I think there are so many cool fall celebrations that we could attend at churches. They are also a great outreach to kids who don't know the Lord.

Fall nature walks- How much fun is it to watch the leaves change and collect pine cones and sticks? Nature is glorious and God gave us so much to see why shouldn't we see it?

Opening our doors- I think it's important to reach out as much as we possibly can and using a holiday to reach out and preach is a really great thing. So can the neighbor, stranger, neighborhood kids join our feast?

Have a Halloween Party to celebrate what an amazing gift we have to know that when we are absent from our bodies we will be present with the Lord.

This kind of "Godizing" modern holidays is what early Christians had to do with Christmas and Easter, which today are commonly known as Christian holidays but actually hold roots in pagan holidays. If they could turn a pagan day into a Christian one we can certainly turn a Christian holiday into a Christ focused holiday once again!

How do you plan to make God and/or Fall the center of your Halloween Celebration?

Paranoid?

A recent realization of mine is that we all tend to have a little bit of paranoia and conspiracy theory running around in the back of our heads. Hearing several of the health concerns and while I will admit, many a time our family err's on the side of caution and changes our habits. But lately I wonder, how much of our changes are based on fear?


Fear is a great motivator, a undeniably evil tormentor, and unfortunately something I have succumb to way too often. As a "crunchy" mommy I look at the health risks associated with everything, the risks of SIDS (which really hits me hard as two families in our last church have lost babies, and I have babies!) the risks of cancers, the risks of heart disease and a whole myriad of other problems, this worry list continues to grow with each discovery I make. "How could I have let this come into my house without even knowing?" I think. I indignantly glare at the objects and beat myself up for my lack of research about them.

Yes I worry, I worry more than I think I ever should. My worry list drags on and on until sometimes I wonder if anything in our lives is truly healthy for our kids. While I will continue to research and study and more than likely I will probably still worry, I am reminded of one true fact. God is in control. Period. No if's. No and's. No but's. Our kids could face horrible things whether or not we change every bad thing in our lives. There is nothing we can say or do. In fact many a time we worry about things that, even though they are possibilities, they will NEVER happen. Not to say that nothing will happen or some of those things won't take place, or even that we shouldn't take precautions to safeguard our children, but I think sometimes in this journey we need to stop focusing on what could happen if we don't do this or that. It is out of our control whether or not things happen.

God gently reminds me that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.(Romans 8:28) His eternal being knows my life, my heart and my kids better than I ever will. He knows everything good and bad that is going to happen and he knows the end. We can be confident that he will work it all out for his good and his plan.  As Billy Graham said, "I've read the last page of the Bible, It's all going to turn out alright." What more is there to say?

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. ~ Hebrews 12:28-29

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

As we meditate on God's word and grow closer to him, he holds us, he stabilizes our walk and he and he alone holds the future. Don't forget that Satan had to beg God's permission to attack Job. He will not allow us to be faced with anything we cannot handle with his help.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be Thankful. ~Colossians 3:15

Just some things to keep in mind before you throw away everything you own because it's unsafe. :o)
(I know I needed the reminder! Pray for me! I need it to battle my fear! If you need prayer feel free to comment, I will pray for you too!)

Stephanie