| by John Jewell (London, England) |
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| On the surface, it ‘seems’ logical! What is the devils’ attitude toward Jesus? It ‘seems’ logical that since he tried to kill Jesus on several occasions, and since he was able to influence the Jews and the Romans to finally KILL him, that the devil’s attitude toward Jesus would be one of HATE! And, if that is true, it logically follows that the devil would also HATE anything that is intended to be WORSHIP toward Jesus! Today, Millions of sincere Christians participate in ‘holidays’ that are supposed to be WORSHIP toward Jesus. What does the devil think of those ‘holidays’? Does he like them, or HATE them? Is it true? …Does the Devil Hate Christmas? I found an article on the web that stated, “the devil hates christmas!” here is what it said… “the devil hates christmas. the birth of Christ was the greatest event in human history… the world that rejects the truth about the son of God hates the manger scene and the songs that tell the story to the world. …..” A priest had this to say, “it’s also good for us to remember though, that the devil hates christmas almost as much as he hates easter.…” In another on-line article, one preacher went on and on about Christ’s sacrifice, his death on the cross, and then declared, “no wonder the devil hates christmas so much!“ Now, since christmas is supposed to be about the birth of Christ, I’m not sure where that fella was coming from, but it’s plain that he believes that the devil hates christmas! So, does the devil hate christmas, or is this world jumping to a ‘conclusion’? Today, many, modern christian preachers have come to the conclusion that Jesus died to free christians from the law! Those preachers exit the seminaries, believing and preaching, that Jesus died to establish what they call “christian Freedom”! Freedom from any sort of rules or regulations… freedom to love and worship God any way they please! they preach it, and their congregations believe it! christmas and all its many facets is one of the major times that this worship is offered up to Jesus, the Son of God. Every year, millions of sincere christians approach this “season”, with great determination to worship the true God! Not an idol, but the real, true God and his holy precious Son! It’s that time of year again, friends… sleigh bells ringing, children singing… soon, the tv and radio will be inundated with the sights and sounds of the christmas spirit… folks are getting ready to worship Jesus and celebrate his birth! Those who are going to celebrate, are sincerely convinced that what they are about to do, is alright with God because their pastors have taught them that they can decide what ‘worship’ is. The plot goes like this: the devil hates Christ… and because he hates Christ, he also hates Christ’s birth! and, because he hates Christ’s birth, he would automatically hate christmas, which is supposed to celebrate Christ’s Birth! And since, the devil hates christmas, the opposite must be true: that God loves christmas! –that is how the reasoning goes, but what if that ‘reasoning’ is flawed?? What if, God is the one who hates ‘christmas’? That may be ‘un-thinkable’ to you, but can you stop and think? Will you? Can you believe your bible? Will you? Here is what it says! The devil has deceived the whole world! (rev. 12:9) Some people take negative comments about Christmas, as offensive… Some get personally offended and unwilling to listen to anything that might increase their knowledge about this ‘holiday’. But can we listen? Can we stop and think? Can we try with all our might to understand that it is the customs, and practices… the traditions, that we are talking about? Not the people! Fact: the ‘season’ long anti-dates Christ! the customs and practices… the traditions date back almost to the beginning… they are the customs and symbols of the worship ways of the heathen! That is where they come from… from heathenism! They are “the way? of the heathen! So, can we lay aside our offended natures, and look at the holiday, and the original purpose... the original “reason for the season”! Originally, the reason for the season, was for the worship of false Gods! Every one of the customs and symbols were utilized for that purpose, and truly, unbeknownst to the masses, the so-called ‘gods’ they worshiped, were not the actual recipient of the worship they were offering up!!! Those false gods were not real! The ‘worship’ was offered, but they did not receive it!!! The actual recipient of that worship was the one who had inspired it… satan, the devil!! Every minute particle of every move these people made, every sacrifice, every offering, the use and re-use of every ceremony and tradition… every word and thought associated with those things, was actually worship that went to, and was received by, the devil, himself! Every year, unsuspecting, sincere, and loving people, bring out the lights and the tinsel… the decorations and traditions, with all the music and sights and sounds… they begin several weeks before the big day, getting ready to worship… Jesus! They spend time preparing, building, setting up the various items and articles that they will use to celebrate… they drink in, through their eyes and ears, the ‘spirit’ of christmas, assuming that ‘spirit’ is from God!! They begin to fill their heads with thoughts about Christ, and to dwell on Him and how much they love Him… they drink it in, mentally, and physically, until it begins to affect their ‘generosity’ to the point that they want to give to those who are less ‘fortunate’… they get so caught up in the ‘spirit of christmas’, that they begin to actually ‘love their neighbors’…at least, a lot more than they do ordinarily… and as the big day approaches, they get more and more excited and eager to worship! Some Don’t Celebrate Some, like me, do not celebrate… but, see… ‘that’ is ok… no one says that everyone has to celebrate…. for the most part, that does not bother anyone. What bothers some, is anyone who dares to say aught against the ‘season’!! When anyone speaks against Christmas, many assume that they are the target and the one being ‘judged’! They get offended… after all, here they are, struggling, striving to get ready to worship the Son of God… spending their money and their time to do so, marinating their minds in ‘the spirit of christmas’… and how dare anyone speak against it? We hope you are not offended. So, the people celebrate!! Their ‘intent’ is to worship Christ and celebrate His birthday!! They celebrate with earnest sincerity! They give it their all!! In the name of Christ, they strive to make the most of the season to tell others about Jesus and to do all the good deeds they can possibly do. They do great things! They feed the hungry and clothe the poor and give gifts to little children, “who otherwise wouldn’t have a christmas”. and they do it all in Christ’s name!!! But, for just a moment, let us remember what those symbols and customs and traditions are, and where they came from!! You will not find them in the bible! God never commanded anyone to ‘worship’ Him that way! Those symbols, and customs and traditions were designed and put into practice by deceived human beings to worship false ‘gods’… and that ‘worship’ ultimately found its way to the true father of that false worship… the ‘god of this world’!! It ultimately was received by the devil, himself! Their symbols, and customs and traditions were ultimately worship to satan! Again, it is said that “The devil hates Christmas.” But why?? Why would he? It is the very same thing he used to receive from the minds and the hands of the heathen!! The very same ‘worship’ that the heathen aimed at their false gods, and which ultimately went to the one who desired it in the first place!!!! Today, the modern “christian” has been led to take the same symbols, customs, and traditions, and aim them at the true God, as worship!! But the true God, does not want it, and will not receive it!! And if he will not accept it, or receive it, then it is worship… in vain! In their love and sincerity, the people want to worship the true God… they believe and have been taught, that it is ok with God, if they pick and choose how and when and with what customs, they will worship the true God!! That is what they have been taught… but not from the Bible!! The Plain Truth is, the True God never gave up his prerogative to define True Worship! The Plain Truth is, the True God, long ago, explained to his people, Israel, that He did not want those same symbols and customs and traditions applied to Him as worship!!! This truth is plainly written there in the Book of Jeremiah! There are a few, who see and understand that… They try to share it every year… the truth that God does not desire or crave worship that was once offered to heathen ‘Gods’ (and which actually went to his adversary, the devil!) Jeremiah 10:1 hear ye the word which the lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Jeremiah 10:2 thus saith the lord, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. Jeremiah 10:3 for the customs of the people are vain… Here we have a direct “thus sayeth the lord”!! That used to mean something, but apparently, not anymore! Not in the case of christmas! “learn not the way of the heathen”! Why would God say that?? Why would he tell His people, not to do that?? Would He say it if he didn’t mean it?? Does anyone care, or is everyone too offended to listen? Can anyone lay aside their hurt feelings long enough to think about God’s feelings?? Can anyone stop and ask, “what does God want?” John 4:23 but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth: for the father seeketh such to worship him. That verse mentions “true worshipers”. Are you a ‘true worshiper’? or, have you been led to worship him in vain? Yes, God desires to be worshiped!! But not with the way of the heathen! What else did he say? “the customs of the people are vain.“ These ‘customs’ are the product of the vanity of the people, inspired by the mind of the serpent!! They are vain worship, because the ‘worship’ never gets to the one that was supposed to be worshiped!!! As such, it is vain worship… it is useless, wasted effort!! “in vain do they worship me…” Can we stop being offended long enough to allow the truth of God to sink in? Can we stop craving ‘our way’ over and above His way, long enough to put these points of truth together, so we can actually see what using these ‘ways of the heathen’ does? It turns our sincere, intended worship, into zero worship!! Friends, this subject is very important to God! Deuteronomy 12:30 take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their Gods, saying, how did these nations serve their Gods? even so will I do likewise. God did not want His people enquiring after these false Gods, trying to find out how the heathen served and worshiped those false Gods!! He did not want His people trying to worship Him with those evil worship ways!! Deuteronomy 12:31 thou shalt not do so unto the lord thy God: Read This! Malachi 3:6 for I am the Lord, I change not… How plain and direct does it have to be??? God did not want to be worshiped with those customs, and symbols back then, and if Malachi 3:6 is true, why would he want to be worshiped with those customs and symbols now!!! Why? Again, in Deuteronomy 12:31 He tells us, “…for every abomination to the lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods;” Plain statement! Those ‘worship ways’, are an abomination to him!!! He hates those customs, symbols, and traditions!!!!! “…for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.” I know, you would never do that… that would be an abomination! But that verse is not just speaking of human sacrifice, it is referring to everything the heathen did, to worship their false gods!! Everything! Learning those other worship ways, and aiming them at the true God, as worship, is an abomination! So says your Bible! Wait!!! You would not do that!! That is not your intention!!! Right? Those who do so, thinking that God is pleased, are deceived! They are, in fact, disobeying God and ‘offending him’! The true God does not want that kind of worship!! He will not accept those customs, practices, and traditions as worship! The end result is no worship at all!! (except to the one professing christians do not really want to worship!! the adversary… the enemy of God!) Deuteronomy 12:32 what thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. That is the Plain Truth about what God wants and expects from His people!! I keep mentioning “His people”… are you one of His people? Really? Are you willing to lay aside your customs and symbols and traditions, and begin to want what he wants… to crave what he craves?? Does God want to celebrate the birth of his Son? No mention of that in the bible! Does Jesus want to be worshiped on His birthday? No mention of that in the bible either! But the bible does tell us what God wants!! Deuteronomy 12:32: The preachers and teachers declare that God is ok with anything that the people want to offer up as worship!! God, in his holy word denies that, and demands to be worshiped as he specifies!! Today, the modern ‘christian’, has been led to think that anything they want to offer up to God is ‘good enough’… they think that they can decide!! They firmly believe that whatever they decide is ‘worship’, will do! Is that really how God looks at it?? Read that verse in Deuteronomy again!! Deuteronomy 12:32 what thing soever I command you, observe to do it: Truly, today, that is a hard pill to swallow!! Who, if any, actually believes that God feels about it that way??? And here is the hardest part to take!! “…thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. “ Hardly anyone approaches this ‘season’ with that thought on their minds… they want to worship Christ!! They want to do it, the way their parents and grandparents did it… the way that was handed down from way back! They do it ‘automatically’… without thinking… without asking themselves this very important question: “am I ‘adding to’, or ‘taking anything away’ from the way that God wants and expects to be worshiped?” No, they don’t naturally think about that, and so they continue, year after year, offering up the same old stuff… not realizing that all their customs and traditions and symbols, mean nothing to God!! The end result is total failure! Because misdirected, unaccepted worship, is no worship at all!! No, the devil does not hate christmas! It is the same worship that he has received all along from the heathen… the very same customs, practices, and traditions that the heathen offered up to their false gods, as worship! Why would the devil hate the worship that ultimately comes directly to him?? Before you buy that next present or sing that next christmas carol?… Think about it! If you truly love God, may He bless you greatly as you seek to serve Him! May God grant that someone will understand! |
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