I haven’t seen much of the spiritual realm. Not comparatively. I have occasionally seen demons and paranormal activity; I dabbled in the occult and experienced a great deal of power, then I was “delivered” (we could say exorcised), and experienced the even greater power of the Lord, multiple miracles, et cetera, et cetera. But I do not see most things most of the time–not in that realm.
But this is the point:
Most people do not see the spiritual realm, but it nonetheless exists. And if Christians DID see it… well, I think they would live quite differently (in fact, I think everyone would).
We wouldn’t, after all, allow poisonous snakes and deadly spiders to infiltrate our homes. Not if we could see them. Not if we were sober. We would get shovels and bug spray and hire an exterminator–anything to get rid of the problem. And yet, many of us DO have such in our homes, and sometimes in our bodies. We live in a way that is detestable to the Lord. We do things and watch things and listen to things and think about things that we don’t even realize are destroying us; we don’t realize our actions are attracting the enemy and beginning a cycle of temptation, lust, sin and death (James 1). Worse is feeling oppression and conviction and making excuses to deal with it later.
If only we could see what we were up against. If only we understood what weapons we as Christians have against the powers of darkness.
For the follower of Jesus there really are no excuses. It’s a question of who and what we Love.
This past weekend we had our first real storm of the season, and we weren’t prepared for it. Our rain gutter, as the picture shows, did not quite make it through the first of the wind and rain. It looked like it was also going to pop right on through that bedroom window, and so we were out in the rain trying to remedy it.
The lesson is that some things need to be dealt with before the storms come, or it becomes too late.
Noah was able to rescue his family from the wrath of God because he began building the ark right away. Rahab put the red cloth outside her window immediately, even though she would have seen the attack from her window as the Israelites approached for battle. Esther called an urgent fast that the upcoming destruction of her people would be turned around by the Lord–and of course it was.
Likewise, there are things we were created to do. And there are storms that are prophesied to come. As a follower of Christ I know that I am not called to live in the world, but to live in the kingdom of God within the world. And there are certain good works which Christ prepared beforehand for me to do–and for you too, whether you know about it yet or not (Eph 2:10). We can’t function in our purpose for God until we submit to God, love God, and hear God. Our greatest asset is time, and yet there is not enough time to waste. Storms are coming, so we should prioritize so that they don’t catch us by surprise.
I’ve experienced so many miracles and don’t think I’ve recorded a single one, so here’s a personal one: The last time I went to the dentist I had a cavity that needed filling straight away, but I didn’t like the dentist and couldn’t quite afford the dentist’s steep rate (they had used my insurance money on x-rays and told me I would have to pay out-of-pocket); then I got pregnant and didn’t want anything in my mouth. And anyway, I never got the thing filled. As soon as I realized it might take awhile to find another dentist I prayed that the Lord would fill my cavity or else take it away completely, and had so much peace in praying that I forgot about it for several months.
How ever many months later, when I was flossing my teeth in front of a mirror, I noticed that I had a new filled-cavity in–I was pretty sure–the same place I had had the unfilled cavity at my last appointment. I only have two other fillings, so this new one really stood out. I was very excited because I knew the Lord had healed my tooth!
Today I went to a new dentist where my miracle was confirmed!! I have no unfilled cavities, old or new! And the one I did have was completely taken care of!! I do not know why the Lord chooses to heal some things and not others, but I am so excited to testify that once again He has chosen to demonstrate a healing in me! Praise Jesus!
As a child, Christmas was always my favorite holiday, not because we celebrated Jesus’ birthday (which we most definitely did), but because Santa was coming, and with him, presents. I just want to be honest: Santa has many of the same qualities as Jesus, plus he’s tangible, comes every year, and gives just the right gift; of course he seems more exciting.
I remember staying up late to listen for Santa and his reindeer on the roof as someone made an imitating sound. I remember my excitement in waking up the next morning to see that Santa had eaten every bit of the cookies and eggnog we left out for him. And, of course, I felt great affirmation that the full stockings and presents meant I had been judged ‘good’ by the one who sees all things.
I didn’t just believe in Santa. My childlike faith caused me to put a great deal of stock into both him, and the ideals he represented.
Then in late elementary school when I was recruited by my parents to be one of “Santa’s elves” and wrap presents, I was heartbroken. I had wanted so much to believe Santa was real and had even defended my position against elementary school rumors. If Santa wasn’t real was the Tooth Fairy? the Easter Bunny? Jesus?
If you’re teaching your children to believe in Jesus, I urge you not to also teach them to believe in Santa without being fully informed of the potential consequences. Certainly having Santa in the home does not necessarily lead to spiritual apostasy (I must say, my parents did a good job raising us to have faith in Jesus and all four of us still love the Lord today)… but do we really want to distract our youth from Jesus Himself?
This article by a Baptist ministry gives a very thorough history of Santa throughout the centuries, while comparing Santa to Jesus and giving verses and commentary to show how dangerous the belief in Santa can be. It is well organized and easy to skim; the history starts in section two: http://www.av1611.org/othpubls/santa.html
This article is a much shorter comparison of the main attributes of Jesus and Santa: http://www.biblebelievers.com/jmelton/SantaClause.html
What do you think? Should Santa be taught in the Christian home?
I’ve been very sick for a few weeks now, and it was so bad when it started that I couldn’t imagine what could be ‘wrong’ with me. By the second week of pain and nauseousness, I decided to spend a day fasting and praying to draw closer to God, because I thought I experiencing the physical manifestations of a spiritual attack (this does happen to me sometimes). But that night, I had continuous dreams about being pregnant and knew it to be true. One pregnancy test and a doctor’s visit later it’s confirmed: we’re going to be parents! My husband and I are excited! 
That said, it’s been a difficult first trimester. I’ve spent nearly all my time lately either on our couch or bed–or floor, in a few rougher moments. And I’m practically never sick, so not ‘functioning’ like this has been difficult and shocking to me. I’ve done almost no reading, no researching, no meeting of people, no writing (even to journal), hardly any eating (though this is improving slowly)… It’s been a new and exciting uphill journey.
My joy level, fortunately, has been fairly high, so I don’t want it to sound as if this first trimester has been terribly awful. In fact, with so many of my normal activities on hold, I’ve been able to spend many uninterrupted hours with the Lord in pure intercession and worship: singing a great deal in the Spirit, and marveling at the miracle going on in my body. I’ve also felt closer to my family than ever–though we’ve always been a pretty tight-knit group. These are definitely precious times, despite the constant nausea and physical pains. I even think I feel the Lord more powerfully when pain allows me to cry more desperately to know and experience Him.
