Niki’s Thoughts

*****Disclaimer: I am not telling anyone that it is wrong to celebrate Halloween! I believe this is a personal choice...and one that takes self reflection, prayer, and time in God's Word. Today's thoughts are simply my own personal journey on testing this 'holiday' against God's Word. Just my take on it, no judgement if you do not agree.*****  "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons." I Corinthians 10:21 NIV "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." Ephesians 5:11 NKJV  "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." I Peter 5:8 GNT "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!" Isaiah 5:20 ESV "but test everything;...

 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 ESV I hear Jeremiah 29:11 quoted a lot. The NIV version is most popular, instead of "peace...not evil" it says, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you." And I think it is important to know that while God was talking to His people during a specific time when this was written, He is also talking to us today. I believe because we know God's Word is speaking to us, present tense, that it is also important for us to understand the context in which He was saying these things. It is good for us to memorize scripture to use in the spiritual warfare we are battling every day of our earthly lives, but that scripture will be a more powerful weapon against our enemy if we understand the context behind it. Believe me when I tell you that Satan knows God's Word way better than we ever will - and he one hundred percent wi...

 "For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice." Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done." Jeremiah 11:7-8 "But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." I John 2:5 " If you love Me, keep My commandments ." John 14:15 Obedience. I think just that word, obedience, elicits some strong emotions in most people. The emotion we feel might depend upon the time of day, or day of the week that we hear it, am I right? If you hear obedience when your parents are saying 'no' to your weekend plans, you might feel a little resentment. How about hearing this in your wedding vows, wives obey your husba...

  I encourage you to read John 15:1-8 for Jesus full lesson on the vine and His branches... "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that I may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2 Last year we bought a smaller house that sits on almost twelve acres of land. Sadly, because of health issues, the previous owners were no longer able to care for it. We have slowly (painfully slow in my impatient mind) been working on taming some of the over-growth. For many years, no one tended to the maintenance of the many trees, bushes, and plants. No pruning had taken place. There are a few trees out front - I'm not sure what kind - that had grown all sorts of odd ways, with many branches curving down to the ground rather than up towards the sky. Buried in there were some sticks - off the branches - that had died but were still connected to the trees. I spent several hours this a...

  "Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." Galatians 3:24-25 The law, which God issued to Moses in the Old Testament, was necessary for God's people. In Paul's words to the Galatians, it was a tutor which helped lead God's people to Christ. I have heard it also compared to guardrails on a toddler's bed, or bumpers on a bowling lane. These are tools that guide us toward the correct place to be, to go, or a path of deeper understanding. I don't remember this tutor analogy from my previous studies. However, I love this even more, because it provides a better picture of our relationship with the law after we have found faith in Christ's promises.  After all, a toddler does not keep the guardrails on their bed into adulthood. Nor do most adults use bumpers when they bowl. These analogies make it seem as if the law is a tool only used in childhood w...