Resisting The Devil in You on Halloween – Purity 1491
Purity 1491 10/31/2024 Purity 1491 Audio Podcast
Purity 1491 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Well, It’s Thursday and it is also Halloween and I share this photo of a darkened highway path with a pleasant river view as the light fades into darkness as a visual encouragement to recognize the beauty in your life as you walk along the path of Christian Discipleship, and as a warning to not be tempted to seek out the dark delights of you pre-Christ existence.
A couple of days ago I confessed to relapsing with my food addiction as the “spirit of Halloween” caused me to revisit the childhood joys of eating mass quantities of candy and watching Halloween themed horror movies – and all because simply because of the season we are in. “It’s Halloween… I’m celebrating”. But the thing was that I was “celebrating” in secret as I “know” that candy and other sweet foods send me into addictive cycles of craving and ravenous uncontrolled eating where everything in sight gets devoured. That’s a problem and quite frankly when we take a look at that type of behavior – that almost mindless, automatic, consuming until the supply is gone or until it physically hurts to eat anymore- we can easily label it “demonic”. Similarly, horror movies highlight sex, violence, and the occult and draw us into the negative emotions of fear, anger, or lust. Sometimes you watch a horror movie and walk away fearful or disgusted or with thoughts about those pretty actresses who are not your wife and realize that you have exposed yourself to things that are not good, fail to entertain us, and leave us in a state worse off than where we started.
On Monday evening, my chomping down jumbo-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I said Jumbo – not King Size – Jumbo, and Frosted Donut Kit Kats while watching Halloween 6, was true regression as I could easily have been 15 years old again, instead of 52. I “saw” it while it was happening and there was no joy in it, the movie was dark and just bad, and candy was gone I was tired and went to sleep. I can’t even tell you what the movie was about as I now realize that the enemy or the “lust of the flesh” just used it as an excuse, along with “celebrating Halloween early” and “getting rid of the candy”, as a means to satisfy itself. The enemy or the flesh – that craving – got what it wanted and after all was gone took away with it all the excuses it used to compel me to give in. I didn’t really want to watch the movie – it was quite disturbing and a little ridiculous from what I recall – actually and after the eating was done – I had no interest in paying attention to it and just into a sugar induced coma – and woke up the next morning a little ill and quite sick of my sin causing me to confess it and to repent of it.
So as today is Halloween, let my pre-Halloween fleshly failure be a cautionary tale to you and encourage you NOT to follow in my footsteps. Instead of pigging out on candy, don’t – and instead of watching some horror movie to “celebrate Halloween” – choose not to and use Galatians and Philippians 4:8 as your guides.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) tells us
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I highlighted : adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, heresies, and drunkenness, revelries because they represent a lot of the Halloween temptations that we could face today. Adult Halloween parties hold the potential for sexual sin, drug use, drunkenness, and the overindulgence of food. It might be a stretch to call the “revelry” of overeating “drunkenness” in the traditional sense, but for the food addict, it really isn’t.
There are lots of people who will never drink alcohol or use drugs but who will continually need to get their “fix” from sweet, salty, or carb-laden foods. The clues that you are a food addict include obesity, eating for comfort, feelings of guilt or shame around eating, yo-yo dieting, secretive eating, and hiding or hoarding food. If more than one of these apply to you, I suggest getting Dr. Michael Brown’s book “Breaking the Stronghold of Food” or checking out other Christian resources on Food Addiction to start the process of getting free, like me.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) tells us
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.
I highlighted true, noble, just, pure, lovely, things of good report, virtue, and praiseworthy in the verse because these are the things that we should meditate upon and they are the polar opposite of the macabre, or even most secular, entertainment that is trust at us each Halloween.
So lean on the Lord today to “do what’s right” and good for you as a Christian. Although we are in the world we are not to be corrupted by the world, and I can assure you that you are better off when you submit to God and resist the devil than when you have to suffer the pain and guilt of sin and have to repent of it later.
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For those who want more evidence for Christianity than my simple encouragements provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By John G. Kruis.
( While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )
This morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Friendships.
1 Samuel 23:16-17 (ESV)
16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Saul my father also knows this.”
Today’s verses are the second of two passages that fall under the eighth point of our counseling reference guide resource’s section on Friendships.
8. Jonathan and David had an ideal friendship.
Today’s Bible verses show us an example of how true friendships will guide us to act in the interests of our friends even when it is hard.
In this portion of scripture, Jonathan is declaring his friendship and loyalty to David who has been anointed and favored by the Lord over his own father, King Saul because God was with David. Saul had disobeyed the Lord’s commands and acted outside of his authority to please the people around him, whereas – at the time – David was faithful to seek the Lord’s will for his life and to obey Him.
Even though the family ties were there, Jonathan rightly decided to side with His friend – because it was the Lord’s will to give David the kingdom. Showing that while we should be loyal to our friends, we should only do so in as much as they reflect God’s righteousness and will in their lives.
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.com where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from “According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament” By Stephen F. Olford – A Collection of Devotional Journals: 1940-1941.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage you all to purchase Olford’s books for your own private study and to support his work. This resource is available online for less than $10 at many sites.
EVENING READING: REVELATION 12
“Her Child was caught up to God.” – Revelation 12:6
I see here the triumph of Christ over sin, Satan, and death. Surely, the picture here is that of the Lord Jesus in His birth, life, death, and resurrection. Though the dragon was there to swallow Him up, yet He became victorious over death.
“Up from the grave He arose With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.”20
Through this victory, the angels and Michael were able to overcome the Devil. “They overcame [the Devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (v. 11).
Lord, make real to me more of the victory of
Your death and risen life. Amen.[1]
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] Stephen Olford and Heather Olford, According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament, A Collection of Devotional Journals 1940-1941 (Nashville, TN: B&H Books, 2008).
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