Are You an Observer of Days, Times, Months, and Years?
You may think this to be a strange question, but it is one that you should ask yourself. If you answered yes, then one thing you need to know is you have turned to weak and beggarly elements of this world and you're in bondage. But God wants to set you free by the power that raised Jesus from the dead so that you can inherit the things of the kingdom (power) of God.
In Galatians 3, Paul was speaking by the Spirit of God to the churches of Galatia and called them foolish people and asked them who had bewitched them because they should not obey the truth. That truth, we know, is the gospel. He then went on in Galatians 4:9-11 and said, "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
Growing up, I like most people, was raised to observe holidays, birthdays, anniversarys, and just about any and every other special occasion that existed. Every bit of it was witchcraft, and it brought me in bondage. The reason was because I didn't know, or obey the truth - the gospel. What witchcraft does is leads you away from the truth - from the gospel. You might want to read the whole book of Galatians and ask God to give you understanding because you will see that witchcraft is one of the works of the flesh. And it, along with the other works of the flesh listed, shut up the kingdom of God to a person.
What's even more amazing is the churches I attended throughout my entire life walked in this spirit just as well. As a matter of fact, most every church (or so called church) you have or will attend is bound by this spirit. And since we're talking about observing holidays, you can see how they observe every occasion that comes up, and many times they use these occasions to raise money for their ministry; and it says in I Timothy 6:10 that the love of money is the root of all evil.
After coming to Water of Life Church in August 1985, God started delivering me from the powers of darkness and lies of the devil that I had walked in the first 28 years of my life. The gospel being preached out of this apostle/prophet ministry started dealing with these things in my heart, because that is where spirits reside - in the heart of a man, woman or child. What else started happening was God started opening my eyes to see this Word as it is written and holding me responsible for what He was opening my eyes to see. The blinders were being taken off my eyes that the god of this world had blinded to the light of the glorious gospel because of my unbelief - II Corinthians 4:3-4.
When God brings you face to face with the truth of His Word, you have a choice to reject it or accept what it says. When you reject it, those Words will some day judge you (John 12:48), but when you accept it, the power that raised Jesus from the dead will start setting you free from every bondage in your life. So one thing God started delivering me from was being a observer of days and times - simply put, witchcraft.
Two of the biggest holidays we observe in this nation are Thanksgiving and Christmas, and in our home these two were no exception. I will share some personal testimonies about how God dealt with me in overcoming these, as well as other, holidays.
The Spirit of God started dealing with these witchcraft spirits in my life concerning holidays, etc., in '88, I believe it was. Thanksgiving had always been a big holiday that my family shared together, along with Christmas, but that year was the beginning of severing these holidays, and the family ties that go along with them. Doyle Davidson had asked us, along with several others, over to his house that day, and the beginning of overcoming these holidays was on. I was told by Doyle, on more than one occasion, that the reason I observed these days was because I was bound by witchcraft. Because of the honesty of my heart and how I could see it in the Word, I knew if I was going to go anywhere with God, I would have to overcome these bondage's that absolutely hinder and seduce a person's faith.
A year or so later, Thanksgiving was here again and we had planned to go to my mother's house for dinner. (You have to know that we don't get bound in one day, and we for sure don't come out of bondage in one day either. God's mercy and grace will always be sufficient for a person who has a heart to come out of bondage, though.) But something had happened to my grandmother and she had to be taken to the hospital. Therefore, Thanksgiving dinner at my mother's house was cancelled. It was not the will of God for me to go to the hospital that day. Instead, I knew in my spirit that God wanted me to stay home and pray.
I remember I was cleaning the shower and praying that morning, and I had not been to the grocery store to buy food since we had planned to go over to mother's to eat. So I asked the Lord, "What do you want me to do for food?" The Lord came back with a question and asked me, "What do you do on other days of the week?" I said, "Well, I fast." He said, "That's what I want you to do today." I said, "No, problem, but what about Travis and Amy (they were about 7 1/2 and 5 years old and had not done any fasting) - what do you want me to do about food for them?" Keep in mind - I had not been to the grocery store and it was closed that day and there was not much food at all in the pantry.
It wasn't but a couple of minutes later the kids came running into the house from playing outside with two other kids that had recently moved in our neighborhood down the street. They came running in and said their friend's parents had just asked them over to eat dinner with them and their grandparents. I said, "Lord, you do take care of things when I obey you, don't you?" So they went, and I fasted and prayed. That was the end of the Thanksgiving holidays for us. God was slowly, but surely, leading us out of these witchcraft bondage's - not only to holidays, but the bondage's that were there to 'family'.
Would you be willing to give up celebrating a holiday with your family, including your children, in obedience to God? Well, that is where He will begin - with your family. You will never know how bound you are to your family and your own desires until God starts leading you to lay them down. If you are going to walk with God upright in this gospel, He will require it of you.
The Christmas holidays have been much harder to overcome over the past 16, or so, years, mainly because this is one tough religious spirit. Also these holidays are nothing but man's tradition, which it says in Mark 7, make the Word of God of none effect. But a person that has a heart to serve God and wants to come out of bondage, and can read His Word with any amount of honesty, He will lead you out, as I stated earlier.
There are not certain parts of the Bible that we can pick and choose - believe what we like and forget what we don't like. As a matter of fact, it will take humility to walk through every bit of as the Spirit of God leads you. People that want to stay in bondage, God will leave you there. But I didn't have any desire to stay in bondage, and I have proven that to myself (and God already knew!). It has been, at times, painful coming out, but God has always brought me through in victory.
I will warn you here that when God starts leading you out, you're headed for a war. It does upset flesh when you don't do what flesh wants you to do any longer. You will have to do much praying and blessing while walking through it. I have come to see that many people cannot lay down these things because they don't want to offend or upset anyone. But Jesus didn't care who He upset, and He still doesn't. And that Spirit is in me.
Over the past several years, there have been times when God would tell us not to go to my family's house for Christmas. And no, it didn't go over well at all. It didn't even go over well with our children. But they all came to see that it didn't matter what they wanted us to do, we were going to obey what God wanted. As long as we were obeying the Spirit of God, that was all that mattered. There have been other times when He would tell us to go and we would, and it was to overcome spirits. Just in the past couple of years, though, have we really overcome this particular holiday.
People that say they are free and these things don't mean anything to them, and yet have never laid them down, are kidding themselves. Because the further you go along in this walk, the less these things will mean to you and the less you will observe them. You need to know also that the devil will always be there, even using flesh and blood to tempt you. But I have learned to humble myself and be willing to be all things to all people and let God deal in each situation. Amen.
I personally don't celebrate my birthday - it is something that God has taken out of my heart. I do not esteem one day above another - they are all alike to me. If you like to observe yours, I will gladly send you a card, buy you a gift or give you flowers - if God tells me to. And I will repeat that again - whatever God tells me to do, I will do it. But every year, family members as well as others make sure they remember my birthday. It doesn't offend me - I know that is where their heart is. Last year (2000) was the very first time that not a one of my family remembered my birthday and I was excited. You say, "Excited over that?" Yes, because I knew I had overcome for sure. The next day they remembered it and apologized they had forgotten about it, but I told them, "The reason you didn't remember it, is because it was God and I have overcome." I don't know if they understood that or not - it didn't matter - what mattered was I had overcome!
There are other things that God has led me to lay down concerning bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, etc., that I will not go into now. But if your activities are not according to the will of God, they are flesh and flesh opposes the Spirit of God. In John 2, you can see where Jesus went to a marriage in Cana of Galilee, but what was mentioned about this marriage was Jesus turning water into wine. This was the beginning of Jesus doing miracles. His glory was manifested and his disciples believed on Him because of it. If God isn't glorified in these things, they profit us nothing at all.
If you really have a desire to inherit the kingdom of God, ask God to start leading you out from under these bondage's and fleshly desires, and watch Him do it. He will take these cares of the world (desires of the flesh) out of your heart, and replace them with a desire for the the things of the kingdom (power) of God. It will come by believing the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus.
What could be greater than seeing God do mighty signs, wonders, miracles and healings instead of celebrating some holiday or special occasion anyway? That will be a celebration!! The Church is getting ready to see this take place and I do look forward to it. Are you ready for this to take place in your life? Or do you want to stay bound to your witchcraft practices?
In the book of Acts, God said those that believed were of one heart and of one soul. That heart and soul is one that has been purified by faith and is walking in the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe this gospel? Is that where your heart and soul is? Amos 3:3 says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed"?
It's time to repent and believe this gospel!
