Ironically 2020 seemed to be filled with bubbles…..literally no joke…..bubbles. We’re all hanging out in bubbles these days. We recently had dinner in a protective bubble thanks to the infamous virus that stopped the world in its tracks. Despite the craziness, I have to admit sitting in a bubble with no one else to taint the moment was kind of nice and a little romantic. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s true. It felt somewhat like one of those beach dinners for two……but in a bubble and I didn’t have to pay extra. While the bubble was nice it did skew my view. It was hard to see clearly outside the bubble, I couldn’t even make out what the signs said. Everything was blurred. Sound familiar?
While I’m not going to be talking about physical bubbles in this blog, I will be talking about our mental and spiritual bubbles.
Have you ever wondered what this idiom means anyway?
Per the free dictionary, it means to disprove, ruin or eliminate someone’s illusion, delusion, fantasy, misbelief or recent happiness.
Most of the time people want to stay in their happy bubble no matter the cost. Even if they know something’s wrong or not quite right. Even if they can’t see the truth clearly. They don’t want anything or anyone to ruin their moment, tradition, happiness or sense of fantasy. They hold onto this bubble because it’s “a feel good” tradition, event, time, etc. and it makes us happy. Happiness is all that matters right?
Have you ever had a moment where you had to say something that would burst someone’s bubble? More than likely, it was a moment where you felt bad but they needed to hear the truth.
And what was the usual response? “Why do you have to burst my bubble?” “Why did you have to ruin my fun?” “You’re such a Debbie downer!” It’s not usually positive right? Most of the time the response is defense, anger or people look for ways to justify themselves.
Sadly, I see this response becoming more and more common in the community of believers. Especially when it comes to addressing truth vs. error. While we don’t need to agree on everything there are some big fallacies that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. There are some great delusions that have been around for thousands of years. These errors have not only deceived, they’ve fundamentally changed the way we as believers live and worship the most high. They’ve created walls of separation.
Thankfully, my bubble was burst about 7 years ago when I was traveling with my brothers and sister in Thailand. I had been to Thailand a few times beforehand helping a great ministry, but this time was different. I felt an oppression I’d never felt before. My senses seemed to be awakened to the principalities surrounding me. Thanks to my brother (sincerely), he was brave enough to “pop” my bubble. He started speaking the truth about a lot of things. At first, I didn’t know if I was ready to handle it, or if I even wanted to know more but thankfully God nudged my heart to stay open and it has completely changed me and my family’s life. God opened my ears….my eyes…my heart to the errors I grew up with. Many of them were for the sake of traditions. Lot’s of traditions that aren’t even based on God’s truth.
So what kind of errors am I talking about? There are many but the ones I want to focus on today are the holiday traditions. Mainly Easter, Christmas and Halloween.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of Christmas, Easter and Halloween? Have you ever asked yourself where Santa, elves, bunnies, eggs and trick-or-treating come from? They are not biblically commanded so why do we celebrate these man-made traditions?
These are some of the questions we as believers should be asking if we aren’t already. We shouldn’t be turning a blind eye. We shouldn’t be following the herd mindlessly. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my last Thailand trip is that EVERYTHING has a root to something. We are constantly bombarded with symbols, logos, events, traditions, etc. and the crazy thing is most of it is tied to the Babylonian system.
If we refuse to research or acknowledge these things, we are still in the bubble of delusion. More than likely we are conforming, assimilating and synchronizing with Babylon. While we can’t escape Babylon completely there are many things we can control by the decisions we make.
God calls His people to be holy, set apart from this world. We need to recognize Babylon and “Come out of her my people!” (Rev 18:10)
Who cares? Does it matter to God? What would Jesus do?
Rather than trying to justify it by saying “well this is what I grew up with” shouldn’t we test everything like Paul says? Before checking with our pastors, commentators or scholars, we should always check with our almighty God, our creator who loves us. Man’s opinion will always be flawed if it doesn’t use all of scripture to discern a matter and unfortunately there’s alot of bad theology out there.
He is the ultimate authority and His words are the most important source for our lives.
He didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves, he gave us guidance and instructions. We just have to take the time to read them and follow them. I’m not talking about daily skimming, it takes real studying on our part. We are to be disciples (pupils) of the Word. With that being said, let’s go check out God’s Word aka His Truth to find out how He feels about these holidays.
(If you haven’t already please look up the origins of these holidays before proceeding. Simply Google the origins of Easter, Christmas, and Halloween. Once you start to search you WILL see they are all pagan in every way. In short, Christmas is about the sun god, Easter is about the goddess of fertility and Halloween is about the dead and evil spirits.)
Ok so the holidays are pagan and we’ve been in a bubble – a fantasy, a delusion, caught in a powerful lie or deception.
Isaiah 41:29 – they are all a delusion; their works are nothing; their metal images are empty wind
Jeremiah 10:14-15 & 51:18……every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12…..because they refused to love the truth and so be saved…therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false….in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth…”
Did you see the consistency? The delusion seems to be connected to pagan idols and their traditions..
So how does God feel about anything pagan no matter how harmless it seems?
“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,” Exodus 20:3-5
“Take care that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they have been destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do the same.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” Deuteronomy 12:30-32
“And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord .” And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” Exodus 32:5-6
It was a feast to the Lord so why did God get soooo angry at His people? After all, it WAS all about Him. He commanded it to the Pharaoh before they left Egypt. It was festive and happy. Their hearts were sincere. It included a cow, so what? It’s just a cute little cow decorated in gold. I mean God made cows for us to enjoy so it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? Uhhh, not quite. Scriptures state He wanted to destroy them but Moses interceded on their behalf. Exodus 32:10-14
So why would it be any different with a tree cut down from the forest brought into our homes and decorated with gold and silver? It’s just a tree right? Well there’s one small problem (with both scenarios)…..this tree, brought inside once a year isn’t just a cute innocent tree. This act or tradition, at this time of year is directly tied to sun god worship. The greenery put inside the homes symbolizes something. It is about the death and rebirth of the sun….(Sol Invictus. Saturnalia. Yule). Same goes with the calf, what did it symbolize?
Never mind the stockings hanging up for Santa….Oy Vey!! That’s another can of pagan worms.
We could give more examples about the goddess of fertility (Easter)….her bunnies, her eggs…and what those symbols represent… Same with Halloween..I could spend hours on this but I won’t in this post. If you’d like more information please read my posts “Why Easter? Why Not Passover?” & “The Truth About Christmas “One of the Golden-Sacred Cows”.
Whether we realize it or not, we’ve all been “Hellenized” with these holiday traditions. This was an issue before Yeshua and after. Not only did Paul and the apostles have to fight against hellenism, we do too. The point is we as believers shouldn’t be mixing the holy with the profane period. God defines and gives the standards to us so that we can know and discern both. He reminds us over and over and over again. It never has nor will it ever be accepted by God almighty. Sorry, but your bubble has burst!!
Once we know the truth about a matter we have a duty, an obligation to stand for truth. We are now accountable to it and will have to give an account for the knowledge given. One cannot just simply say “oh that’s cool” and move on without changing anything. There’s no “well that’s your truth not mine.” Truth is truth. It cannot contradict itself. These types of responses remind of the serpent in the garden, the spirit of lawlessness that says “Did God actually say????…….” Gen 3:1. Always questioning because one doesn’t want to submit to God’s instructions.
Knowing the truth requires a shift, a change in direction even if we don’t fully understand the why. God is faithful and He blesses our obedience.
Yeshua/Jesus speaks of what is required of God’s servants once they have the knowledge of God’s truth. Luke 12:43-48
- The Faithful Servant – they have the knowledge of God’s ways and act upon it. They keep God’s instructions and teach others to do so. They will be blessed. God will set him over all His possessions.
- The Rebellious Servant – Vs 45-46 – They have the knowledge but yet continue to sin anyway. They willfully disrespect God’s ways. He will be cut into pieces and put with the unfaithful. (also (2 Tim 3:5, Heb 10:26-28)
- The Lackadaisical Servant- Vs 47 – This servant KNEW God’s will but didn’t act on the knowledge given to him. He will receive a severe beating.
- The Blind Servant – This servant DID NOT KNOW. They didn’t have the knowledge. They will receive a light beating. Why? God gave them the tools to seek and know the truth.
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”
The truth will set one free from the delusion aka bubble one is under. As we grow in our faith, God will reveal more through His Word and Spirit. We will really start to see and understand what it means to be on the narrow road, especially in our culture today. As we start to shed the scales of lies, deception and delusion we need to make sure we not only let it transform our lives but that we also make it a point to share what we’ve learned!
If we love our fellow brothers and sisters we need to say something! We need to be courageous enough to pop the bubble! Yes that’s right, we need to speak the truth (always in love of course). It is ok to burst the bubble and there’s nothing wrong with it. The prophets, Yeshua, and apostles did it all the time. Believe me, it’s not easy at all. Ask Yeshua and Paul. Yeshua tells us the sword of truth divides. (Matt 10:34-36, Heb 4:12). Paul says speaking truth will make you an enemy. (Gal 4:16)
Did you know we are actually called to be watchmen? Once we have the knowledge of truth God requires us to watch, to be vigilant. This includes warning the people we love and those in the community of believers…. even the wicked.
“Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he SEES the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and WARNS the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life.
But if the watchman SEES the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are NOT WARNED, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand. “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you DO NOT SPEAK to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you WARN the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.” Ezekiel 33:2-9
Paul quoted this very verse. He tried to bring truth and many in the community of believers opposed him. They didn’t want their bubble burst so what did he do afterwards? He simply shook off the dust and told them the blood was on their own heads. Acts 18:6. God’s truth was spoken, they had been warned and it was time to move on.
Yeshua also encourages the disciples to do the same as He sends them off to spread the good news, to teach God’s truth. Matt 10:11-15.
“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” Matthew 10:14-15
Again, speak God’s truth IN LOVE. Bear with one another IN LOVE. Let Him work on their hearts. There will also be times when you may need to shake off the dust and walk away. Although speaking truth is out of our comfort zone we must sound our trumpet to help others out of the lies. We can’t let the lies and deception have their way among the body of believers. Don’t let fear or laziness get in the way. God wants to use you for His kingdom.
It’s time to speak up like John the Immerser, like Yeshua, like the apostles. Rock the boat, burst the bubble. The kingdom of God is coming!
It is amazing to me how many people of faith don’t want to be bothered. They want to live in their bubble at all costs. They don’t want to know the truth because they don’t want to change the way they live and what or how they celebrate. They’d rather believe a lie than follow truth.
I follow many social media pages just to see how believers respond to each other when it comes to the Sabbath, holidays, etc. IT. IS. CRAZY. I can see why many are afraid to speak God’s truth. If you dare to burst someone’s bubble the gloves come off. As I mentioned before, the first response is defense and anger. Legalism is always tossed around to try to silence the person speaking truth. (BTW legalism is nowhere to be found in the scriptures)
Many times there’s no respect and people are really mean which is sad. So do we give up then? Not at all! We continue to speak truth in love, to be respectful no matter the disrespect received. Once the bubble is burst and the truth is out there, they need to wrestle with it. It may take time but hopefully they will respond to God’s calling.
It’s time to burst the bubble so the veil may be lifted!
LIFTING THE VEIL 