REASON FOR THE SEASON

We are celebrating the birth of a King, not just any King but the King of kings. Was Jesus born on the 25th? Why do we celebrate His birth if He wasn't born on the 25th? Well I don't know about you but a King left His heavenly throne and came down to this lowly world just to save you and I, He left all He had so as to show us the Way, the Truth and give us Life. I don't know about you but I think it's worth celebrating.

 Who cares if He was born on the 25th, we are just glad He was born and that is the most important reason for the Celebration. Not every King can give up His throne for His subjects, not every King can dress as his subject, eat their food and be like them.


So let's not join in profane and vain blabbing debate as to when Jesus was born but to keep the Celebrant in mind; Jesus. It's always been all about Him, so celebrate the King.
His birth brought Life, His birth brought Hope, His birth brought reconciliation, His birth brought Redemption, His birth is a prove of Love from the Father, His birth gave us victory, His birth brought about a Change, the change the devil was scared of; so scared he killed thousands just to get to a baby. His birth brought pe peace and joy.

A child was born, a Son was given to us and the government and every authority rests on his shoulders.

He is the Reason for the Season.

Compliments of the Season
kellyshor_writes

Leaders Are Servants

[NIV] Matthew 23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

Why would Jesus Christ tell his disciples that before they can be great, they must be servants? In this passage, He was speaking to His disciples about humility. The Pharisees and similar religious leaders serve as examples of those who loved to broadcast their good deeds. They took pride in their public righteousness and often forgot that Jesus Christ warned to avoid practicing it in front of others. By doing so, they risked receiving a reward from their Heavenly Father.

It is unfortunate that "Christians" like these Pharisees still exist today. Jesus warned his disciples to be weary of those who expect praises from men and love to be honored with every passing opportunity. This type of leadership is usually not effective because they spend majority of their time protecting their status, instead of doing what is required of them.

Who is a servant? 

A servant is one that offers help to another person of some kind. The attitude of a servant was demonstrated through Christ Himself. Despite being the Son of God, He showed humility by washing the feet of His own disciples. Jesus Christ also stated that he did not come to be served but to serve. That is service and that is humility. Leaders who are servants view their leadership as an act of service.

Servant leadership is service to others. It is not about lobbying for a position, nor politicking for power. Instead it is about looking for opportunity to serve. Servant leaders avoid the limelight and serve in ways that often go unnoticed, such as taking out the trash or making the coffee at work. These acts do not have to be grand in order to be noticed by God, remember He searches the intent and content of man's heart, the little things we think might be too small to be noticed by Him are the things He actually takes note of. To be a Servant leader you must be ready to be criticized by the world, because you'll seize to do what they expect. No matter what Jesus Christ did, He was always critized by the Pharisees, the always wanted to make Him guilty, but Jesus wasn't a bit bothered by them, He went on with His purpose.He didn't love His life to please the Pharisees, He lived His life to please His Father. He was bent on been the King they wanted Him to be, He was more interested in the heavenly Kingdom and didn't care what the Pharisees thought about Him, so far He pleased His Father.

Any leader that is preoccupied with personal interests, protection of status, and preservation of positions, may not be a good ambassador of Christ. True leaders are those who strive to please the Lord through their lives with integrity. The Bible is full of great people who were exalted because of their humble hearts. David, Joseph, Solomon and Samuel are a few. They learned how to serve people and God. Even as kings, they were lowly at heart and were able to be used as a vessel of honor. 

To be great you must first learn how to serve in a humble manner. Jesus Christ said, those who humble themselves will be exalted and 1st Peter 5:5 tells us God opposes the proud. A person who is proud or has pride is indirectly contending with God and would therefore not be exalted. Jesus Christ served for the glory of God. His ultimate service was laying down His life in love. Even though the Son of God, He was always ready to offer Himself. Our Lord Jesus is a perfect example of a servant leader.

Irritate The Devil Today

[KJV] Psalms 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

One lesson every believer must learn is that the devil can never repent. Hence we are not to joke with the devil. If you don't want to be devoured by the devil, you must resist him and all that he represents steadfastly. One of the ways the devil uses to entrap people is through music. It is a known fact that the devil loves music, he loves dangerous, perverse and distorted music. The day God made Lucifer who later became the devil, He built musical instruments into his body (Ezekiel 28:13). He was the choir master in heaven.

It's pathetic when you hear some so called Christians arguing against listening to 'wordly songs'. Trying to justify their actions, saying things like 'I just love the lyrics or there is nothing sexual about this song.' Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 6:24 there is no room for divided loyalty. 

[KJV] Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Many Christians lose out in battle of life because they do not know who they are and the nature of fight they are involved in. You are not fighting against flesh and blood so don't be naive and complacent. The devil knows his strategy well. He is a dangerous enemy who doesn't get distracted, it is therefore imperative you fight against this enemy by resisting him and all he represents. 

God loves music too, irritate the devil today by singing beautiful songs of worship to the Lord. Let go of wordly music which adds no benefits to your life and replace them with gospel music. In Acts 16:25-34 Apostle Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God and provoked the unimaginable to happen. Apostle Paul also stated in Ephesians 5:18-19 for every believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit by singing Psalms and hymns. He understood the secret behind singing praises and filling your hearts and minds with songs to God. You provoke things to happen! 

That is what the devil doesn't want, he gets irritated because he knows whenever you praise God you are making God happy, he knows that whenever you praise God; the Almighty draws nigh to you (Psalm 22:3). Imagine if God is for you, can anyone stand against you? The more you sing praises to God, the more you irritate the devil because you remind him of his glorious past and his lost opportunity. 

Are you a child of God? You can live above the appearances of the devil and take dominon over your life. Take charge and be triumphant over life by the blood of the Lamb, prayer, the word of your testimony (your confessions and proclamations) and by singing praises to the Lord. Revelation 12:11. 

I remember the first time God used a man of God who is also my mentor to open my heart to the truth, after explaining so much and thanks to the Lord for softening my heart; I got home and decided to remove all worldly songs from my phone. I got stuck with three songs I really liked and all three were ed sheeran's song, just clean lyrics. I didn't want to delete them because I thought, there was nothing wrong with those songs. Just as most Christians tell themselves.  Then something asked me why I was keeping them? What was the reason and use for holding on to them? After listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit I deleted them immediately. I haven't listened to any worldly songs since then and I'm not dead.

You can also come out of it, don't listen to the voice of the devil saying you need it or you need to know the latest and trendy songs. There is a difference between listening to songs and hearing them. I choose what I want to listen to even though I hear different songs in the background. Let go of everything; don't hold on to Jesus Christ and at the same time hold on to worldly desires. 

[KJV] Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.


Jesus Christ needs your undivided attention, He needs your hearts and minds to be solely His. Don't think of what you will miss because I assure you there is nothing you'll miss out from, make the decision today; and sing only to your maker don't have a divided heart. And I pray the Lord will give you the strength to overcome and become solely His as you make this decision in Jesus name. 

If you are struggling with this just humble yourself and cast your burdens on the alter of the burden bearer. Don't think if there is any use or if it is necessary or not, don't give the devil a chance to convince you otherwise. Note also that your enemy- the devil, is not foolish. He is full of dangerous and destructive wisdom. He was made perfect in beauty and wisdom (Ezekiel 28:12-15). He is now full of destructive wisdom. So don't give him a chance to give you a reason not to do what is right. He's after your destruction, Jesus Christ is after giving you eternal life. Go to Him He'll give you the strength to overcome and remove every appearance of the devil in your life and home.

Only those who are in Christ will come out victorious and triumph over the devil. If you are not, you can be grafted in by giving your life to Christ as you say this prayer:

The devil take more souls to hell through music than through any other means.

Irritate the devil today!