From the desk of Steve Shultz:
This is a penetrating word...right to the heart...about many "familiar" traditions we celebrate during our Christmas season.
There is nothing wrong with our traditions or celebrating them...and we should! Yet as we celebrate tradition, let's not forget that there is great POWER available to us as you'll read about in Larry Spark's "fascinating" word this Christmas.
Larry shares here:
We are meant to live astonished by the wonder of Jesus. Motivated by this level of awe, we could approach singing Christmas carols in a very different way. Rather than seasonal tradition, they could become impassioned anthems of praise. Awe and wonder incite genuine praise and worship and thus, create an atmosphere for God's power to move without restraint. On the other hand, familiarity pulls the plug on divine power. If only Nazareth STAYED astonished by Jesus. If only we could STAY astonished. What pulled the plug on divine power?...
I pray as you read through this word, you experience the POWER of Christ made available to you to share with the world around you...now and beyond! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
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Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
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"The Lord is Extending a Christmas Dare to His People – To Be Fascinated"
Larry Sparks, West Palm Beach, FL
This Christmas, the Lord is extending a DARE to His people: "I dare you..." Dares from Heaven to Earth are not flippant. They're not like adolescent dares from our childhood peers, where the reward for our risk was a mere high five. When Heaven extends a dare, the Lord seeks to partner with a willing, obedient vessel in order to release something into the Earth. This year, the dare has everything to do with HOW we engage the spiritual airways during the Christmas season.
Consider These Familiar Lyrics:
"Glory to the newborn King!"
"King forever, ceasing never..."
"Let Earth receive her King!"
"Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day. To save us all from satan's power..."
In the same way we encourage people not to "go through the motions" as they sing popular praise choruses, we must provide this same encouragement during Christmas season.
| "Unbelief doesn't change Jesus' nature; it simply prevents those who embrace familiarity from experiencing His power." |
I believe the Lord has two assignments for us this Christmas: 1) Plug the power back in when it comes to our Christmas church gatherings and services, and 2) receive our assignments to partner with the intercessory "declarations" that are released over the airways through Christmas carols. Yes...there is great power in our traditional Christmas carols and I share about this and more below!
The Power of Christmas Carols
Christmas carols contain some of the most powerful intercessory decrees and revelation about Jesus.
Jesus is the ONLY SOURCE that will ultimately satisfy the deep longing of EVERY thirsty human heart. David recognized this in Psalm 63:1—we live in a "a dry and weary land where there is no water." Apart from an encounter with the living God, that's very true—there is no source of fulfillment for the cry of the human heart. And yet, even though nothing in the world can satisfy this longing, "There is a River..."
Jesus announced in John 7 that there is a River residing within us. He's a person called Holy Spirit, and He is meant to be released: "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (Jn. 7:38). The key word is "OUT." OUT of you, out of me; out of this community called the Church will flow the very life-giving, thirst-quenching water that has the potential to satisfy every desperate cry of a "dry and thirsty land."
If there was any time during the calendar year when the Holy Spirit should be moving with unusual power in our gatherings, it should be at Christmas. There is nothing wrong with our concerts and candle lighting services, or preaching the "Christmas themed" series and singing Christmas carols in the standard praise and worship sets...but here is where Heaven's dare comes in... (Photo via Unsplash)
It's like when we start singing the... (continue reading)
