December 22, 2025 • 27 mins
Not every celebration is holy, and not every tradition brings us closer to God.
1 John 2:15
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1 John 2:15
We are (LIVE) on our website's [Morning Devo] podcast now!
:::: sELAH rADIO Network https://soulwinnerz.org :::::
:::: https://live.soulwinnerz.org and we want to see who you are by simply clicking here https://chat.restream.io/fb :::::
Join the Adult Bible Study: https://soulwinnerz.org/adult
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-blaze-bible-study--525630/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Wanting family. Good morning, God bless you. Welcome back to
the Morning Devo. We're close closing in on Christmas Day
from the time it's recording and this year that we
recorded and the amen. So I'm calling this one consumed
by Christmas. And yeah, it sounds like what it sounds like, right,
I don't want you or myself or your family or
(00:25):
my family to be consumed by Christmas. And I'm gonna
explain that because it needs and it deserves explanation. It
doesn't sound good right from winning devotion consumed by Christmas,
I wrote down this, Not every celebration is holy, not
every tradition brings us closer to God. Please hear that
(00:48):
clearly and closely, Amen, and be honest with yourself. Read
it again. Not every celebration is holy. I think if
you live long enough, you are understand that. Right, you'll
understand that not every celebration is holy, and not every
tradition brings us closer to God. We're gonna read first
(01:12):
John Chatter number two, verse number fifteen today on the
Morning Devo on calling this one consumed by Christmas. Consumed
by Christmas today on the Morning Devo. So, if you
have any questions, comments, concerns, pray requests, or anything along
those lines. Please don't hesitate to leave it on a
live chat. That's what we're here for.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Don't be afraid. Amen, nobody's nobody's gonna argue, nobody's going
to debate over here on the Morning Devo.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
We just want to.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Listen to one another here, one another out. We're gonna
pray for one another.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
We're gonna enjoy each other's company today and every on
the Morning Devo. My main mission is to inspire you
or encourage you to read the Gospel, read the Bible,
read the Word of God for yourself, so that way
you won't be deceived by influencers that have all kinds
of weird views about the scriptures or their comments series
(02:07):
about the scriptures. Instead, just go to the scriptures yourself, Amen,
and see what Holy God Holy Spirit will have for you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So we are excited about what's happening on the holidays.
As a matter of fact, if you look at that
word holiday closely, Amen, we probably already do this. But
it's a spend on Holy.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Day, right.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
The holiday is supposed to be a holy day. So
if it's not holy Amen, watch out, don't celebrate, don't
get involved with something that's not holy, and they're calling
it a holiday. Should be a holy day, Amen. And
as a matter of fact, every day should be a
holy day. If you're in Christ, think about it. And
we should be celebrating Christ daily, not just waiting on
(02:53):
calendar events to celebrate the Lord Jesus. That's crazy, right, yo,
Katan Yeva is the Jonathan God bless you.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
It's good to see you on the Morning Devo. Good morning,
my brow and my friends. Sis to Joanne, I see you,
good morning, God bless you. Welcome back to the Morning Devo,
my sister and my friend. So let's go for it.
Let's take a moment to pray. After we pray, we
shut us out for like sixty seconds, and then on
the other side of those sixties we'll get right into
today's Morning Devo. Then I'm corner consumed by Christmas, and
I need you to have an open heart. Understand who
(03:23):
I am. You know I love everybody out there, Amen,
And so I mean no harm. I'm just gonna take
it from what the scripture says, and that perspective when
it comes to these holidays that we celebrate. So Father,
I thank you for the celebration of your birth. Thank
you for coming into this world born from a virgin
living a perfect, sinless life, living a life according to
(03:45):
the mission and purpose that you have lived a life
on earth for, and that you lived thirty three and
a half years, went and laid down your life on
across to die for our sins, to pay the sin
that we couldn't afford and you and have to pay.
So that's greace, that's mercy. And thank you, Lord God
for resurrection, that you rose from the grave three days
(04:07):
after to prove once and for all to all, for
all eternity, for all the world to see that you
are the God in the flesh, God in the flesh,
emanual God with us Holy Spirit, God, Amen. Thank you
Father for sending your son. Thank you Jesus for sending
your Holy Spirit, three persons, one essence, one God. I pray,
(04:30):
Lord God, that we will get more understanding of who
you are today and move forward in that understanding and
not in hype or not in theory, but understand truly
who you are by way of Holy Spirit, and move
forward and claim this day to be a holy day
because you are spoken of you're worshiped. We're not following
man made traditions. We're following Holy God ways of living
(04:55):
that will really prosper and advance our character, our integrity.
Our family will benefit from it, our friends will benefit
from it. The Gospel message will continue to move forward,
and Jesus Christ will be made more famous, at least
in our territory. Right now, so I praise you, Lord God.
I pray a hedge of protection over every single person
that's listening and watching right now. We come against demonic forces.
(05:17):
We come against the evil one. We come against principalities
and powers and rulers in heavenly places that are not
doing your will. We come against those things. I dispatch
right now by the authority of yoshiwahamashiek Ark we in angels,
ministering angels, and warring angels to annihilate the tactics of
the enemy over our lives, including myself, my wife, our children,
(05:39):
our grandchildren, our family members, our friends, their family and
their family members. In the powerful name of Yeshiahamashiak, Jesus
the Christ, the Lord of Hosts, and Jesus Holy Name.
We pray it is by faith and those who agreed,
we say amen to the Amen. Listen, Christmas time is here,
but don't be consumed by man made traditions. A man,
let's look at the words. When we come back, we're
(06:01):
gonna be in First John, chapter number two, verse number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I've right back, and Amen.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I share it to a lot of groups, and I'm
noticing that a lot of groups are really helping me
put this out, and I'm grateful for that. I always
say that because I understand how it is in the
podcast world, in the radio broadcasting world, and the love
stream world. Not everybody wants to connect with others because
there's a lot of weird things going on. And I
(07:51):
thank you that you don't consider me weird and you
allow me to be on your group. Amen, as long
as we stick to the script the scriptures.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Amen, We're good.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Thank you podcast world for allowing my podcasts and my
live stream to go on your page as well.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So let me get back to where we were here.
I'm just making sure that the radio is still broadcasting
because a lot of times lately my audio has been
interrupted for you know, whatever reason. Amen. I don't want
to overspiritualize it, but for whatever reason, Yeah, my markers
and my titles, and the broadcast has been interrupted for
(08:28):
weird reasons. I don't know why, and it says we're streaming.
And meanwhile, when I look at the radio, it says
that we're playing a song, but we're not.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Thank you Team Jesus for sharing this out. Let me
get to the scriptures. I don't want to get sidetracked, Hill,
and you pay for a network to do what it's
supposed to do and all short and that's why I'm
thinking sometimes I think it's spiritual. Amen, But let's stick
to the script for what God has for us today,
(08:59):
how he planned it out. Consumed by Christmas. So if
you're listening from celebrated network so Winners with a z
Org and you see all kind of crazy titles, but
you're hearing us. Amen, my apologies. I'll get with the
tech team and I'll see how we can resolve that issue.
It's been happening more and more lately, consumed by Christmas.
Let me get this on the screen for those who
are with me watching a man on the live stream,
(09:21):
and we're gonna see what we see and we're gonna
read what we read word for word for those who
are just listening on the podcast as well, so consumed
by Christmas. Listen to this in First John, chapter number two,
verse number fifteen. This is from the amplified version of
the Bible. The Bible says, do not love the world
of sin that listen, opposes God and his precepts. If
(09:46):
you haven't noticed that the world system is an opposition
of God's words and God's precepts, then you're bugging wake up.
Smell the coffee.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
This world system does not honor God the way we
as believers honor God because he's our father in heaven.
So do not love the world of sin that opposes
God and his precepts, nor the things that are in
the world. So do not love the things of the world.
(10:19):
And do not, you know, love the things that are
in the world. If anyone loves the world, this is
what the scripture says. That's not what I'm saying. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. So listen. This settles it for me.
(10:39):
If I see people loving the things of the world,
loving the world system, they're opposing God. According to what
we've just read. Amen, And the love of the Father
is not in them. I don't think it means that
they're not saying I just think that the love of
God is not being this played through those people, those
(11:02):
kind of people. Brother Frank, I see you. God bless you,
God bless you. Love your shirt. Oh thanks, Amen, I
think somebody you know gave it to me who was
a youth. I forgot who gave me this shirt, or
maybe I brought it myself. I don't know, but thanks
for the compliment, my brother, my friend.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So listen, consumed by Christmas is the thing You could
be consumed by holiday, Amen, and not even realize it
because of traditions. Right, we're just following the flow of
what's happening in the world, and you might fall in
love with a system or a tradition that's really opposing God.
(11:40):
An eyewakener rate an eye opener, I should say, not
an eyewakener, eyewakening her word. Then, so let's go. Of course,
when I talk about Thanksgiving and my notes were going
to Thanksgiving, so consumer driven holidays, right, it trains our
mindset and our hearts to crave things like I gotta
(12:03):
get this and I gotta get that. We crave things
instead of craving truth. Think about it, especially in social
media world. All right, if you need answers and I
do this sooth Google, what does this mean?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
AI?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
What does this mean? Because you want a quick answer.
But when it comes to my life, I ain't going
on Google and I ain't going on AI for a
quick answer for my life. I go to the scriptures
for things about my life. Hopefully you do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So the world is trying to train our hearts to
crave things instead of truth right around this season. The
world system wants your sales, wants your money once your
dnetto instead of you wandering your salvation. This is how
the world is training us during these holidays. It's supposed
to be Holy Days gifts instead of gratitude. Now I
(12:58):
expect a kid to not really get this. A man
trying to show my daughters they're young ten and five, listen,
be grateful for what you already have and everything else
is a bonus.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
If we don't have ten twenty thirty gifts under the
Christmas tree, don't be disappointed because you're imagining that your
friends have that many gifts under the Christmas tree without
any evidence. You ever notice that kids compare themselves with
their friends based upon what their friends are telling them,
not what they see, but based upon what their friends say.
(13:32):
So they ask. They ask their friend how many gifts
did you get for Christmas? And a friend will be
capping and be like, I got like thirty gifts. Meanwhile,
you know, unfortunately, meanwhile they probably only got two gifts
or listen, true story. Some kids don't get nothing, hey man.
But of course if you're a child, if you're a kid,
you want to hide that, and you don't want to
(13:53):
put shame on your name or your family's name a man,
or they might feel guilty or shamed or embarrassed that
they don't don't have any pressure. That's why we got
to be careful of how we treat one another.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'm never people who know me, you know, I'm not
frighten about I have this amount of money, I have
this amount of wealth, I have this amount of possessions. Nope,
what I have is what I have, and what I
have I'm grateful for and what i have I'll share
with others.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But kids are you know. I expect kids to do
what kids do, but I want them to grow right.
I don't want them to stay in that kids my mentality,
that kids my stay trapped by the world's system. I
want them to grow in the knowledge of God, of
who God is in their lives. So the world says
gifts gifts and don't have gratitude, right, the world wants
(14:42):
you to be under the pressure instead of experiencing peace.
So the world tells us, buy more and you'll be
fulfilled more. But Jesus tells us life doesn't consist. Life
does not consist in the abundance of possessions. So these
holiday seasons, the world way of doing it opposes the
(15:05):
word of God, the living word of God, which is
the Lord Jesus. You don't believe me, we luke Chapter twelve,
Verse number fifteen. Jesus himself says, life doesn't consist in
the abundance of possessions. It doesn't consist. Like you're not
valued more because of how much you have from this
world and man. God values us because of what He
(15:27):
did for us and what he did for the world.
He is the greatest gift. We already spoke about. That
scripture reminds us what we just read. Do not love
the world or the things in the world first John
two fifteen. We read it. That doesn't mean we reject joy.
That doesn't mean we reject family. That doesn't mean we reject celebrating.
(15:49):
Like our Jehovah and his friends, they don't want to
celebrate nothing. That's extreme. Right, We're supposed to be the
most happiest, joyful people on this planet Earth because we
have what we need. We have the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords. We have the promises of God,
we have salvation. We have Holy Spirite living in us
and through us and working his way, Amen, and doing
(16:11):
what he wants to do through us. Amen. And it's
a privilege. So it doesn't mean to reject the joy,
doesn't mean reject family, doesn't mean not to celebrate. The
means reject idolatry disguised as tradition, reject idolatry disguised as
Christmas holiday. Amen, Good morning's the joice, I see you.
(16:31):
Good morning, God, bless you. Welcome back to the morning.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Devo.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Thank you for the blessings over the group as well.
It's good to see my sister and my friend. So
as believers, born again believers, brothers and sisters in Christ,
children of the Living God, we are called to live
intentionally a man, intentionally, not emotionally driven by culture, not
emotionally driven by church, not emotionally driven by traditions, not
(16:56):
emotionally driven by these trends, that these marketing cycles are
going to control the way we do Christmas. Now, don't
don't let it happen. And man, I fight it every
year and people think I'm against Christmas or they think
that I'm a scrooge. I call myself a scrooge during
Christmas time. Amen, I become scroogeous, not because of Christ
(17:16):
being born. I love the fact that Jesus was born.
You should love the fact that Jesus was born. I
come against commercialism and it comes right into my living
room by way of TV, radio promotions, commercials, social media.
And then our children are looking at us like, aren't
we supposed to be doing that xyz? And sometimes we
(17:39):
as parents get influenced, We get the guilt trip. Oh,
I gotta get my daughter this, I gotta get my
son this, and I got listen. I didn't even know
what to get my son and he's thirty three years old.
I don't remember the mus the last time I gave
him a Christmas present. Because I don't know what he wants. Amen.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I guess I should have asked, right, everybody want something, amen.
But my point is that instead of not celebrating something
because you don't have something, amen, why don't we do
it the way God does it? Why don't we do
it the way God sees it? That not to love
the traditions, the things of this world and have all
(18:17):
these possessions, but to love God. And because you love God,
you love others. And because they see the love displayed
through you and through me, they will get the gift
of salvation. They will get the gift that keeps on giving.
They would give the gift of Holy days Amen, in
their hearts, in their minds, in their lives, and the
whole family will benefit from that. Toys, games, gift cards
(18:39):
and all those things run out. I think the longest
things that remain as a gift are board games. Amen.
And I don't know who created that word board games,
because it's you could put a spin on that word
board games, and you could be bored of playing those games,
b o ried. I don't know who created that. But
(19:02):
as believers were called to live intentionally right, our calendar
should reflect our convictions. Our celebrations should point upward instead
of inward. Amen, just think about it. I'm just laying
these backs out so you could investigate these things for
(19:22):
yourself and think about it. Be honest, because I know
every time holidays come Listen, I'm not a multi millionaire.
I have multi million dollar ideas in my head. Amen.
And when I share my ideas, amen, not a lot
of people think it's going to be worth investing it.
And I understand that everybody has their decision to make,
(19:44):
everybody has their opinion. But I keep on keeping on
according to the scripture, according to what God has promised me.
Whether I see the financial blessing or not, I still
strive to move forward in that way because I know
in that direction, the direction that God has for me,
and the direction that God has for you is the
best direction for us to go in anyway. So before
(20:06):
you participate in the traditions of this world, the parties
of this world, the practices of this world, ask yourself,
does this honor God? Or does it feed my flesh?
Whatever that is. You might be like, well, it's Christmas time,
I have to drink coquito with alcohol in it? Does
(20:31):
honor God? Or does that feed your flesh? How about
this one? Does Christmas time or any holiday for that matter,
draw you closer to Christ? Or does it draw you
deeper into comparison? Comparing yourselves with what other people are
doing during these holiday seasons Christmas, New Year, right, Thanksgiving?
(20:54):
Are you drawing closer to Christ? Or you're comparing yourself?
You're being drawn into comparison. That's a dangerous place to
be drawn into. Man, that comparison stuff. Be careful, am
I celebrating freedom? There's a question or financing a distraction
in your life. That's for another time. That's for another time.
(21:18):
So choose. I would suggest that you would choose the
simple things of life over pressure. Like we have enough
pressure in the world as adults. If you have bills
to pay, if we have obligations, and you know, as
an adult, right, all those obligations, those bills and all
(21:41):
that those things are there should be handled and by
the grace and mercy of God will handle it. But
don't put so much pressure. And man, I always tell
this to young people. Don't put all the pressure on
your shoulders, especially young Christians. I always say, no pressure,
don't put too much pressure on yourself. The world is
(22:01):
trying to challenge every one of us every step of
the way as being born again believers. The world is
trying to challenge it all. Don't put all that pressure
on yourself. Choose the simple things of life. Purpose over popularity.
That's a big one. I need to get into that.
Maybe in the new year we're really honed down on that.
(22:25):
We'll hone down on purpose over popularity, especially in the
culture that we're living in that everybody and their mom
and their dad is an influencer online and they're searching
and seeking popularity over purpose. How about this one Christ
over culture. Christ Jesus, if you look at his life
through the Gospels, he was always anti most of the
(22:47):
time anti culture of his culture. Oh, Jesus is not
supposed to do this today because today's the day the Sabbath.
So how dare you save someone, rescue someone, heals someone
on the Sabbath. I'm not supposed to do anything. Yeah,
they told Jesus that he faced that by the culture
back then. Imagine the culture now. Frank says, none of
(23:08):
that honor's God true. None of that list that I
was talking about earlier honors God. I agree with you,
my brother. I'm just putting out there so that way
people you know, we think about this, including myself, Like
when I ask these questions, don't think that I have
to ask them to myself too. I'm trying to be
as honest as I could be here. Eternity is worth
(23:33):
more than any sale or any product that you purchase
online or in the store. Yes, so you can make
kids happy. But from experience, if you're a parent, or
if you have grandchildren, or you have nieces, nephews, young
kids and your family, or you have friends that have
young kids, by experience, we know that that excitement of
(23:56):
something that they have new amen could literally I've seen
it with my own eyes. Literally, that excitement could go
away in two minutes when they get another gift that
they feel is better than the first gift. And they'll
do it right in front of you, because they're kids,
they'll do it right in front of you. Oh, this
is nice. And then someone will come in with a
big gift in li Oh I like that, and they
will literally throw your gift down and run to the
(24:19):
bigger thing. Listen, excitement and the joy of a child
getting a gift for the first time. I like more.
My five year old says, when you give us something,
she's so grateful. She goes, Wow, this is the best
thing I've ever had, or she'll say, this is what
I always wanted all my life, all the five years.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
And it's cute, right, But I hope and pray that
we will keep that attitude of gratitude to be so
grateful for what we have right now, so that way
when the challenges and the pressures of life and the
traditions of these celebrations of the world, the world customs,
the culture and all that won't pressure us into guilt.
(24:58):
Because if you think about it, I have a lot
like my younger my youngest brother has ten kids. Imagine
that Christmas list man trying to get at least this
is besides the parents and the other family, cousins and
all that, at least ten ten gifts with ten children,
(25:19):
then even children no more, and some of them are adults.
Can you imagine how much pressure that would be now
for those who are blessed financially and it's nothing. You
have the finances to get your whole family gifts. Praise God,
And I hope you're praising God for that, because the
health to gain wealth comes from the Father, hey man,
(25:39):
and he has grace upon us all. And when it
rains right, it reiins onderjust and the unjust. So that's
the grace of God over your life. So celebrate the
grace and that again, you need to be grateful for that.
But guys like me, men like me that we don't
have all that financial blessing to get every single person
in our family a gift. I don't fall into the
(26:01):
guilt and shame that the world tells you. Well, get
a credit card or get alan. You gotta do this
because everybody else is doing this. You can't make people
unhappy if you don't give them gifts or put all
these amount of gifts under your tree. That's the world system.
So if you start loving that instead of loving the God,
the Kingdom, principles of God. Amen. The Bible says that
(26:22):
we're opposing God and the love of God is not
in us. I'm just saying, a man, take yourself off
the hook. Go to the Lord. If you need something
for someone and you don't have that something, Amen, you
think it's that important. God will provide amen for your needs,
not for your want sometimes.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Sister Joanna says, I'm thankful for God, but he gave me.
I didn't have what I have today. I laid the
heart life over in Puerto Rico. I didn't have what
I had here today. And I thank the Lord. Thank
the Lord for everything. He gives me the strength every
morning to wake up and give me strength to my
husband to wake up my husband. And not feeling too good,
(27:01):
I just thank God for another day he gives to
me and my family, another year that we come into.
I hope everything goes okay for the new year. God
is too good and I pray for my family too,
that He is with them and guides them and keeps
them safe. I love my Lord. Amen, I love him too.
We love you too, Sister Joanne. But I'm out of time.
(27:22):
Go to First John, chapter number two. Read the whole chapter.
We can't th out of verse fifteen, and it opened
up all these ideas, right. I praise God for that. Amen.
So God bless you all. God keep you all. Remember
always that God himself, God is good. Peace
Wanting family. Good morning, God bless you. Welcome back to
the Morning Devo. We're close closing in on Christmas Day
from the time it's recording and this year that we
recorded and the amen. So I'm calling this one consumed
by Christmas. And yeah, it sounds like what it sounds like, right,
I don't want you or myself or your family or
(00:25):
my family to be consumed by Christmas. And I'm gonna
explain that because it needs and it deserves explanation. It
doesn't sound good right from winning devotion consumed by Christmas,
I wrote down this, Not every celebration is holy, not
every tradition brings us closer to God. Please hear that
(00:48):
clearly and closely, Amen, and be honest with yourself. Read
it again. Not every celebration is holy. I think if
you live long enough, you are understand that. Right, you'll
understand that not every celebration is holy, and not every
tradition brings us closer to God. We're gonna read first
(01:12):
John Chatter number two, verse number fifteen today on the
Morning Devo on calling this one consumed by Christmas. Consumed
by Christmas today on the Morning Devo. So, if you
have any questions, comments, concerns, pray requests, or anything along
those lines. Please don't hesitate to leave it on a
live chat. That's what we're here for.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Don't be afraid. Amen, nobody's nobody's gonna argue, nobody's going
to debate over here on the Morning Devo.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
We just want to.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Listen to one another here, one another out. We're gonna
pray for one another.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
We're gonna enjoy each other's company today and every on
the Morning Devo. My main mission is to inspire you
or encourage you to read the Gospel, read the Bible,
read the Word of God for yourself, so that way
you won't be deceived by influencers that have all kinds
of weird views about the scriptures or their comments series
(02:07):
about the scriptures. Instead, just go to the scriptures yourself, Amen,
and see what Holy God Holy Spirit will have for you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So we are excited about what's happening on the holidays.
As a matter of fact, if you look at that
word holiday closely, Amen, we probably already do this. But
it's a spend on Holy.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Day, right.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
The holiday is supposed to be a holy day. So
if it's not holy Amen, watch out, don't celebrate, don't
get involved with something that's not holy, and they're calling
it a holiday. Should be a holy day, Amen. And
as a matter of fact, every day should be a
holy day. If you're in Christ, think about it. And
we should be celebrating Christ daily, not just waiting on
(02:53):
calendar events to celebrate the Lord Jesus. That's crazy, right, yo,
Katan Yeva is the Jonathan God bless you.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
It's good to see you on the Morning Devo. Good morning,
my brow and my friends. Sis to Joanne, I see you,
good morning, God bless you. Welcome back to the Morning Devo,
my sister and my friend. So let's go for it.
Let's take a moment to pray. After we pray, we
shut us out for like sixty seconds, and then on
the other side of those sixties we'll get right into
today's Morning Devo. Then I'm corner consumed by Christmas, and
I need you to have an open heart. Understand who
(03:23):
I am. You know I love everybody out there, Amen,
And so I mean no harm. I'm just gonna take
it from what the scripture says, and that perspective when
it comes to these holidays that we celebrate. So Father,
I thank you for the celebration of your birth. Thank
you for coming into this world born from a virgin
living a perfect, sinless life, living a life according to
(03:45):
the mission and purpose that you have lived a life
on earth for, and that you lived thirty three and
a half years, went and laid down your life on
across to die for our sins, to pay the sin
that we couldn't afford and you and have to pay.
So that's greace, that's mercy. And thank you, Lord God
for resurrection, that you rose from the grave three days
(04:07):
after to prove once and for all to all, for
all eternity, for all the world to see that you
are the God in the flesh, God in the flesh,
emanual God with us Holy Spirit, God, Amen. Thank you
Father for sending your son. Thank you Jesus for sending
your Holy Spirit, three persons, one essence, one God. I pray,
(04:30):
Lord God, that we will get more understanding of who
you are today and move forward in that understanding and
not in hype or not in theory, but understand truly
who you are by way of Holy Spirit, and move
forward and claim this day to be a holy day
because you are spoken of you're worshiped. We're not following
man made traditions. We're following Holy God ways of living
(04:55):
that will really prosper and advance our character, our integrity.
Our family will benefit from it, our friends will benefit
from it. The Gospel message will continue to move forward,
and Jesus Christ will be made more famous, at least
in our territory. Right now, so I praise you, Lord God.
I pray a hedge of protection over every single person
that's listening and watching right now. We come against demonic forces.
(05:17):
We come against the evil one. We come against principalities
and powers and rulers in heavenly places that are not
doing your will. We come against those things. I dispatch
right now by the authority of yoshiwahamashiek Ark we in angels,
ministering angels, and warring angels to annihilate the tactics of
the enemy over our lives, including myself, my wife, our children,
(05:39):
our grandchildren, our family members, our friends, their family and
their family members. In the powerful name of Yeshiahamashiak, Jesus
the Christ, the Lord of Hosts, and Jesus Holy Name.
We pray it is by faith and those who agreed,
we say amen to the Amen. Listen, Christmas time is here,
but don't be consumed by man made traditions. A man,
let's look at the words. When we come back, we're
(06:01):
gonna be in First John, chapter number two, verse number fifteen.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I've right back, and Amen.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I share it to a lot of groups, and I'm
noticing that a lot of groups are really helping me
put this out, and I'm grateful for that. I always
say that because I understand how it is in the
podcast world, in the radio broadcasting world, and the love
stream world. Not everybody wants to connect with others because
there's a lot of weird things going on. And I
(07:51):
thank you that you don't consider me weird and you
allow me to be on your group. Amen, as long
as we stick to the script the scriptures.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Amen, We're good.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Thank you podcast world for allowing my podcasts and my
live stream to go on your page as well.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
So let me get back to where we were here.
I'm just making sure that the radio is still broadcasting
because a lot of times lately my audio has been
interrupted for you know, whatever reason. Amen. I don't want
to overspiritualize it, but for whatever reason, Yeah, my markers
and my titles, and the broadcast has been interrupted for
(08:28):
weird reasons. I don't know why, and it says we're streaming.
And meanwhile, when I look at the radio, it says
that we're playing a song, but we're not.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Thank you Team Jesus for sharing this out. Let me
get to the scriptures. I don't want to get sidetracked, Hill,
and you pay for a network to do what it's
supposed to do and all short and that's why I'm
thinking sometimes I think it's spiritual. Amen, But let's stick
to the script for what God has for us today,
(08:59):
how he planned it out. Consumed by Christmas. So if
you're listening from celebrated network so Winners with a z
Org and you see all kind of crazy titles, but
you're hearing us. Amen, my apologies. I'll get with the
tech team and I'll see how we can resolve that issue.
It's been happening more and more lately, consumed by Christmas.
Let me get this on the screen for those who
are with me watching a man on the live stream,
(09:21):
and we're gonna see what we see and we're gonna
read what we read word for word for those who
are just listening on the podcast as well, so consumed
by Christmas. Listen to this in First John, chapter number two,
verse number fifteen. This is from the amplified version of
the Bible. The Bible says, do not love the world
of sin that listen, opposes God and his precepts. If
(09:46):
you haven't noticed that the world system is an opposition
of God's words and God's precepts, then you're bugging wake up.
Smell the coffee.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
This world system does not honor God the way we
as believers honor God because he's our father in heaven.
So do not love the world of sin that opposes
God and his precepts, nor the things that are in
the world. So do not love the things of the world.
(10:19):
And do not, you know, love the things that are
in the world. If anyone loves the world, this is
what the scripture says. That's not what I'm saying. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
not in him. So listen. This settles it for me.
(10:39):
If I see people loving the things of the world,
loving the world system, they're opposing God. According to what
we've just read. Amen, And the love of the Father
is not in them. I don't think it means that
they're not saying I just think that the love of
God is not being this played through those people, those
(11:02):
kind of people. Brother Frank, I see you. God bless you,
God bless you. Love your shirt. Oh thanks, Amen, I
think somebody you know gave it to me who was
a youth. I forgot who gave me this shirt, or
maybe I brought it myself. I don't know, but thanks
for the compliment, my brother, my friend.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So listen, consumed by Christmas is the thing You could
be consumed by holiday, Amen, and not even realize it
because of traditions. Right, we're just following the flow of
what's happening in the world, and you might fall in
love with a system or a tradition that's really opposing God.
(11:40):
An eyewakener rate an eye opener, I should say, not
an eyewakener, eyewakening her word. Then, so let's go. Of course,
when I talk about Thanksgiving and my notes were going
to Thanksgiving, so consumer driven holidays, right, it trains our
mindset and our hearts to crave things like I gotta
(12:03):
get this and I gotta get that. We crave things
instead of craving truth. Think about it, especially in social
media world. All right, if you need answers and I
do this sooth Google, what does this mean?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
AI?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
What does this mean? Because you want a quick answer.
But when it comes to my life, I ain't going
on Google and I ain't going on AI for a
quick answer for my life. I go to the scriptures
for things about my life. Hopefully you do the same.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
So the world is trying to train our hearts to
crave things instead of truth right around this season. The
world system wants your sales, wants your money once your
dnetto instead of you wandering your salvation. This is how
the world is training us during these holidays. It's supposed
to be Holy Days gifts instead of gratitude. Now I
(12:58):
expect a kid to not really get this. A man
trying to show my daughters they're young ten and five, listen,
be grateful for what you already have and everything else
is a bonus.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
If we don't have ten twenty thirty gifts under the
Christmas tree, don't be disappointed because you're imagining that your
friends have that many gifts under the Christmas tree without
any evidence. You ever notice that kids compare themselves with
their friends based upon what their friends are telling them,
not what they see, but based upon what their friends say.
(13:32):
So they ask. They ask their friend how many gifts
did you get for Christmas? And a friend will be
capping and be like, I got like thirty gifts. Meanwhile,
you know, unfortunately, meanwhile they probably only got two gifts
or listen, true story. Some kids don't get nothing, hey man.
But of course if you're a child, if you're a kid,
you want to hide that, and you don't want to
(13:53):
put shame on your name or your family's name a man,
or they might feel guilty or shamed or embarrassed that
they don't don't have any pressure. That's why we got
to be careful of how we treat one another.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I'm never people who know me, you know, I'm not
frighten about I have this amount of money, I have
this amount of wealth, I have this amount of possessions. Nope,
what I have is what I have, and what I
have I'm grateful for and what i have I'll share
with others.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
But kids are you know. I expect kids to do
what kids do, but I want them to grow right.
I don't want them to stay in that kids my mentality,
that kids my stay trapped by the world's system. I
want them to grow in the knowledge of God, of
who God is in their lives. So the world says
gifts gifts and don't have gratitude, right, the world wants
(14:42):
you to be under the pressure instead of experiencing peace.
So the world tells us, buy more and you'll be
fulfilled more. But Jesus tells us life doesn't consist. Life
does not consist in the abundance of possessions. So these
holiday seasons, the world way of doing it opposes the
(15:05):
word of God, the living word of God, which is
the Lord Jesus. You don't believe me, we luke Chapter twelve,
Verse number fifteen. Jesus himself says, life doesn't consist in
the abundance of possessions. It doesn't consist. Like you're not
valued more because of how much you have from this
world and man. God values us because of what He
(15:27):
did for us and what he did for the world.
He is the greatest gift. We already spoke about. That
scripture reminds us what we just read. Do not love
the world or the things in the world first John
two fifteen. We read it. That doesn't mean we reject joy.
That doesn't mean we reject family. That doesn't mean we reject celebrating.
(15:49):
Like our Jehovah and his friends, they don't want to
celebrate nothing. That's extreme. Right, We're supposed to be the
most happiest, joyful people on this planet Earth because we
have what we need. We have the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords. We have the promises of God,
we have salvation. We have Holy Spirite living in us
and through us and working his way, Amen, and doing
(16:11):
what he wants to do through us. Amen. And it's
a privilege. So it doesn't mean to reject the joy,
doesn't mean reject family, doesn't mean not to celebrate. The
means reject idolatry disguised as tradition, reject idolatry disguised as
Christmas holiday. Amen, Good morning's the joice, I see you.
(16:31):
Good morning, God, bless you. Welcome back to the morning.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Devo.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Thank you for the blessings over the group as well.
It's good to see my sister and my friend. So
as believers, born again believers, brothers and sisters in Christ,
children of the Living God, we are called to live
intentionally a man, intentionally, not emotionally driven by culture, not
emotionally driven by church, not emotionally driven by traditions, not
(16:56):
emotionally driven by these trends, that these marketing cycles are
going to control the way we do Christmas. Now, don't
don't let it happen. And man, I fight it every
year and people think I'm against Christmas or they think
that I'm a scrooge. I call myself a scrooge during
Christmas time. Amen, I become scroogeous, not because of Christ
(17:16):
being born. I love the fact that Jesus was born.
You should love the fact that Jesus was born. I
come against commercialism and it comes right into my living
room by way of TV, radio promotions, commercials, social media.
And then our children are looking at us like, aren't
we supposed to be doing that xyz? And sometimes we
(17:39):
as parents get influenced, We get the guilt trip. Oh,
I gotta get my daughter this, I gotta get my
son this, and I got listen. I didn't even know
what to get my son and he's thirty three years old.
I don't remember the mus the last time I gave
him a Christmas present. Because I don't know what he wants. Amen.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I guess I should have asked, right, everybody want something, amen.
But my point is that instead of not celebrating something
because you don't have something, amen, why don't we do
it the way God does it? Why don't we do
it the way God sees it? That not to love
the traditions, the things of this world and have all
(18:17):
these possessions, but to love God. And because you love God,
you love others. And because they see the love displayed
through you and through me, they will get the gift
of salvation. They will get the gift that keeps on giving.
They would give the gift of Holy days Amen, in
their hearts, in their minds, in their lives, and the
whole family will benefit from that. Toys, games, gift cards
(18:39):
and all those things run out. I think the longest
things that remain as a gift are board games. Amen.
And I don't know who created that word board games,
because it's you could put a spin on that word
board games, and you could be bored of playing those games,
b o ried. I don't know who created that. But
(19:02):
as believers were called to live intentionally right, our calendar
should reflect our convictions. Our celebrations should point upward instead
of inward. Amen, just think about it. I'm just laying
these backs out so you could investigate these things for
(19:22):
yourself and think about it. Be honest, because I know
every time holidays come Listen, I'm not a multi millionaire.
I have multi million dollar ideas in my head. Amen.
And when I share my ideas, amen, not a lot
of people think it's going to be worth investing it.
And I understand that everybody has their decision to make,
(19:44):
everybody has their opinion. But I keep on keeping on
according to the scripture, according to what God has promised me.
Whether I see the financial blessing or not, I still
strive to move forward in that way because I know
in that direction, the direction that God has for me,
and the direction that God has for you is the
best direction for us to go in anyway. So before
(20:06):
you participate in the traditions of this world, the parties
of this world, the practices of this world, ask yourself,
does this honor God? Or does it feed my flesh?
Whatever that is. You might be like, well, it's Christmas time,
I have to drink coquito with alcohol in it? Does
(20:31):
honor God? Or does that feed your flesh? How about
this one? Does Christmas time or any holiday for that matter,
draw you closer to Christ? Or does it draw you
deeper into comparison? Comparing yourselves with what other people are
doing during these holiday seasons Christmas, New Year, right, Thanksgiving?
(20:54):
Are you drawing closer to Christ? Or you're comparing yourself?
You're being drawn into comparison. That's a dangerous place to
be drawn into. Man, that comparison stuff. Be careful, am
I celebrating freedom? There's a question or financing a distraction
in your life. That's for another time. That's for another time.
(21:18):
So choose. I would suggest that you would choose the
simple things of life over pressure. Like we have enough
pressure in the world as adults. If you have bills
to pay, if we have obligations, and you know, as
an adult, right, all those obligations, those bills and all
(21:41):
that those things are there should be handled and by
the grace and mercy of God will handle it. But
don't put so much pressure. And man, I always tell
this to young people. Don't put all the pressure on
your shoulders, especially young Christians. I always say, no pressure,
don't put too much pressure on yourself. The world is
(22:01):
trying to challenge every one of us every step of
the way as being born again believers. The world is
trying to challenge it all. Don't put all that pressure
on yourself. Choose the simple things of life. Purpose over popularity.
That's a big one. I need to get into that.
Maybe in the new year we're really honed down on that.
(22:25):
We'll hone down on purpose over popularity, especially in the
culture that we're living in that everybody and their mom
and their dad is an influencer online and they're searching
and seeking popularity over purpose. How about this one Christ
over culture. Christ Jesus, if you look at his life
through the Gospels, he was always anti most of the
(22:47):
time anti culture of his culture. Oh, Jesus is not
supposed to do this today because today's the day the Sabbath.
So how dare you save someone, rescue someone, heals someone
on the Sabbath. I'm not supposed to do anything. Yeah,
they told Jesus that he faced that by the culture
back then. Imagine the culture now. Frank says, none of
(23:08):
that honor's God true. None of that list that I
was talking about earlier honors God. I agree with you,
my brother. I'm just putting out there so that way
people you know, we think about this, including myself, Like
when I ask these questions, don't think that I have
to ask them to myself too. I'm trying to be
as honest as I could be here. Eternity is worth
(23:33):
more than any sale or any product that you purchase
online or in the store. Yes, so you can make
kids happy. But from experience, if you're a parent, or
if you have grandchildren, or you have nieces, nephews, young
kids and your family, or you have friends that have
young kids, by experience, we know that that excitement of
(23:56):
something that they have new amen could literally I've seen
it with my own eyes. Literally, that excitement could go
away in two minutes when they get another gift that
they feel is better than the first gift. And they'll
do it right in front of you, because they're kids,
they'll do it right in front of you. Oh, this
is nice. And then someone will come in with a
big gift in li Oh I like that, and they
will literally throw your gift down and run to the
(24:19):
bigger thing. Listen, excitement and the joy of a child
getting a gift for the first time. I like more.
My five year old says, when you give us something,
she's so grateful. She goes, Wow, this is the best
thing I've ever had, or she'll say, this is what
I always wanted all my life, all the five years.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
And it's cute, right, But I hope and pray that
we will keep that attitude of gratitude to be so
grateful for what we have right now, so that way
when the challenges and the pressures of life and the
traditions of these celebrations of the world, the world customs,
the culture and all that won't pressure us into guilt.
(24:58):
Because if you think about it, I have a lot
like my younger my youngest brother has ten kids. Imagine
that Christmas list man trying to get at least this
is besides the parents and the other family, cousins and
all that, at least ten ten gifts with ten children,
(25:19):
then even children no more, and some of them are adults.
Can you imagine how much pressure that would be now
for those who are blessed financially and it's nothing. You
have the finances to get your whole family gifts. Praise God,
And I hope you're praising God for that, because the
health to gain wealth comes from the Father, hey man,
(25:39):
and he has grace upon us all. And when it
rains right, it reiins onderjust and the unjust. So that's
the grace of God over your life. So celebrate the
grace and that again, you need to be grateful for that.
But guys like me, men like me that we don't
have all that financial blessing to get every single person
in our family a gift. I don't fall into the
(26:01):
guilt and shame that the world tells you. Well, get
a credit card or get alan. You gotta do this
because everybody else is doing this. You can't make people
unhappy if you don't give them gifts or put all
these amount of gifts under your tree. That's the world system.
So if you start loving that instead of loving the God,
the Kingdom, principles of God. Amen. The Bible says that
(26:22):
we're opposing God and the love of God is not
in us. I'm just saying, a man, take yourself off
the hook. Go to the Lord. If you need something
for someone and you don't have that something, Amen, you
think it's that important. God will provide amen for your needs,
not for your want sometimes.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Sister Joanna says, I'm thankful for God, but he gave me.
I didn't have what I have today. I laid the
heart life over in Puerto Rico. I didn't have what
I had here today. And I thank the Lord. Thank
the Lord for everything. He gives me the strength every
morning to wake up and give me strength to my
husband to wake up my husband. And not feeling too good,
(27:01):
I just thank God for another day he gives to
me and my family, another year that we come into.
I hope everything goes okay for the new year. God
is too good and I pray for my family too,
that He is with them and guides them and keeps
them safe. I love my Lord. Amen, I love him too.
We love you too, Sister Joanne. But I'm out of time.
(27:22):
Go to First John, chapter number two. Read the whole chapter.
We can't th out of verse fifteen, and it opened
up all these ideas, right. I praise God for that. Amen.
So God bless you all. God keep you all. Remember
always that God himself, God is good. Peace
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.