My devotion the other day spoke of the verse Luke 2:7 "She brought forth her firstborn Son . . . . and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Billy Graham said "No room for Jesus? No room for the King of kings? No, but room for others and for other things. There was no room for Jesus in the world that He had made----imagine! Things have not really changed since that Bethlehem night over 2000 years ago. God is still on the fringes of most of our lives. We fit Him in when it is convenient for us, but we become irritated when He makes demands on us. If God would only stay in His little box and come out when we pull the string! Our lives are so full. There is so much to be done. But in our busy activities are we in danger of excluding from our hearts and lives the one who made us?"
Then my friend, Mike Pier, a missionary in Zimbabwe wrote on his blog "When Jesus made His appearance in our world, it wasn't with a lot of fanfare and with extravagant celebration. He CHOSE to be born in Bethlehem, a city that surely wasn't a vacation hotspot of the day, in a barn that was full of animals, hay, a few rats and poop and in a manger . . . . a feeding trough. If this is where the Creator of the universe chose to be born, if this is where God showed up on Earth . . . what is He saying to us? I think Jesus is saying 'I'm a real person and I'm here to relate with real people, to meet them right where they are, in the dirty places, where there's animals, rats and poop. Even if it smells bad. I don't need a red carpet rolled out for me, cuz You can be real when you come to me . . . just as you are.' So many times we think I need to get myself straightened out, then I'll go to church. I'm here to tell you . . . NOT SO!!! It's just the opposite, Jesus loves a mess . . . and He loves cleaning up a mess. He already knows that we smell bad, that we are in a rough place and maybe have made a mess of our life."
Then on Christmas Eve, Pastor Roger challenged us to seek God for just one thing in 2012. As David did in Psalm 27:4 "The one thing I ask of the Lord . . . the thing I seek most . . ."
So as the Christmas holiday and 2011 come to a close . . . Have I made room in my life for Christ? Not on the fringe but an abiding resident in the center of all I do!
Am I as real a person as Jesus? Am I seeking the fanfare or am I willing to roll up my sleeves and work with Jesus to clean up the stinky, rotten recesses of my life. Then, am I willing to help Him do that with others? It's one thing to work in your own filth but it's another to step into someone else's.
And what will I ask from the Lord in 2012? What is the thing I will seek most? To be in His presence more? My heart says that in 2012 I should seek to have more of Christ's heartbeat . . . to see others as He sees them, love others as He loves them, work patiently with others as He works without ceasing with each of us. I am so short of being able to do that in my own strength, I am quick to see other's faults, quick to snap and judge and impatient for others it "get it" but for 2012 I will seek that I will be more of a vessel He can use!!! More of Him and less of me!
May your Christmas have been blessed and may the New Year bring us all closer to God!
Before 2011 draws to a close, it is a great time for that year end tax deduction AND to partner with me through http://www.childrenscup.org/give-now/ to give hope, inspire dreams and change lives in Swaziland! Thank you for your love, friendship, prayers and support!!!
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