A Year with Jesus

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

Have you really made room in your heart for Me?

I'm not talking about thinking about Me during the Christmas season. I'm asking if you have given your heart to Me so that I can speak truth into your uncertainty, peace into your worry, hope into your discouragement, and joy into your sadness. To be My disciple means that you follow Me - you do what I've commanded, you follow My example, and you place Me above all other claims on your heart. So, have you made room in your heart for Me?

You see, I'm sure if folks had known Who I was before I was born that there would have been many people in Bethlehem who would have made room for My little family and Me. However, most were busy with guests in town for the census or working to make a little coin off the out-of-town folks who were crowding their streets. I came to town in the womb of a simple young Jewish woman, and no one noticed - at least not till the angels alerted the shepherds, and they began to tell their story. So there was no room for these two simple God-fearing people expecting their first child. There was no room for Me!

Today, however, I am asking if there is room in your heart for Me? I do not want a quick visit to fill your December with a touch of Christmas. I want to take up permanent residency so My character and compassion can permeate your heart. I want your heart to be My home until I can bring you home to the Father and you can be at home with Us.

I'm here. I'm near. So, have you made room for Me?

Verses to Live

Notice how simply Luke tells the story of My birth. Notice the sad state of affairs at the end!

Around the time of Elizabeth’s amazing pregnancy and John’s birth, the emperor in Rome, Caesar Augustus, required everyone in the Roman Empire to participate in a massive census- the first census since Quirinius had become governor of Syria. Each person had to go to his or her ancestral city to be counted.

Mary’s fiancée Joseph, from Nazareth in Galilee, had to participate in the census in the same way everyone else did. Because he was a descendant of King David, his ancestral city was Bethlehem, David’s birthplace. Mary, who was now late in her pregnancy that the messenger Gabriel had predicted, accompanied Joseph. While in Bethlehem, she went into labor and gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped the baby in a blanket and laid Him in a feeding trough because the inn had no room for them.
(Luke 2:1-7)

More than there not being room in the inn for Me, most folks did not have room in their hearts for Me. But for those who did... ah, focus on the following truth the apostle John states, for it applies for you, too!

He [Jesus] entered our world, a world He made; yet the world did not recognize Him. Even though He came to His own people, they refused to listen and receive Him. But for all who did receive and trust in Him, He gave them the right to be reborn as children of God; He bestowed this birthright not by human power or initiative but by God’s will.
(John 1:10-13)

I'm knocking at the door of your heart. Have you made room for Me - not just at Christmas, but for always? Notice the promise that I made when you do make room for Me.

Now pay attention; I am standing at the door and knocking. If any of you hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to visit with you and to share a meal at your table, and you will be with Me.
(Revelation 3:20)

Response in Prayer

O Father, I regret the many times I have let the busy-ness of my life and the burdens of my heart and the distractions of my selfishness crowd Jesus out of my heart. I intentionally open my heart, and I invite You into every part of my heart, Lord Jesus. I don't want You to be a temporary Christmas decoration in my life, but I want You to have Your way with my will, and I want Your life to be seen through what I do and say. I pray this to the Father, through the intercession of the Spirit, and in the mighty name of Jesus, the Son, and my Savior. Amen.