It seems like we have been hearing a lot this year asking if we have room in our hearts for Jesus. This daily devotional takes an in-depth look at what that really means.
Nuggets
- God loves us so much; however, He gives us the choice of not opening it if we don’t want to.
- Jesus knocking on the door of each of our hearts, asking us to let him in.
- In praying, we are communing with God at a very intimate level.
- The light of the world, Jesus, has come into the dark places of the world, to shine the light of forgiveness into those dark places.
Devotions in the 2021 Christmas series
I am so lucky to have a fiancé who is a pastor. He also likes to write and support me.
Pastor Steve has written three great devotions for our Christmas series this year. Let’s jump into the second one.
Pastor Steve and I have commented several times that we think God is trying to tell us that we really don’t have room for God in our hearts right now. We need to fix that.
“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Lk. 2: 7 NKJV)
I gave a lot of thought to what to write about that hadn’t already been done repeatedly during the Christmas season over the years. And while I do not think I grabbed hold of something new, for some reason, the hymn, “Have You Any Room for Jesus” kept running through my mind.
So, I read through the lyrics a couple of times, and it stuck me that the lyrics of this hymn ask some important questions of us during this Christmas season.
Picture if you will, giving your child a present on Christmas that you could not wait for them to open. You picked that special present out, feeling it was just the right thing for that child. Your heart wells up with excitement, knowing what an amazing surprise that awaits your child.
Each day as it gets closer to Christmas morning, your excitement and enthusiasm for the gift grows and grows and your excitement overwhelms you to a point where you occasionally let it slip about the present to your child. You manage to cover up your slip well enough to where your child doesn’t suspect a thing … or so you think.
You see, eventually, your child figures out what the present is, but doesn’t let on that he knows. The one thing you don’t know is, that child hates the idea of getting that gift and can’t imagine why you’d be so silly as to give him a gift like that.
But he doesn’t let on about it.
Finally, Christmas morning arrives and you’re all sitting around opening presents. You excitedly hand that special present to your child, just knowing it’s the best thing you could have ever given him.
But the child says, “I know what that is, and I don’t want it and I’m not going to open it, because I don’t want it at all!”
How would that make you feel? No matter how it makes you feel, though, the reality is, your child refusing to accept that gift says a lot more about where his heart and mind is and has nothing really to do with yours.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3: 16 NKJV)
The key word here is gave. But how many people in this world do not want the gift of salvation? How many of us refuse to “open” that gift God has given us?
God loves us so much; however, He gives us the choice of not opening it if we don’t want to. But we don’t realize the consequences of not doing so.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
God loves us so much, however, He gives us the choice of not opening it if we don’t want to.
Think of how much God suffers because we do not choose to accept His gift of salvation. We can only begin to understand that.
Our points of reference are all based on temporary, physical things. God’s priority is our spiritual condition — our eternal condition. He knows that is so much more important.
We don’t realize the consequences of not accepting His gift.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3: 20 NKJV)
These are the words of Jesus. He’s knocking on the door of each of our hearts, asking us to let him in.
Just as there was no room for him in the inn in Bethlehem, much of the time, there is no room for him in our hearts. We each have to make the decision about what we have room for in our hearts.
We have to make the choice. This is something we Christians struggle with a lot.
Many have enough room to allow Jesus just inside the door of our hearts, but we do not let him come in and abide there with us, even though that is a promise he has made to us. Many of us are content to keep Jesus standing at the door, but never let him make a home with our hearts.
What are the things for which we do we have room? Room for pleasure, room for business, room for just about anything, but no room for Jesus?
This should tell us what the idols are in our lives. An idol is something that has taken God’s place in your heart.
Most of us do not know the benefits that we have with allowing Jesus to abide in us. His gift to us was not only salvation, but it was also peace of mind, a fulfilled life, a mended heart and so many more things.
But we need to let Him into our lives and be in control of it to gain these things. The following verses helps shed us to see what some of those benefits are.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4: 6-7 NKJV).
In praying, we are communing with God at a very intimate level. We don’t realize it, but as we are lifting prayers, we receive back from God peace that makes no sense.
It helps us to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This is one of the benefits of allowing Jesus into our hearts.
“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (Jn. 12: 46 NKJV)
Jesus is the source of light in this world. The source of all good and love. Abiding in Him and allowing Him to abide in us, keeps us away from the darks places in this world and stay in the light of Him.
“The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined” (Isa. 9: 2 NKJV)
This is a prophecy in the Old Testament about Jesus. Before He came into the world, we were largely living in darkness, spiritually. His coming into the world, brought a spiritual light that had never existed in the world before.
Asking Jesus into our heart allows us to benefit from that spiritual light He has brought into the world.
“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (II Pet. 1: 9 NKJV)
Here, the Apostle Peter is encouraging us to understand that just as the prophecy has said, the light of the world, Jesus, has come into the dark places of the world, to shine the light of forgiveness into those dark places. His light shines upon all living in the darkness. He also points out that we would do well to heed this prophecy.
“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned” (Mt. 4: 16 NKJV)
And again, in Matthew, he confirms that Jesus, the great light has dawned into this world.
So, in closing, I am asking that we to be honest with ourselves and think about what is most important to us. Then ask ourselves if we have any room for Jesus in our hearts. We get to decide that, but there’s consequences to not allowing Him to abide in us.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Mt. 7: 21-23 NKJV)
These are the words of Jesus. So many will be entering into judgement day thinking that they are okay, because they have asked Jesus into their hearts.
But they never really allowed him truly to be in their heart. This is what Jesus will say to them.
We have a choice to make about whether there is any room for Jesus in our heart. Choose wisely. Abide in him and allow him to abide in us.
Dear Heavenly Father, there’s so many things in this world demanding space in our hearts. The struggle is very real at times. Please help us to make the room in our hearts for Jesus and allow Him to abide there. Amen.
What do you think?
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