The Inn Keeper's Decision

No matter how one may express it; you either have room in your heart or reject the gift that Christmas represents.
Imagine yourself as the inn keeper, whom Joseph and Mary approached for a place to receive the birth of Christ.  You either have room for Christ, or not.  Jesus either is invited into your midst and very heart and spirit,  into your very midst, or not—having him near, allowing him some small place is to reject him. 

 

Simply put, invite Christ in or tell him to move along.

 

“She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”  ~Luke 2:7

 

It is more than a nativity scene it is an eternal message:

“Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.”  ~1 John 5:10

 

Merry Christmas,

Owen

Do Not Hesitate

Often in prayer, or any situation, the Spirit of the Lord speaks into your very soul, your very essence of being and thought.  How do you respond?  You know what was just whispered into your heart was in direct response to the moment.  When thoughts out of your normal attitude nudge you to get up, overcome barriers, and capture the moment to reveal Christ enters your heat:  do not hesitate—that is God talking to you.  

“While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the

Spirit said to him,
‘Simon, three men are looking for you.
So get up and go downstairs.
Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’”
~ Acts 10:19-20

Peter had trouble being a guest and sharing the table fare with non-Jewish, non-Hebrew, unclean gentiles.  What he had to overcome was changing his thinking and do what God’s Spirit had whispered into his heart. 

Peter submitted to the whisper of the Lord’s Spirit. 
Then, what happened?
He got up, and did not hesitate to accept an invitation.

Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet,

and worshiped him.  But Peter took him up, saying,

“Stand up: I myself also am a man.”

Acts 10:25-26

Peter was welcomed into the home of Cornelius, a good man who gave to the poor and sought God, a Roman Centurion and of all things, a gentile!

Peter shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Cornelius and others at his house.

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised [the Jewish] believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”  (vv. 44-46).   

Do not hesitate: overrule your reservations—submit to doing what God’s Holy Spirit plants in you, and today you will reveal the gospel of Christ to someone who is perishing.       

Get up, … Don’t Hesitate,

Owen <><

Read Acts 10

Glorify the Lord: Generation to Generation

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
…His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.”   Luke 1:46-50

A young teenager gave us the wisdom above, a girl who was bout fourteen, maybe sixteen.  She was from a poor and dusty little town called Nazareth; her name was Mary. 

 

Her testimony was, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  What you speak will become a precursor, the very foundation to the legacy you will leave to future generations.  Every child (or adult) you are near can be influenced – you can tell them about the love of God through Jesus and the comfort of the Holy Sprit; or leave a legacy of frivolous, vain things that remain in this world. You have a choice.  The words you speak have impact, just as the teenage girl, Mary said, “from generation to generation.” 

Your words and influence have everlasting impact, do you lift up life in Christ, whereby the Lord’s “mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation”? 

You have the floor, … speak your “peace”.

Bless you,
Owen <><