Are We Like the Innkeeper?

Are we missing what God may have for us in His plan because we are too busy?

I watched a new Christmas Bible Study series on the Casting Crowns' YouTube channel titled "How Are You Making Room for Jesus This Christmas?" based on their new song with Matt Maher, "Make Room."

They were all short videos, but there was a great message behind each one. I could personally make a lot of connections to my own life, so I thought that I should share a few and the resources, so maybe you can see some applications to your life and family, too.

The first video was a simple yet strong challenge to simply change the focus of your home or atmosphere. It seems obvious, but thinking about it, it's huge. When I change the music I am listening to, Instagram and Twitter accounts I look to each day, the notes I leave myself on my phone and in my room or textbooks, the thoughts I have, the way I look at the world, etc...wow it is a huge difference! Life seems better and calmer even when things are not that smooth and pretty chaotic.

Another point that I really liked to hear Mark Hall make in this intro video was that sure, we can still have all the fun holiday things, gifts, Santa, parties, songs, and whatever else, but we have to have Jesus first. That's what makes the difference.

The second video looked at the innkeeper. At first, while I was listening to him tell about Mary and Joseph's journey and the job of an innkeeper during this time with the census, I was wondering where he was going with that. But then it hit me. While people may look upon the innkeeper negatively because he turned Mary and Joseph away, he wasn't doing anything wrong; he wasn't a bad guy. He was just doing his job during the busiest working time of his life. So many people were traveling during this time, his guest rooms would have been in high demand. Mary and Joseph were just a couple more travelers, and there was no room. He was busy. And he missed out on being a part of one of the greatest plans God ever had.

Does this sound like your life sometimes? I can tell you that it is definitely my life many times! I am busy. Always busy. Mom gets frustrated with me because even in what could be some wonderful, relaxing times for me, I am busy with something. I never run out of things I could be doing. However, there are times, especially during the school year, that I am so busy I feel like I never sit down, and my brain is going on overdrive all day long, and I swallow my food whole like I haven't eaten in four days. Do I have time to open up my Bible? Time to take a deep breath and pray? I feel like I don't, but I do. I can make room. My inn may feel full, I can be doing lots of great things, but I can be busy and miss what God has in His plan for my life. Busy-ness isn't a sin in itself, but it can be a distraction for God's greater purposes right here in front of us. God can knock on a door, but He can't make us bring the opportunity inside.

In the third video, Mark talked about Jesus's life later on. People wanted rid of Him. He challenged the way the world worked, went against the status quo, He got in the way of how people wanted to live their lives and do religion. Why don't we always make room for Jesus? Because it gets in the way of how we want to do things in life. It's a challenge to our routines.

The final video made me smile as he told of his family's tradition of reading the Christmas story from Luke 2, because that's what my family always does as well. The Hall family has a nativity scene that sounded similar to what we also had on display, but they added a unique twist to both sharing the story and using the nativity. The parents would take the pieces and hide them throughout the house before the kids were up, then they would have a sort of Easter egg hunt with the pieces. Each person would have the piece(s) he or she found, and as they read the story from the Bible, each person would talk about it from the character's or animal's point of view. Imagine being a part of THE Christmas story! We may not be able to be a part of the birth of Christ, but we can be a part of many other miracles and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that God has in His story ever day.

So I am using this series as a challenge to myself when I get in the Christmas spirit in the future, as well as every day, to pause in what I am doing to breathe, pray, take my mind off of myself for a minute, and see what God may be trying to get me to see. I may feel like I can't slow my progress or I'll fall apart or behind, but God will take care of that. We have to look to Him first, then we will see.

Follow @makenzie_jones

Follow me on  

Lenny and Larry's Baked Nutrition

LinkedIn

Instagram

YouTube

Dog Sit and Walk with Rover

Fiverr

Care.com

Athlete Network

Shop and Save with ibotta

Learning to Live THE Life

It's been a while since I have written any new blogs with the hectic pressures of school this year, but we've had a week and a half of snow days now, and I am full of things to share!  God has just been teaching me so much lately, and my heart is just busting to let others know of these beautiful things, too.  I am so thankful for all this time that we have had away from school; it has done wonders for my soul.  I've taken time to relax, clean, organize, cook, create, run for fun, study, try to catch up on school work, and actually do some things that I want to do.  Did I mention relax a little?  That was previously a foreign word not in my vocabulary.

 

Last night after my little Bible study in Galatians, I wrote down that my goal for today was to share some of these things that God has shown to me.
"Anyone who receives instruction in The Word must share all good things..."  Galatians 6:6
I mean, really, what good is all this if I keep it to myself?  I love having things, material and otherwise, to enjoy, but I also think of the quote I have kept in mind ever since I heard Mark Hall say it at a Casting Crowns concert last spring.  "We're not blessed so we can have, we're blessed so we can give."
  I'm not sure where to start, so I'll start with something broad...life.  That could go anywhere!

 

LIFE

Something we all strive for.  Obviously we all have life.  We're here.  Not dead.  But not just any life.  We want a good life, full, satisfying, exciting, joyful life.  We may work and work every day to do everything to make life all that we want it to be, but is it really working? 
There is this cycle that I get a picture of from Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

The more I make it a point to find joy in pleasing the Lord, the more joyful I become.  Then I want to do more for Him.  The more time I spend in His Word, the more I want to read and learn from it. 
LIFE is one of those things that is a deep desire of my heart.  I just want to enjoy my life!  I love it!  This led me to use the little directory thingy in the back of my Bible to look up verses about life.  I found some really encouraging verses that motivated me to change the focus of my life and to just uplift my heart in general.  After going through all those, I chose my favorites to redecorate my dry erase board in my room.

Aside from these, here are some other things that the Bible says about life:

 

-If you want to love life and have a lot of good times, what should you do? >>>Watch your mouth.  Turn from evil, but not only turn from it, but instead turn to good and go after peace. (Psalm 34:12-14)

 

-Think time goes by fast?  God will show you that it does.  Our lives are passing so quickly each day. (Psalm 39:4-5)  This reminds me to consider what I put my time into.

 

-In this dark and doomed world, is there hope to find the right things to do?  >>YES.  The Word lights up the darkness and shows us how to correct our wrongs and live a right life. (Proverbs 6:23)

 

-For a long time, I have always loved the part of the Sermon on the Mount about not worrying.  I am a worry-wart, that's why.  I usually go to the passage in Matthew 6, but this time I studied the account in Luke 12.  I could write an entire book just on this passage and how it has related to and changed my life at different points throughout my years.  I won't make you read through all that!  (Think to yourself, "Shew, thank goodness")  Originally, I had just noted verse 22 "I tell you, do not worry about your life..."  but when you find a good verse, it is usually a good idea to read around it, and you may find words even better than what you first saw!  One thing that messes me , up is that I think too much.  I want to have things "under control" but that is dumb.  Thinking of myself too much takes away from God's plans.  I get too set on my own plans and can't see what He has placed right in front of me!  If God daily makes the earth, sun, night and day, repeat perfectly to let all the earth work and animals thrive, why do I worry about myself getting a living?  If He takes so much care into these things we so often overlook, why do I doubt that my own life, the life of His dear child (1 John 3:1), would come full circle?  Jesus specifically says "DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE."  My mental effort should be put toward the things that He is working for His glory.  (Philippians 4:8)  Not only is that pleasing to Him, but it refreshes my mind as well.  You can also infer from this passage that the less you set your heart and mind on material things, the less likely you are to be disappointed.  Things in the world can be taken away, but heavenly treasures will never disappear.  That's what eternal means.  If we are living in worry and chasing after our own pleasures, we are living the exact same way as those who do not know God at all.  Worry and worldly pursuits don't set an example for unbelievers. 

 

-Are you letting Satan win in your life?>>>You may think, "No!  What a terrible thing!  Of course I'm not letting Satan win in my life!" but you may want to reconsider.  Do you ever feel depressed, unmotivated, pessimistic, stressed, torn down, hateful, vengeful, angry, and just disgusted with life or a situation, or anything similar to this?  That's Satan.  God doesn't want us to feel that way.  Satan wants these negative emotions in our lives to produce negative actions.  God has come so that we can make every moment, no matter what the circumstances, a moment of opportunity.  (John 10:10)

 

-This is one of the verses from my board, but it just makes my heart happy. "...a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (1 Timothy 6:17-19) This is something that can't really be explained.  True life and feelings that come from God are indescribable.  That's how He works.  But when you experience it, you know.  This passage addresses "the rich in this present world," but I believe that it doesn't just mean wealthy as in money.  We can all be rich in our own rights.  Whether that be talent, family, friends, a job, awards, creativity, intelligence, beauty, peace, or anything really, we can't put our hope in these riches.  Only God's riches are the ones that can sustain us through until we meet Him in heaven.  By being rich in the things of Christ, we will be prepared for whatever the world throws at us.  We will have what we need stored up in our hearts so that we can have this true life at all times.

 

God has given us so much in this world that we can use for His glory, so many things that He gives for our enjoyment!  All it takes is our dedication to having this attitude.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Another morning to sleep in!  I wanted to change up my exercise today, so Mom and I went to the Jefferson City Community Center.  While I swam for a while then ran 11 minutes on the treadmill, Mom sat in her Yukon in the parking lot and occupied herself.  We then headed back toward town and met Dad at Taco John's for lunch.  This is also a festive restaurant!  They even add "Nachos Navidad" to their menu each holiday season, and they also put up decorations.

When we got home I finished what I had planned for lunch and tried something new.  I am very frustrated that I could not find any Christmas candy corn this year, because it makes an amazing snack with nuts.  Instead, I mixed some almonds, pistachios, and peanuts with honey and cinnamon.  YUMMY. 

Let the fun begin!

You have no idea how much I have been looking forward to this night.  It is my favorite night all year.

This is my lovely Granannie.  She is my dad's mom.  I just love how sweet and cute and beautiful she is.  We have so many terrific memories!

These are my cousins Matt and David from my mom's sister.

These are two of my favorite people in the whole wide world!  My mom's parents aka Mamaw and Papaw.  Their house is where we spend every Christmas Eve.  Mamaw says she feels like she feeds us the same food all the time, but I LOVE IT.  I could literally sit and eat all the vegetables she makes all night.  However, I had to stop myself to save room for dessert.  On Christmas and Thanksgiving she gets a ham, and other times she makes meatloaf.  Her fudge and peanut butter fudge and sweet potoato and pumpkin pies are also phenomenal!

After leaving Whitesburg (the little country town where my grandparents live), we went back to Jefferson City to my friend's house for a party!  We stayed until after midnight.  Here's some of the adults breakin it down...literally rockin around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop!

This is my good and crazy friend Danny.  His parents are the ones who host this yearly party, but he was tired from and early basketball practice and refused to let go of his blanket.

This is another one of my friends from Jeff, Alexandria.  Believe it or not, she is actually a grade younger than me.  Yes, I am short, I know.

Every Christmas Eve, I read the Christmas Story to Mom and Dad before we go to bed.  Because of the partying, it was 2 am before we got into bed, but we are celebrating Jesus here, not ourselves! 

Here is another passage of scripture that I have become very fond of this year.  It is in Isaiah 9, a prediction of Jesus's birth.

*He was born for us.

*All decision-making and governmental principles should be based on him.

*He is here to give us guidance.

*He is stronger than any earthly power or struggle.

*He never fails or ends.

*He gives us peace that cannot be reached through our own strength.

*There is no end to His rule and peace.

 

This is where the true joy of Christmas comes from!