Today’s Bible Verse
Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep. You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You’re going to take over whole nations;you’re going to resettle abandoned cities. Don’t be afraid—you’re not going to be embarrassed. Don’t hold back—you’re not going to come up short.
Isaiah 54:2-4a (MSG)
Are You Ready for Christmas?
Are you ready for Christmas? I’m not talking about decorating a tree, buying presents, planning your menu, or even figuring out what ugly sweater you are going to wear to that party. I’m asking, Is your heart ready? Have you prepared your heart for the opportunity this Christmas season brings? Have you asked God to enlarge your heart for souls?
In the hustle and bustle of all the activities that seem so important, we can quickly forget Who we are celebrating and why. God gave us His most valuable gift, His son, Jesus, for the restoration of His family. As a born again believer who has received the gift of salvation, how big is your tent? Do you have room in your heart for others? In the verse above, God is asking us to…
1 – Clear lots of ground
In Mark 4, Jesus talks about four types of grounds and correlates it to the ground of our heart. Pray and apply the blood of Jesus over the ground of your heart. Ask God to remove any thorns; the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things, which are choking out His plan and purpose of how He wants to use you this Christmas.
2 – Make your tents large, spread out, think big!
Think about family from God’s perspective. In addition to your loved ones, which co-workers, neighbors, classmates, grocery store clerk, and contacts listed in your phone is God asking you to pray for and reach out to. In addition to making a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for, how about making a list of at least three people that God is asking you to make room in your tent by bringing them to church and life group. During our prayer week (Dec 5-11), join us in praying for them to say yes to your invitation.
3 – Use plenty of rope
When I think about the rope used for a tent, I think about control. To use plenty of rope requires us to surrender our hearts and resources for a greater purpose. Let’s clear out our calendar of what’s important to us to make room for what’s important to God. Let’s plan our family gatherings and holiday parties around life group and church services so that we can pick up and bring people into the house of God to receive the ultimate gift of salvation.
4 – Drive the tent pegs deep
Changing our family routine and even traditions to allow God to stretch us requires faith. It’s deciding to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in our inner man by the Holy Spirit. And Christ, through our faith, dwelling in our hearts, causes us to be rooted deep in God’s love and founded securely on His love (Eph 3:16-17). (Calvena Sautia)
Change My Story
About 12 years ago, Pastor Art shared with his leadership team the desire God placed in his heart to go back into specific communities and not just get them saved, but also plant them in church. It would require knocking on the doors of strangers, regularly visiting their homes to build relationships, and then feeding them weekly before bringing them to church. Immediately I knew God was speaking to me, but I lacked motivation. Right there I had a choice to make; either leave it for someone else in the church to do, or change. In my prayer closet, I fell to my knees and cried out to God to change my heart. I repented for my pride, selfishness, and allowing the fear of the unknown to hold me back. I asked Him to give me His heart for humanity. I cried out for the Holy Spirit to pour out His love into my heart. In those moments, I truly encountered the love of God. An overwhelming spirit of compassion flooded my heart for a community I had yet to meet. Today, many of them are now Life Group Leaders who have also enlarged their tents for others.
Today’s Declaration
Lord, I surrender my heart to You. I repent for my small thinking and small living. Clear out and uproot the thorns that are holding me back. I lay down my plans at the altar and I allow You to direct and order my steps. Your plans always include my loved ones, plus so many more. I will not hold back, because I know that I will never come up short when I put You first. Thank You Holy Spirit for pouring God’s Love into my heart when I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I desperately need Your love to be stirred up in me and overtake me, so it pours out of me in a real and living way! Thank You for my gift of salvation. Thank You for this opportunity to share that gift with others. Thank You for truly preparing my heart for Christmas!
Today’s Bible Reading
- Old Testament: Hosea 4-6; Job 24
- New Testament: John 14:15-21; Revelation 1:9-20
