{"id":21442,"date":"2017-08-31T00:10:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T07:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/littlecountrychurch.org\/?p=11536"},"modified":"2017-08-31T00:10:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T07:10:53","slug":"august-31-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/08\/31\/august-31-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"August 31, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear Readers,<\/span><\/h4>\n

In preparation for our year looking at Jesus\u2019 example in the gospels, from time to time we will \u201creplay\u201d some older devotionals. We pray these get you excited for this new year of study together and for what God is going to do as we continue \u201cLiving By His Example.”<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0\u201cAnd she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.\u201d<\/em> Luke 2:7<\/span><\/p>\n

Making Room For Jesus<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

We usually read this passage about Jesus\u2019 birth around the Christmas season, and we sometimes connect it with the question, \u201cHave you made room for Jesus in your heart?\u201d I\u2019ve always thought of it as a salvation message for unbelievers and think with a ho-hum attitude, \u201cYes, I\u2019ve received Jesus, I\u2019ve been saved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But recently, I was struggling with some physical problems that overwhelmed me. As I prayed for the Lord to take the pain away, the thought came to me to rejoice anyway, no matter what. I realized that my usual M.O. was to be consumed with my own feelings and thoughts of, \u201cWow, that hurts,\u201d or \u201cWhen is this pain going to let up?\u201d, or \u201cWhat can I do to help it go away?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The words then came to me, \u201cMake room for Jesus.\u201d There was no room for Him when I was so full of myself! This message of salvation is not just a one time thing for eternal life, but it is also for abundant life every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I make room for Jesus? He tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think and meditate on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, and praiseworthy. Then my heart won\u2019t be like the soil that allowed the thorns and cares of this world to choke Him out. (Mark 4:1-20)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLord, forgive me for allowing the trials and tribulations of this world (and pain in my own body) to crowd You out. I know that You are doing a good work through my pain, whether I see it or not. I want to decrease so You can increase. Help me to \u201ctake every thought captive.\u201d I so want to make room in my heart for You every day, as I run this race that You have set before me. I love You, trust You no matter what, and I rejoice in Your goodness and sovereignty. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Readers, In preparation for our year looking at Jesus\u2019 example in the gospels, from time to time we will […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5zQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21442\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}