Kristi Pennington

It seems odd that the focus of my daily scripture reading for the past three weeks has been on the death of Jesus. As I meditated upon the portions of scripture that described what led up to His death and the crucifixion, my heart was heavy. My heart hurt as I visualized the awful suffering Jesus endured. I cannot imagine the physical and emotional pain of it all. Tears flowed.

But then the great “then” came. Jesus didn’t stay dead! He came back to life! The story of His birth, His living life as one of us, His death, His triumphantly overcoming death and coming back to life is the most imposing story ever lived, ever told. His story changed everything. His story changed everything for the better. And, it still does.

In front of one of our churches here in Hendersonville, Tennessee, is a manger scene. Directly behind it is a big cross. I don’t remember that cross being there in years past. Had it been and I’d not noticed? I’m not sure.  The important thing is that I noticed it now. My heart worshiped as I gave thanks that the cross was always in Jesus’ mind because I was always on His mind, as are you. I was ready to celebrate Christmas!

I’ve thought a lot about the name of the holiday we are celebrating: Christmas.  Christ means Messiah, Jesus, the Anointed One. Mas is from the Latin word meaning to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. As Christ-followers, we continue to observe the Lord’s Supper and, in doing so, we remember His sacrifice of His body and His blood. By trusting Jesus we now live free from the bondage and penalty of sin.

Lately I find myself sitting, too, with the word “mas” and its Spanish definition. Mas in Spanish means “more”. My heart’s desire is to make more room for Jesus to reign in every part of my being. You may find that this is your longing, also.

To make more room for Jesus He asks us to throw out some pieces of furniture in our “spiritual house, our soul” that are old, tattered, and ugly like:

• Resentments
• Severe judgements
• Self-condemnation
• Perfectionism
• Discontentment
• Selfishness

Once these are thrown out, larger gifts of grace that are of Jesus will have more room to grow and flourish. We become more the image bearer of Christ we were designed to be. These gifts will be free to flow:

• Love
• Gratefulness
• Compassion
• Hope
• Joy
• Generosity

Questions to ponder: How are you making more room for Jesus in your soul and in your life? Where is God working? Is there some heart rearranging or discarding of something that needs to happen so Jesus can increase?

Prayer to pray: “Jesus I desire more of you in my heart where you abide. Point out anything that is still taking up space from my old way of life. I see this ____________in me. Help me shove it out so you can replace it with what is of you. I desire more of you and less of me. In your name, I ask this. Amen.”