When You Want More of Jesus in December

The start of December brings both joy and dread to my heart. Joy because I’m all about warm fuzzies and family memories. Dread because the thought of Christmas crazy scares me.

Maybe you understand? If you’re like me, you didn’t do a lick of Christmas preparation in October, and you didn’t buy gifts throughout the year either. So now we’re looking at one month to do All the Christmas Things. If I’m not careful, the Christmas crazy can overtake me. And the last thing I need is to fall headlong into a frazzled holiday rush.

I want more Jesus and less Christmas crazy in December.
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So I get intentional about choosing just a few fun activities. And I celebrate Advent the whole month long as a time to welcome Christ into my heart and life. For me, it’s a way to put the brakes on Christmas crazy.

Advent means “arrival.” Can you remember a time you got excited about the arrival of a special guest? When my son Andres was eight, I invited a dear family friend to dinner one evening. Andres adored our friend and wanted to make sure he was the one to open the door for her, so several hours before her arrival, he pulled up a chair to the door to sit and wait.

What if we were that intent on opening the door to more of Jesus in our lives?

This December let’s open our doors and welcome Jesus in.

Let’s invite Jesus into our everyday.

When Jesus comes, He brings glory, fresh strength, and purpose to our work. He opens our eyes to joy. He brings hope to our disappointments and assurance that there is more to life than what we see.

Let’s invite Him into our broken places.

When Jesus comes, He brings His Spirit to renew our faltering faith. His Word speaks truth to our doubts. He brings His power to our weakness, healing to our brokenness, and redemption to our failure.

How do we invite Jesus in?

We have to open the door to Him. What would have happened if my son hadn’t opened the door when our guest arrived? He would have missed out. Scripture reminds us Jesus is always knocking:

How reassuring to know He’s always there, waiting for us to let Him in. Let’s not miss out on what He has for us. Let’s open our doors to Him.

Open up our Schedules:

How about slowing down a few moments each day to slip into His presence and rest there? Whether we linger over morning coffee, or set aside ten minutes before bed, our Savior is waiting for us to open the door and invite Him in.

Open His Word:

Reading our Bibles opens a way for us to meet with our Lord. When we read His Words, we hear His voice.

Open our Eyes:

Let’s open our eyes to see His hand at work in our daily lives.

Open our Hearts:

Let’s invite Jesus to shine His light into our hearts. What do we need to let go of? Where do we need forgiveness? When we repent, He promises to cleanse and make us new.

Let’s make Advent a special time to open our doors to more of Jesus.
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Will you join me in opening the door to more of Jesus this December? Each Tuesday, I’ll post a devotional on one of Jesus’ “I am” statements from the book of John. Next week, join me for a look at how the Light of the World shines into our darkness.

Let’s make Advent a special time to open our doors and welcome our Savior in. As He comes, may He set our hearts on fire with His joy and hope.

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