Christmas is arriving in a few days. Have you room for Christ this Christmas? Is there room for Christ in your heart?  I’m honored to host a guest post by Brenda McGraw, author of Joy Beyond, 28 days to finding joy Beyond the clutter of life. Brenda Mcgraw’s shares her testimony about how Jesus never stopped knocking on the door to her heart.  Merry Christmas!

 

Jesus Freak

 

At the young age of thirteen, when I thought I knew everything, I remember rejecting the Savior of the world. In my mind I would make fun of people whom I considered Jesus freaks, and I sure didn’t want to be one. I thought I was having too much fun living the party life. My fun led to a long road that ended in failure. I didn’t make room in my heart and my heart led me astray.

The beautiful words of a Christmas song we sing every year go like this:

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing

Joy to the world! The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of his love.”

Many times we just skim the words and don’t really read them. But this is how I see it:

One verse says, “Let every heart prepare Him room.”

At thirteen I didn’t prepare God room; I didn’t believe in the empty tomb.

At sixteen Jesus was not in the hidden holes of my heart; He waited patiently for me to get smart.

When I was nineteen and getting married, my heart was focused on loving a man; no relationship with the right man, Jesus, began.

When I turned twenty-four, after all the years of no spiritual focus, came along the devastating breast cancer diagnosis.

Did I prepare room then?

I wish I could say yes, I let Jesus hear my heartbeat up close and I listened to Him, but I opened only a corner of my heart and then took God back out once I was given a cancer-free report. He went right back into my God box and I forgot about preparing room for the next heartache that would come my way.

But guess what? God didn’t forget about me. He pursued me and placed me in a new home, in a new church, with new friends that led me to understand Jesus loves me, and His pursuit of my life left me hungry for my hurting heart to be filled by the only One who could heal the years I left Him out.

All of a sudden…like a twinkle in the night, like a bright star in the sky, it was like my eyes were opened to see what I had been missing. I fell in love with a man who was born in a manger, who was mocked by people who were like I was, before I made room for Him. I fell in love with Jesus! It was nothing I did, other than preparing room in my heart for this stranger who I didn’t even know. The One I refused to open the door of my heart to continued to show me His grace, mercy and forgiveness even after all the years I rejected Him.

Amazingly, we can actually talk and walk with Jesus daily. We may not be able to see Him with our eyes, but we see Him as He hugs and loves us through others. He speaks to us through His Word and through godly people. He provides for us and protects us, even when we make bad choices. He calms our fears and our bitter hearts. He forgives us even when we don’t deserve it. He forgets our sins, our unfaithfulness and our disobedience.

 

No more pain, no more tears, no more suffering!

 

He is God who came in the flesh and made a way for you and me to spend eternity in Heaven. In Heaven where there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more fear or evil. Just knowing that one day we will see Jesus face to face keeps me focused on His purposes and His plans.

This man named Jesus is the Prince of Peace, The Almighty King, and He is my everything. He is waiting for us to receive Him as King. He brings joy to the world. He brings joy to my heart and He will bring joy to every heart that prepares Him room.

 

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world! The Savior reigns.”

 

Oh, how I pray those who are reading this will have opened eyes and opened hearts. God is waiting on you to just open your heart and offer Him room. He will do the rest. He is not going to MAKE you do anything you don’t want to do. He didn’t make me quit partying. He just loved me so much that I desired to change. I really don’t care now if anyone calls me a “Jesus freak.” I just want people to know what He has done for me. After the Lord pursues you, and you prepare your heart for Him, His purposes are for peace and joy, for prosperity and abundance, for love and grace. My joy is complete. The holes in my heart are filled and the pain and hurt are healed. He is waiting. His plans are perfect, have you prepared Him room?

Brenda McGraw

Brenda McGraw

Bio for Brenda McGraw

 

 Brenda McGraw is a #1 Amazon Best-selling author and speaker seeking to bring God glory! She shares valuable life lessons, and how you can discover joy beyond hardship and the clutter of life in her book, “Joy Beyond, 28 Days to Finding Joy Beyond the Clutter of Life” and on her website Ask God Today Ministries.

 

Brenda currently lives in South Carolina with her husband, Jeff and three of their five children and has two precious granddaughters. Brenda survived breast cancer at the age of 24, lived through the pain of someone else’s addiction to drugs, and a divorce after 23 years of marriage and recently endured a heart attack. Despite all of this, Brenda found joy in her relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Contact info:

You can connect with Brenda at:

Website – http://www.askgodtoday.com

Twitter – @BrendaMMcGraw

Facebook Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/askgodtodaybyBrenda

https://www.facebook.com/brendamcgraw.writer

Google+ – https://plus.google.com/101962638910979648954‎

Email – brendamcgraw@yahoo.com