March 24, 2014: Wilderness Challenge / Sorting and Tossing

Luke 2:1-24

Amplified Bible (AMP)

2 In those days it occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole Roman empire should be registered.

2 This was the first enrollment, and it was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 And all the people were going to be registered, each to his own city or town.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

5 To be enrolled with Mary, his espoused (married) wife, who was about to become a mother.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her delivery,

7 And she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn.

8 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in shifts] over their flock by night.

9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.

10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people.

11 For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord!

12 And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find [after searching] a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

13 Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven (a heavenly knighthood), praising God and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].

15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing (saying) that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.

16 So they went with haste and [by searching] found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger.

17 And when they saw it, they made known what had been told them concerning this Child,

18 And all who heard it were astounded and marveled at what the shepherds told them.

19 But Mary was keeping within herself all these things (sayings), weighing and pondering them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

21 And at the end of eight days, when [the Baby] was to be circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

22 And when the time for their purification [the mother’s purification and the Baby’s dedication] came according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord—

23 As it is written in the Law of the Lord, Every [firstborn] male that opens the womb shall be set apart and dedicated and called holy to the Lord—

24 And [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

Mary was not a talker. She was always pondering stuff in her heart. I have been trying to be more like her. I want to listen to God's voice more and talk less. 

This morning, He is telling me, sure, Mary was chosen to give birth to the Son of God. Yes, it would have been incredible to be the one He chose for this honor. But, hold on, wait a minute! He chose ME. He wants to be born in ME. He want's ME to be a vessel of honor for Him. 

Let me digress for a moment. I started a wilderness journey on March 3. This consisted of a type of Daniel fast (slightly different because of dietary challenges I have), a movie fast (I have enjoyed the newer Hallmark movies - murder mysteries and romances - they have no swearing, no innapropriate sexual content, and no violence), cutting out coffee (that was a hard one - I've been cutting back a little every day and yesterday I was down to a few sips in the morning), cleaning my heart totally out once and for all (still working on that one), and spending more time with Jesus. Suprisingly, the hardest one (which I really thought would be the easiest) was fitting more time with Jesus into my schedule. My goal was to spend my lunch hour with Him. I work in a church, so wouldn't that seem simple? The sanctuary is a few feet away from my office. But much to my dismay, I have allowed stuff to crowd out this appointment. Spending more time with Jesus will automatically take care of the heart stuff. I just know it. So I gotta make it happen!

Anyway, the purpose of this wilderness journey is to find answers to some challenges in my life. You know what I mean. Ongoing stuff - the stuff that has been waking me up in the middle of the night for years. There are two pressing challenges that I want over and done with. Until now, I've been ignoring them and hoping they would work themselves out. Instead, they have intensified. Anybody out there ever had junk in your life? You work really hard to focus on the good stuff. And you love God and serve Him and hope the challenges will just get smaller and eventually go away. Ha ha. That NEVER happens. It's like a pile of junk in your basement. It NEVER goes away. It ALWAYS gets bigger. Soon it takes over the whole basement. Unless it's dealt with. One day, you gotta go downstairs and just start digging through the ugly pile of junk, sorting and tossing. Thus the wilderness challenge. I am sorting and tossing. 

Making room for Jesus' birth in my life. 

"Jesus, be born in me! I'm preparing my heart. I'm sorting and tossing. Come on in. Take over. That's all. AMEN."