Prepare Him Room

As the lyrics to a favorite Christmas hymn say, “Let every heart prepare him room.”

Our pastor has been talking about the arrival of Christ. And what our response to that should be. I think sometimes we as believers and followers of Jesus push this idea aside. We think that we have already let him into our hearts and lives and so it does not apply to us. This is the wrong perspective.

How many of us, if Jesus physically walked into our homes, would be uncomfortable, shuffling things we are ashamed of into closets or cupboards, straightening our clothes and wondering how long he was going to stay so we could get back to normal?

We can’t pretend the clutter is not there. We can’t shove things behind the sofas of our hearts and expect Jesus not to see them. Every nook and cranny is his to search and to transform. Are we allowing him access to the very depths of us?

How are we allowing Christ room in our lives? Not just now in the holiday season, but every day? His will is for us to be conformed to his image, to do good works, to go and make disciples, to be holy. The list goes on.

What one thing can you give Jesus more access to in your walk with him? Something that perhaps you have not brought to him in prayer because you didn’t want to deal with it. Some area that causes unrest or guilt but that brings too much pleasure to lay entirely at his feet. Some sacrificial gift with which he will be pleased.

Think about it. Make more room for him in your life. He deserves it.

CFBA presents: Dark Pursuit, by Brandilyn Collins

I'm sorry to say I haven't had a chance to read this one yet, but I'm sure I will at some point. Brandilyn is always interesting, but usually not scary enough for me. :)

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Dark Pursuit
Zondervan (December 1, 2008)
by
Brandilyn Collins


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Brandilyn Collins is known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. She is currently working on her 20th book. For chances to win free copies of her work, join her Fan Club on Facebook. Here’s what Brandilyn has to say about why she wrote Dark Pursuit:

In John Milton’s Paradise Lost Satan’s followers, kicked out of heaven, boast about storming the gates and reclaiming their territory. Beelzebub scoffs at their boasting as merely “hatching vain empires” and suggests a different revengeful scheme: seduce mankind away from God. So Satan visits the Garden of Eden to teach humans the very thing he and his cohorts have learned to be futile—the dark pursuit of hatching their own vain empires instead of following God. He presented man with this “gift” of death, disguised as life. And man fell for it.

Upon this theme of man’s fall and spiritual blindness, I created the characters and events in Dark Pursuit. The story clips along at a fast pace, with much symbolism running underneath.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Dark Pursuit—A twisting story of murder, betrayal, and eternal choices

Novelist Darell Brooke lived for his title as King of Suspense—until an auto accident left him unable to concentrate. Two years later, reclusive and bitter, he wants one thing: to plot a new novel and regain his reputation.

Kaitlan Sering, his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, once lived for drugs. After she stole from Darell, he cut her off. Now she’s rebuilding her life. But in Kaitlan’s town two women have been murdered, and she’s about to discover a third. She’s even more shocked to realize the culprit—her boyfriend, Craig, the police chief’s son.

Desperate, Kaitlan flees to her estranged grandfather. For over forty years, Darell Brooke has lived suspense. Surely he’ll devise a plan to trap the cunning Craig.

But can Darell’s muddled mind do it? And—if he tries—with what motivation? For Kaitlan’s plight may be the stunning answer to the elusive plot he seeks...

Read the first chapter of Dark Pursuit, HERE.