no room at the inn
From Luke 2:4-7
“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
No room in the inn, no room in the inn, no room in the inn. I keep hearing that resounding in my Spirit. No room in the inn. Some say, “how could they turn away a pregnant woman?” Yet it happens everyday, probably more often today than then. Folks think Herod was so aweful for slaughtering babies in the streets, yet it happens today and most folks think nothing of it.
After the recent American elections I saw folks celebrating that they had just elected a president whose nickname could easily be Herod. It grieved me, but not as bad as when I heard that African American Pastors, Preachers, and Ministers were celebrating FROM THE PULPIT! That really grieved me.
In the Spirit I heard, “there is no room at the inn.” Some have sold out their Spiritual heritage for their racial heritage. And they don’t even realize (or they don’t care) that it is their own babies and their own race being killed off. They are living for the moment. All in the name of pride. Black Pride, Gay Pride, American Pride, while there is no room at the inn.
Pride comes before the fall.
But it isn’t just in politics. It is is our everyday lives. How often do we as the body of Christ turn God away saying there is no room at the inn?
How often do we have time for other things but not for Him? How often do we have time for causes that aren’t His yet not have time for the things that are important to Him? How often do we say, “but it’s Christmas” as an excuse to not truly worship Him yet do religious traditions instead?
Is there room at the inn?
Recently at our church in Mt Pleasant the heater died, as in, refused to work. Well to say that things have been financially tight is an understatement. It is a struggle to keep the lights on some months, much less have funds for repairs. And even though some of the members are laid off from their jobs, they are the most faithful bunch I have ever seen. Faithful in their prayer life too, and we see evidence of it in the community. And still there is so much to pray for. I have to drive through open on-the-street drug dealing to go from our house in the country to the church. Where young men have been shot. Yet Jesus loves these people. We love these people. Our faithful members love these people. Our faithful members have ties to these people. One of the women at the church told me, “heater or no heater, we are going to be here for them and we are going to pray.” Well that was good until winter came early. But we continued to pray.
We had other folks praying and even one dear friend who belongs to another church ask if they (the other church) could help us out. He sent me their reply. It was from one of the biggest churches in the community. One working on a nearly 2 million dollar addition. They said sorry but they didn’t have the funds for that. I am sure it is safe to say their Christmas program cost more to put on than our budget for the entire year, actually probably 3 years. My heart sank and I heard in the Spirit, “there is no room at the inn.”
Recently the Christian churches in his same county came together to rebuild for a congregation whose church had burnt. Problem is they helped rebuild a church that preaches another gospel. They are willingly and financially furthering a false gospel. But they don’t even see it.
My heart grieves for the Body of Christ. They call themselves Christians yet they don’t hear Him, they don’t see him, they don’t understand Him. Jim says I am a weeping prophet like Jeremiah. I can relate to Jeremiah.
But God did not leave me weeping alone. Not long after that a dear sister in the Lord called and I asked her to pray. Well things worked out that she also told me where to get a heater that would suit our needs and get it nearly new but not quite so it was a good price. I saw a glimmer of hope. I actually had faith that God does still work through folks and that they LISTEN. To make a long story short the Lord sent the provision to go with the information. He sent hope when I needed it. There is a remnant out there that does have room at the inn.
from Matthew 1:22-23
“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” -which means, “God with us.”
It is not just God we need to have room for. It is God WITH US that we must have room for.
He is here.
