Wednesday, February 19, 2014

More of Him, Less of Me

He must increase, but I must decrease."
John 3:27-30


But, should I feel this way?

John's whole, entire life was never about him.
Then, quickly and violently, his life would be snuffed an instant....

To our knowledge, he never married.
He never experienced the joy of having his own children.

His very purpose was weighty....
entirely necessary....
vitally important.
His job could not have been more significant.

Yet, he was never the main point.

And the most impressive thing about this....

he knew it.

He accepted it.


He didn't feel cheated.

and all glory and honor and attention went directly to Him.
and his own disciples began to lean Jesus' way.
The focus was never intended to stay on John.
His moment in the sun would be short-lived,
and the minute his purpose was fulfilled,
he was to quietly secede into the shadows....
behind Jesus.

Jesus and John had a lot in common.

Jesus was John's cousin, remember?
They were related by blood.
There was a familial bond between them.
They were born only six months apart.
in order for them to be conceived.
John's parents were old when God chose to open his mother's womb 
and allow her to conceive and carry him full-term.

Jesus' mother was a virgin.
She had never had physical relations with a man.

John knew that he was not the main point.
He always lived with the reality of that.
At what age did God reveal this to him?
We do not know.

He knew his place, and he stayed within it.

I am touched every time I read the 29th verse.

"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; 
rejoices heartily on account of the bridegroom's happiness. 
Therefore this joy of mine is now complete."
"It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, 
is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. 
 That's why this joy of mine is now complete."

Isn't that amazing?
This was John's perspective.
He truly wanted the very best in the world for Jesus,
He knew Who deserved it,
It was enough to realize that his mission had been accomplished,
that his scene had been acted out,
without him in it.

operating fully and continually under the mindset of John the Baptist?
that none of this is about us.
That it doesn't matter how it is affecting us.
That God is the only One Who ever deserves the glory.

I SO want to get this.
and also one of the strongest messages God has been endeavoring 
to get through to me during these afflictions of late.

instead of trusting in His with all my heart.
how they are putting me out,
how they are forcing me from my comfort zone,
because none of this is in any way about me.

I never thought of pride in this way before.
I always thought pride was manifested in other ways,
ones that are buried deep within the human spirit...

John the Baptist set the example by realizing his place,
accepting it,
and staying in it.

as Jesus took the stage...front and center.

I will forever be challenged by his words....
"He must increase, but I must decrease."

How did he reach that level of consecration?

They have a very pretty ring to them.

He must increase, but I must decrease.

But do we really realize what this means?
As John did?

Jesus told His disciples in John 15:5,
"without Me ye can do nothing."
John knew this.
There would have been no purpose....for his existence.
Had he not been designed to fulfill this amazing role?

You and I were created for God's pleasure.
For His glory.
"For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works,

is not about us.

for the sole objective of serving our Creator.

We were not born to live selfishly.
God did not open our mother's womb without Divine purpose.
trying to survive with no real reason for living.

God, help us to grasp this!
I am trying so hard to.
I must decrease, so He may increase.
Making this happen requires self-denial...
a humbling....
a stepping aside...
just like John was willing to do.
I am not my own.
Neither are you.
"For ye are bought with a price:
I Corinthians 6:20

John got this.
He knew his place.
He totally embraced it.

While we did, we began to talk.
It was Divinely appointed.
I just know it.

From this point of hindsight,
I can see how much I needed to walk through that.
It was good for me.
I will never forget what I learned.

Little Mr. Wisdom began to speak.

"Mama, fear is a three-part process.
Did you know that?"

"What do you mean, Zach?

"Okay, it is like this.
Fear starts out.
You are afraid.
This leads to the next step, called pride.
You decide that you will not fail.
You decide that you can do this without anyone's help.
Which leads into the third phase, called temptation.
Temptation makes us take matters into our own hands and act.
We lean to our own understanding.

I am amazed at the power of God that works through him

He had just sat there, across the car from me,
and totally, completely, and entirely unraveled the mystery.
It was so plain.
He was exactly right.
Directly on target.
This is exactly what had happened in my humbling situation.

He saw my fear....ahead of time.
Then he watched temptation knock on my door,
which is never, ever, ever a good thing.

Oh, how often we follow this process!
When God wants total surrender.
Total trust.
Total relinquishment of self.

God is all-sufficient.
He is all-powerful.

He must increase, we must decrease.
It means surrendering self....totally and His command.
It means full and complete relinquishment of every ounce of control.

One who was truly "over" himself.
One who did not esteem himself more highly than he should.

I long to be like that.
I often pray for God to help me.
I want the focus to be on Him and Him alone.

In his prayer, before every sermon,
before he has even begun to preach,
he faithfully prays these words,
"Hide me behind the old, rugged cross."

His words challenge me every time I hear them.
How could it possibly be better or more eloquently requested?

Hidden behind JESUS...
and His old, rugged cross!
Could there be any sweeter way to live?


  1. No sweeter place to live Cheryl! Loved this! Blessings friend. ♥

    1. Thank you so much, dear Nannette! You are such a dear blessing to me! How I thank God for allowing our paths to cross. He surely knows who and what we need. Love you, dear sister!

  2. I enjoyed your inspiring post and the encouragement to look at John's attitude and his work alongside Jesus. I so want to get this also. We are here to honor and glorify our Lord.

    1. YES, amen! So happy you stopped by was such a blessing to meet you! Love, Cheryl

  3. It must never be about "ME," but always about Jesus! John knew who he was and also knew who Jesus was. It was revealed to him. Thank you for sharing with us here at "Tell Me a Story."

    1. So true, Hazel! Thank you for stopping by! Love, Cheryl

  4. Great post, as always! Thanks for pointing us to Jesus!

    1. Thanks so much for stopping by today and leaving encouragement behind! I so appreciate your kind words....thank you, sweet friend! Love, Cheryl

  5. John's attitude is truly something we should imitate! Thanks for linking this up with the Faith and Fellowship Blog Hop!

    1. Thanks for the link-up, Susannah! Love, Cheryl

  6. Good word!