Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. And another lesson from John the Baptist today…. this faith life is not about you.

Ouch harsh. I usually don’t write such harsh statements, but the truth is that this walk of faith is about becoming more and more like Jesus and less and less and less like the flesh that we temporarily inhabit.

And because Jesus chooses to partner with us in spreading His Word, and He entrusts His church to imperfect humans, we are tasked with doing the will of God while battling against the desires of our flesh.

The beautiful part is anything Jesus calls you to, He gives equipping grace to complete it. His great commission came with a bold promise: “And surely, I am with you always. Even to the end of the age.”

And He didn’t leave us to work all this faith stuff out alone. He hasn’t asked us to heal the sick, spread His Word, and baptize people all by our own might. He gave us a gift like no other! He sent His Holy Spirit to take up residence in our hearts. We have become the living temple of the Spirit of God.

So each day, moment by moment, we can choose to react to each situation by our flesh OR by the Spirit alive and well within us.

And one major thing that has to continually shrink is our pride and our fleshly desire for this life of mission to be about us.

John the Baptist’s disciples and John the Baptist play this scene out beautifully for us. You can see the battle on display and although its between John and His disciples, I believe for believers filled with the Holy Spirit, this can be our internal battle at times. We have an agenda. We have a perception of how we think this faith walk should look.

We have plans and desires to carry out the purposes of God, but sometimes we make it more about our work than the ONE that we are working for.

John’s disciples came to John and complained about Jesus and His disciples. They were frustrated that all the people were going to Jesus to be baptized instead of John the Baptist. There’s the fleshly, human nature within us.

John the Baptist reminded them that this was what his role was all along: to point people to Jesus. To get them to the Messiah. John was well aware of his calling and His purposes given by God. He did not want a single bit of the glory that belonged to the Lord Jesus. As Jesus stepped into the scene and took center stage, John said his joy was complete for that was why he came! He reminded His disciples that he was not the Messiah and he boldly said, “I must become less, and He must become greater.”

And the same is true for us STILL today. We must become less and less so that Jesus becomes greater!

So what does this look like for us? It’s all about allowing ourselves to shrink so Jesus can take center stage.

We don’t have to have large followings. We don’t have to be the ones on display. This faith walk is about glorifying Jesus so that as many people experience His saving grace and His fullness as possible.

You don’t have all the answers for a friend in need, but Jesus does. You can prompt them to seek His face. You can pray with them to hear Him loud and clear.

You don’t have to be the one to carry the heavy burden of your prebelieving children or friends. You just keep speaking Jesus to them and keep praying for their salvation. Bring them to Jesus again and again and let Him lead them.

You don’t have to worry about reputation, or numbers, or followers, or even church attendance if you Pastor a church. Just keep your eyes on Jesus, walking each day as you’ve been called, and let Jesus get all the glory. He will faithfully build His church.

When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, our life no longer belongs to us. We radically give it over to Him for His kingdom purposes.

We are immediately justified and forgiven and set free from sin, and then the walk of sanctification begins.

The journey of allowing our life to become less and less about us and our earthly desires and more and more about making His name known.

Again, this walk is very similar to the task set before John the Baptist.

What an honor and a joy to be trusted by God to live a life of ushering people into the throneroom of the King of all Kings.

Dear Heavenly Father,

This is hard sometimes. It is a battle to shrink and become less so you can become more. Yet, that is where true freedom is found. We are here for kingdom work to glorify the Lord. Equip us for the days ahead. Strengthen our Spirits to be more and more willing to shed the flesh and allow Your Spirit to become more and more. In Jesus’s name, Amen.