Oh Lord, Decrease me!!

John 3:22-36 is where I'm at this morning. Here we see that Jesus and his disciples we out in the countryside of Judea and they were doing a lot of baptizing. John was also out baptizing but he was in Aenon, I don't have a clue where that is in relation to Jesus, but just thought I'd share that! =) One day I think I need to take a class on bible history so I can know all of this good stuff but until then..........Now here's something I did not know, apparently John had disciples too. I can kinda see Jesus and John dividing everyone up so they can spread out to get the word out faster. But it seems like John's disciples were having some "issues". I'm not 100% positive about this, because this part gets a little confusing.

So, let's try to figure this out.....Ok, in verse 25, it says this, "An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. v26, They came to John and said to him, Rabbi that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan the one you testified about, well, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him!" First, I can't help but giggle....just a little, as these disciples sound like kids tattle telling on each other! I am assuming that John's disciples are referring to Jesus, that Jesus was baptizing more people than they were. Ok STOP RIGHT THERE. Obviously something was NOT clear to these men that they were "telling" on JESUS!!! I did some digging around and found out that John's disciples were told the truth about who Jesus was, and they believed, but they were being faithful to John b/c they had been with him so long. They were envious that more people were going to Jesus instead of John. (even though that was how it was supposed to be!)

So, I can imagine that as soon as John's disciples came running to tell him this, John must have thought, "Oh my....I'd better make this clear ONE MORE TIME." John goes on to say in verses 27-30 some powerful words. He basically tells these disciples, once again, that he (john) is simply a friend of Jesus, a best-friend the bridegroom (the best-man), He says very clearly, "I am not the Christ." But here is what I just LOVE........verse 29 "The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and not it is complete." John is saying, MY JOY IS IN THE LORD. He is not jealous, he is not envious, he is re-stating that his job was to prepare the way for Jesus, not to be Jesus.

This last verse this morning is verse 30 which just speaks so highly to me this morning. "He must become greater; I must become less." There is SO MUCH that can come out of that verse. I think of all the times where I put myself and my needs before my Lord. I don't wake up early because, "I need more sleep". I don't pray because "I have to much to think about", I don't dig into God's word because "I just don't have time". But, obviously John is sharing a very important message with me. That my job as a Christian is not to put myself first, I have to put Christ first in everything I do. I have to have more and more of him.......and less and less of me. You see, me alone, I can't do anything, I'm am pretty much useless. I always tell Kris, I don't know what kind of person I would be without Christ. If I have this many struggles WITH Christ, oh my.........I can't imagine my life WITHOUT him!!!

And then, I think about how awesome life would and will be the more I pour Christ into me and make myself less. This is a hard struggle, because the flesh is so weak. But the more and more I die to my flesh and fill it up with Christ, oh what joy I will experience, JUST LIKE JOHN!!! He's saying SO CLEARLY, I have JOY because I know that I am not Christ, but I am a friend of God! When I run I love to listen to that song, I am a friend of God, because it really motivates me to keep going. He calls ME.........friend! Oh John has so much wisdom in his words. I wonder if he ever knew the impact that he would have on people's lives through those simple words, "I am God's friend." John has left us with a great legacy........"more of Him, less of me." I think my friend Leigh says it awesome, "I want to make HIS name famous." That's exactly what John's purpose was.

WOW, good stuff this morning! It's raining here this morning, not good.......means the dog will be a mess again. Did you see the picture of him last time??? He went STRAIGHT to the groomer's after that mess! He had dried mud on him!!! Ugh....it also means the girls may not get to play their first t-ball game tonight. Hope's already shared with me her disappointment, "But momma, it's raining, what about my team ball?" (that's what she calls t-ball, 'team ball!') Maybe it will clear up! =) One more day till we're off to Charleston! I'm so excited but I need some prayers.......my mp3 player isn't working!!! I CAN NOT run w/o my music. It's just not possible. (Kris would roll his eyes if he read that) So, please pray for my mp3 player to start working right!!! =) hee hee!! Well, better go! Have a blessed day!!