He Must Become Greater

This week I was impacted by a conversation between John the Baptist and "a certain Jew." This Jew questions John about Jesus and how He is gaining and baptizing disciples as well. Evidently, this Jew was wondering if Jesus was encroaching on John's turf. I love the way John responds. Instead of allowing his pride to step in the way, he humbles himself before this Jew and God. What does he say? "He must become greater; I must become less (NIV - John 3:30)."

This is an incredible and telling statement. John recognized two things: 1) what his role was (to prepare the way for Jesus) and 2) that he was and will always be a subordinate (to the God head). I wonder how often we recognize those two things. Do we understand what our role as Christ's disciples is? If not, let me tell you: We are to prepare the way for Jesus. I know, rocket science, huh? That's our job as it was for John.

Also, do we recognize (as John did) that we are subordinate to God? As we strive to move from self to God, it would bode well for us to understand that He's in charge. He's the boss. He's the king and we are NOT. This week I encourage us all to seek to recognize that "He must become greater; we must become less." It is only then that we will truly become disciples of Christ. To God be the glory and praise forever and ever. AMEN!

Striking Rocks

Do you strike rocks? You don't know what I'm talking about? Oh, I'm sorry. I started in the middle. Hold that thought for a moment and let's go back to when Moses was in the desert with hundreds of thousands of Israelites. Due to their unfaithfulness, they were set to wandering for 40 years. During that time, they tended to grumble, A LOT! They constantly went to Moses complaining about something. "Moses we don't have anything to eat." "Moses we don't have anything to drink." "Moses, Moses, Moses!" Each time they added to their grumbling something like, "It would have been better if we stayed in Egypt. At least there we..." They, not unlike ourselves sometimes, only saw God as a provider (a vending machine). If He didn't provide in their desired fashion, they quickly abandoned Him. Sound familiar (but that's a whole other discussion for a later date)?

That brings us to our current discussion. In Numbers 20, we find Moses again being confronted by the Israelites who are complaining about a lack of water. Once again, they question why God brought them to the desert to die. Moses and Aaron go before the Lord and fall face down with the people's request and complaint. Once again, God answers by providing water. But this time it is a little different. God instructs Moses and Aaron, "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour our its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink." (Num. 20:8, NIV)

Sounds simple enough, right? Well, Moses and Aaron did what the Lord told them. They gathered the assembly in front of the rock and then Moses says, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock? Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff." (Num. 20:7-12, NIV) Did you notice anything different from what God instructed? Yeah, me too. Moses says, "must WE bring you water out of this rock?" He then goes on to strike the rock not just once, but twice. Where in God's instructions did He say strike the rock? Nowhere!

So, why did Moses say WE and strike the rock? I have a few thoughts on this:

1. Moses was human too. Power is a very alluring thing. As humble a man as he was (the most humble man of ALL men, Num. 12:3), the desire to make it a "Moses Show" prevailed in the moment. Aaron was easy to pull into this (remember, the whole golden calf thing). We also see Aaron questioning power in Numbers 12:1-2.
2. Because of this one decision (perhaps a lapse in judgement), Moses would never enter the promise land. It doesn't seem fair, but scripture never indicates that Moses complained to God (although he did blame the Israelites later on, Deut. 3:26). To him, I imagine the discipline felt mild compared to the sin. Why? A person who is humble in heart recognizes to an even greater extent why the quest for power and recognition is a loss of focus on that which is truly important: GOD.
3. Moses was blessed to see a glimpse of the promise land and was content. He knew that there was more to come. We need to be content to catch but a glimpse of the "earthly promise land," because we know it pales in comparison to the one to come. Eternity with HIM! IN HIS PRESENCE!
4. I also wonder if Moses thought, "Speaking to the rock is not enough, Lord. It won't have the same impact as if I were to strike it." So then, he strikes it. Maybe Moses thought that God's miraculous presentation of power and holiness needed a better presentation. I wonder how often we do that? It is important to note here: GOD NEEDS NO HELP!!! Showy doesn't mean better!

So, are we striking rocks, or are we humbly following the Lord of ALL? Do we want recognition and power/control, or are we content in letting God have it? I encourage us all to step back from the rock and simply and humbly relinquish control to God in reverence and most importantly, out of love. To GOD be the glory forever, and ever, AMEN!

THE TEST

This past Sunday I taught on 2 Corinthians 13. There, Paul alludes to a notion that his "distractors" have made claims that he and his fellow workers have not passed THE TEST. Earlier in chapter 2 he mentioned that he had written them an earlier letter with the purpose of seeing if they would pass THE TEST. So, what is THE TEST?

THE TEST is to see if Christ is found in you. As we make every attempt to grow toward spiritual maturity (our path from self to God), it is important that we constantly examine ourselves to see if Christ can be found within us. If not, then we've failed the test. In class I asked everyone to explore the rest of 2 Corinthians to see what "qualifiers" Paul may have included in his letter to use when examining oneself. I thought it would be of great encouragement to us all to see these and then encourage you to examine the text further on your own and ask if you have passed THE TEST.

Paul's ultimate point is that it is ALL about God and NOT about us. He sums it up in saying, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Spend some time with these qualifiers to see if you pass THE TEST:

1:5 (Suffering/Encouragement)

1:9-10 (Suffering/Relying on God)

1:12-13 (Holiness and Sincerity/By God’s Grace)

1:21 & 24 (Standing firm/Faith)

2:14-17 (Captive/Aroma)

3:3 (Letter from Christ written by the Spirit on the heart)

3:5-6 (Competence from God through the Spirit)

3:7-4:6 (Unveiled and Radiant)

4:7-12 (Jars of Clay/Carrying the death and life of Jesus)

4:16-18 (Eyes Fixed)

5:1-5 (Longing for Heaven not Earth)

5:7 (Living by faith, not sight)

5:9 (Goal is to PLEASE HIM)

5:13-15 (Compelled by Christ’s love to live for HIM not SELF)

5:16-21 (New Creation/Christ’s Ambassadors/Righteousness of God)

6:1 (Did not receive God’s grace in vain, but as a gift lived out)

6:3-10 (TOO MANY TO LIST)

6:14-7:1 (Non-Contaminated by the world)

7:8-11 (Godly sorrow that leads to repentance)

8 & 9 (Gift of Generosity)

10 (Not measured by the world, but God)

11:1-13 (Not deceived)

11 & 12 (Boasting in human weakness, but Godly strength/power)