The People God Uses By Paul Chappell share on Facebook share on Twitter forward to a friend Tuesday, Jun 3, 2014 “Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:28–30 Jesus said that there has never been a greater man than John the Baptist. The thing that made John special was not a massive demonstration of supernatural power. In fact, the people said of him, “John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man [Jesus] were true” (John 10:41). What made John great was his willingness to be humble instead of grasping at fame and popularity. John was happy to step back into the shadows and allow Jesus to receive all of the attention and praise. This is the characteristic of the people God uses. E. M. Bounds wrote, “We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God’s method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” The man who is proud and lifted up will soon be brought low. Satan has brought down many effective servants of God by tempting them with pride in what they have accomplished. Instead we must constantly be on guard to keep our focus on Jesus and seeing Him exalted. If we are not lifting up Jesus, then all of our acclaim and approval will ultimately be empty. Today’s Renewal Principle: We do not have to do miracles to be effective in our witness—we simply need to glorify and lift up Jesus.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 12:04:43 +0000
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