I Must Decrease

"No cloud can overshadow a true Christian
but his faith will discern a rainbow in it."
Bishop Horne




I must decrease.

“I indeed baptize you with water….but He
…shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.”
Matthew 3:11

Have you ever thought about how much you need the Lord
every moment of every day?
I generally acutely aware of my need for God
when things are not going according to my perceived plan,
but on a daily basis, I often find myself negligent of fully relying on the Lord.
Often I have reflected upon the baptism of the Holy Spirit
as an event in my life that precipitated the giftings (Gal. 5:22) of God to my life.
The longer I walk with Christ the shallower that viewpoint seems to me.
John the Baptist said: “He must increase but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
“Decreasing” comes with the baptism of fire that we all must endure
if we are to see the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives come to life.
Indeed it is the very mindset that we must embrace
if we are to allow the Holy Spirit liberty to accomplish the will
of our heavenly Father in our lives.
We must be “poor in spirit”; weak in our own thinking
that God may prove Himself strong on our behalf.
It is then, and only then, that others will behold
the fullness of Spirit of God upon our lives
and the fragrance of Christ permeating our walk.
Arriving at this place has some rather stringent requirements.
We must first place our lives upon the altar to be examined,
purged and reformed by Christ.
We must allow no unholy thing, or no good thing to dissuade us
from coming to the place of repentance from relying on our own thoughts and abilities
in the place of God’s plan for our lives.
If there is even one lingering thought of standing up for myself,
then I truly have not repented and submitted to Christ.
If there is a moment of doubt or faltering
then I have truly not taken on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11).
It is in those places that I will find myself looking for God
and wondering why He has not moved on my behalf,
because I have not fully repented of the self-life within.
Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High, (Psalm 91)
requires us to submit ourselves before God daily.
The Apostle Paul said, “I die daily” (I Cor. 15:31),
I personally find moment to moment to be more effective,
(more necessary may be more to the point).
John never spoke of the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an event or an experience,
but as something Christ performs in us: “He shall baptize you.”
The only conscious experience this should work in us,
is to point out the absolute sense of absolute unworthiness
we should feel each day, and the joy we should embrace
that He loved us that much that He died for us.
May the joy of the Lord be your strength, this, and every day…
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