John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” John 1:23 (NIV)
Pastor, you are a voice. You are not the message; you are simply the messenger.
Like Isaiah and John the Baptist, you are the “voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’” (John 1:23 NIV).
Your objective is to reach the place where you are honest when you say:
The message I bring is from God; it’s not anything I thought up on my own. God filled me with his Holy Spirit so that I could understand his message and know without a doubt that his message is true and freely given.
The words I speak are not the result of human wisdom or human imagination or my own opinion; they were formed in me by the Holy Spirit so that I could express “spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:12–13 NIV, with author paraphrase).
I am simply a channel for God’s message. In order for his message to grow in me and to grow in you, he must increase and “I must decrease” (John 3:30 NKJV).
The more I state the message, the more I align with the message; the more I live the message, the more he increases and the more I decrease.
The more I decrease, the more God’s message flowing through me comes to you pure—unfiltered and uncontaminated by my opinions, prejudices, demands, and self-reliance.
This is my God-true assessment of who I am in Christ. Authentic humility means I know who I am and my place in God’s plan. It means my position did not come from my own hands, but is a gift freely given from the one who holds me in his hands.
I’m not the message; I’m the messenger. I am a voice; I’m a God-created, God-cleansed, God-commanded voice.
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Jon Walker’s new book explains the importance of small groups: In Visible Fellowship: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s Classic Work ‘Life Together’.
This devotional © Copyright 2012 Jon Walker. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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