Increasing & Decreasing

He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30

John the Baptist knew what they were saying about him... "Think must be the Christ.... Look at all he's doing." So, he knew he needed to stop it. "No. That's not me. Jesus will be coming. He is greater."

But, do we do the same? When someone says, "Look at all she's doing!" or "Look at... her work, his art, her architecture, his school," do we correct them? "No. That's not me. It's Jesus working through me." The Message paraphrases 1 Cor. 12:7 this way: "Each person is given something to do that shows who God is." Isn't that amazing and beautiful? Our very work as intended decreases the focus on us and increases our and others' focus on Him. I can't think of a more beautiful blessing! To point others to the Lord with the work we do! But we must be careful... as Lucado puts it, "When you're full of yourself, God can't fill you."


Both Increase

3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.

4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.

6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. -Deuteronomy 28:3-14

Great blessings are promised for those who follow and obey..just as the following verses in the chapter include curses for those who don't. However, some of the blessings are of an 'increasing' nature. Notice the promise that "The Lord will make you the head not the tail... you will always be at the top, never at the bottom." God will lift you up... you will increase, if you are increasing Him by upholding all of His laws and carefully following them. So, while some of my mathematician friends could describe it in more sophisticated terms, I'll just say that both increase concurrently.


We Decrease

66While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
"You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said.
68But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway.[b]

69When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." 70Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean."

71He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about."

72Immediately the rooster crowed the second time.[c] Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice[d] you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept. -Mark 14:66-72

However, the opposite is true when we look at Peter's denial. We often read this and try to imagine that we're not like Peter. How could he do such a thing? Yet, it often reminds me of my sinful nature. When I worry (fail to trust God completely), when I pass by someone who needs my care/attention/love, when I speak harshly to someone, etc, isn't that denying what Jesus would have us do and who Jesus is... in a certain way? And when we do this, we attempt to decrease Jesus. He doesn't really decrease, mind you... but we are making less of a big deal out of the biggest deal in the universe! And the result- we decrease... Peter results to weeping, and we must go before the Lord and confess that once again, we thought of ourselves to highly and of Him too little.

But with more Jesus, there will be more blessing and more fulfillment for us. That doesn't mean everything will go perfectly... but the joy and peace that He can give is only available when we see Him for who He is- great and powerful and perfect and holy, and thus we increase His place in our lives.

"You've Got Mail" on Bravery...

Birdie: So, Dearie, what did you decide to do?

Kathleen: Close. We're going to close.

Birdie: Closing the store is the brave thing to do.

Kathleen: You are such a liar.

Birdie: You are daring to imagine a different life. Oh, I know it doesn't feel that way to you now. You feel like a big fat failure. But you are not. You are marching into the unknown, armed with...nothing.

Kathleen: Well....not nothing.

Brad Gets the Blessing

Dec. 21

It seemed like ages since I had seen him, but then it always did. I was so excited to see Brad again. And when I saw him arrive with the others, he was even more wonderful than I remembered him! I gave him a huge hug and the two of us couldn't keep from smiling. We went down to the carousel to claim the luggage, and I got to hear what had been happening recently in the past few busy days.

Probably one of the hardest things on that day was to let meu amor sleep. I just was so excited to be with him that I had to fight myself to let him doze off as we waited for his luggage which was arriving on the following flight and then again on the trip home. How time can at once stand still and speed by, I'll never know.

But, when we got in the car, we had at least a little while before exhaustion overcame Brad. And I was all smiles, when he told me how much he enjoyed the banana bread that I had made especially for him. When we stopped at the roadside fruit stand, I couldn't help it any longer. Brad was asleep in the back, the only way that I figured I could really manage to allow him t sleep. But I missed him too much... so I leaned over, ran my fingers through his hair. He woke up gently, and a soft smile slowly crossed his face, so I leaned across the back of the front seat and gave him a gentle kiss. "Mmm," he said. "What a wonderful way to wake up." And it seemed that way to me too. Perhaps I was waking up to a dream instead of waking up from a dream. But somehow kisses are the sweetest when the space between them has left us longing.

As we entered the house, everyone (Mom, Jerry, even Tessa) greeted Brad with the warmest of welcome. They had already gotten to know and love Brad on several occassions (at Emily's wedding, in Sedona). But, I'd venture they loved him at least on some level before then. They loved him when they learned how wonderful he was for me and how happy he made me. Every story I'd tell him about our Sundays together, our drives, our hikes, our walks in the evenings... made them smile. And they loved Brad already through the many stories they heard.

I had pleaded with my mom to only make a little meal to hold us over. I love cooking, and I love cooking for the ones I love; but, this past semester had left me with little time to make anything for my love. And I really wanted to do just anything I could to show my great love for him, to show how happy I was that he was there. And honestly, I was and still am quite indimidated by the girls in his family. They're all the best homemakers every: sewing, cooking, cleaning, organizing. I'm sure I could never compete, but I was dying to at least try to convince Brad that I'd really try for him. My mom helped, since it was her kitchen and she knows where everything is. And we made "chicken lisa" with couscous, salad, and edamame... along with some brownies for dessert.

When we were almost finished, I again couldn't stand it any longer. My love was here in my home... I just needed to talk to him. Before sending him up to his guest room, I'd put my Christmas gifts for him on the bed. Simple but heartfelt. I wrote him 3 poems and made 'coupons' good for things like hugs, kisses, dinner, dessert, a night out, cleaning the dishes, etc. And when I brushed his arm and woke him up, he again smiled. We sat there with each other talking, and his smile told me even more than his words how much he loved my small, simple presents. Perhaps that's what I love so much about Brad. He loves the things that really matter... the heart of the matter.