Increase...decrease

Ashley is a sweet young girl on a missionary trip to Guadeloupe. She is keeping a blog on her experiences while serving the Lord there. She inspires me all the time. One of her recent thoughts was Lord may You increase and we decrease. Increase...decrease - very similar spellings, just a few letters are different; but the magnitude of change using those words can imply. The degree of change can be minimal or maximum. Would you like your salary increased or decreased - we like to think the change would be a great increase. Sometimes I think we overlook a minimal change. Even a minimal change increasing Jesus in our lives can be maximum in results! This year the words joy and surrender have been on my mind (and in my blog) on a very regular basis. When we surrender our will to Jesus, our joy increases. Surrender can bring freedom - not a word we usually associate with surrender. Surrendering to Jesus is the ultimate freedom. God cares about us - He sent His only Son as a baby knowing He would die on a cross for us. Think about that for a moment - could you send your baby to die for someone else? Our oldest son, Scott, was born on Dec. 18th and we brought him home on Christmas Eve. As I sat there feeding him early on Christmas morning with only the tree lights on, I thought of Mary. How it was a moment like this that she held her baby knowing He was the Son of God. She knew He was born to suffer and die to save us all from our sins. As I held Scott, tears ran down my face - I couldn't imagine... Can you? Lord, help me decrease so You can increase in my life. Help me surrender to the joy of Your leadership.

Surely I Will Help You Now

Part of my daily devotion today was called "Surely I Will Help You Now:" This morning may each of us hear the Lord Jesus speak to us, saying, "'I myself will help you.' It's a small thing for Me, as your God, to help you in your time of need, especially when you consider what I've done for you already. What! Not help you? I bought you with My blood. What! Not help you? I died for you, and if I've already done what is greater, will I now not do what is less? Help you? This is the very least I will ever do for you, for I have done much more for you in the past and will do much more for you in the future. "Before the world began I chose you and made the covenant for you. I set My glory aside and become a man for you, and then I laid down My life for you. If I did all this, surely I will help you now...." —Charles Spurgeon

How powerful is this - if God came to earth as a baby and then died for us, how can we ever doubt He will care about what is happening in our lives. I know some people think we shouldn't bother God with the small things in our lives, but I believe God is all about the details. He knows the number of hairs on our head - and for some of us, they are getting fewer every day (ha, ha). How awesome God is! With joy we should surrender to Him, His love, and His plan for our lives. He's got it all under control - we just need to trust Him. Spend time with Jesus today thanking Him for all He has done and is doing for you everyday. Thank you, God, for caring for me...