Greatness was beheaded

I don't know about you, but if you listen to much Christian music on Pandora, or visit your local Christian bookstore, or hang around social media much...it won't take long for you to believe that you were "made for more than ordinary", you "can fly", you "were made for so much more", etc.....

You hear stuff like that for long and you start believing it. You start believing it and you quickly lose your joy when those things don't happen. Then, instead of trust, you start to question. Instead of rest, you grow worried and anxious. Instead of peace, frustration creeps in. All because you listened to others instead of listening to God through His Word.

Oh...and by the way....the "you" tense I keep using should really be "I". How often I believe the lies. How desperately I need to be washed, daily, in the truths of God's Word!

Here is some of the truth that I need to "wash over" me. Jesus said in Luke 7:28 that "among those born of women there was no one greater than John". What happened to John? He was imprisoned and had his head cut off. Forget "made for so much more" , what happened to John is the stuff our nightmares are made up of!!And Jesus said He was the greatest of all born to women?! Of course, John the Baptist stands in a long line of those who lost their lives and endured massive hardships for loving and following Jesus.

All those were following in Jesus' own footsteps, footsteps that walked a life of sacrifice and died as the final Sacrifice so that we could walk in newness of life. Newness of life, though, does not mean prosperity and ease all the rest of our earthly days. It means we are no longer slaves of sin but slaves of Christ. It means we have been adopted into God's family and we are a co-heirs with Christ. It means that all that God does for us, both the joyful and the painful,  is for our good and for His glory. It means that we are indwelt by God Himself through the Holy Spirit and, therefore have ability to live out His fruits, day in and day out, as we deny self, take up our cross, and follow our Savior wherever He leads us....through dirty dishes, arguing kids, and mounds of laundry. Through seasons of joy, laughter, and refreshment. Through sickness, singleness, job loss, chronic pain, and rejection. Through the ordinary and mundane of each and every day. Newness of life means Jesus is enough. Period.

"The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him." Lamentations 3:24

You and I may never be beheaded...but may we live in such a way that we recognize that true "greatness" is having a heart like John the Baptist: "He must increase and I must decrease."

"But the one who boasts should boast in this, that he understands and knows Me - that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things declares the Lord."     Jeremiah 9:24

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