Bible Reading<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verses of the day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n John 3:29-30<\/strong> \u201cI am filled with joy at his (Jesus\u2019) success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Psalm 36:7<\/strong> O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In PNG for our you discipleship program a few years ago, we used video series titled, “I am 2nd.’ It was videos of different Christian athletes who shared their testimony.\u00a0While they may be 1st place in the world\u2019s eyes, they always came in 2nd with God.\u00a0God should always have first place in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In John 3:22-35 we see John\u2019s popularity diminishing as Jesus comes on the scene.\u00a0While John\u2019s disciples became jealous, John took another attitude.\u00a0I love what he said in John 3:29-30 \u201cI am filled with joy at his (Jesus’) success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.\u201d\u00a0This should be our constant prayer also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conversation with Nicodemus earlier in chapter 3 is interesting when I think about it in light of this concept. Nicodemus of course was trying to fit Jesus into his Pharisee box, and Jesus just didn\u2019t fit. The reason Jesus didn\u2019t fit is because Nicodemus didn\u2019t see himself as 2nd. He was trying to be acceptable to God in his own strength. And Jesus told him that no one can enter the Kingdom of God that way. (John 3:5). Jesus said, \u201cyou have to become 2nd!\u201d The Holy Spirit needs to be 1st! The Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life (John 3:6). You are nothing without the Spirit. You need to be born again. You need a new source of living! <\/p>\n\n\n\n My son Andrew and I have been talking about the need for God to be our refuge, our high tower of safety where the enemy can\u2019t touch us (Ps 61:2-3). The only way that is possible is if we are filled with the Spirit (Eph 1:3) and walking in step with Him (Gal 5:25).\u00a0We need to learn to take a back seat and let Jesus drive. Then sit back with confidence in how He drives.\u00a0How confident are you in Jesus driving?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n My final thoughts come from Numbers.\u00a0Numbers 28:3-4 \u201cSay to the people: This is the special gift you must present to the Lord as your daily burnt offering. You must offer two one-year-old male lambs with no defects. Sacrifice one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening.\u201d While I don\u2019t understand why God was so specific in many of the sacrificial rituals and things He told Israel they had to do, one thing is certain, these sacrifices reminded them of God, and their need for his atonement (that God was 1st and they were always 2nd).\u00a0God wanted that so ingrained in them that He required them to do it twice a day. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to peace and rest, is being 2nd.\u00a0Let Jesus drive the car.\u00a0But, instead of being an annoying back seat driver trying to tell Jesus how to drive, we need to sit back with confidence, believing that He knows the way and is going to get you where you are supposed to go (conformity to His image).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Praying for peace for you guys today. Praying for a confidence in God\u2019s driving. Praying that as you become 2nd, that you will be quick to praise the one who is in 1st. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John 3:29-30 \u201cI am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bible Reading Verses of the day: John 3:29-30 \u201cI am filled with joy at his (Jesus\u2019) success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.\u201d Psalm 36:7 O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings In PNG for our you discipleship program a few years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[130604],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-prayers-from-my-bible-reading","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}