Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: He must increase and I must decrease

Cross out the I

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On April 26, 2012

In Christian

Merriam-Webster’s defines “individualism” as a doctrine in which the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount and in a world that is growning more and more individualistic in its cultural outlook, we find ourselves surrounded constantly with themes of self-centeredness, where our decisions are primarily based on a “me, myself, and I” motif.

Many a times, I find myself struggling in the whirlpool of self-centeredness and my pursuits are often, I, I, I … as in ‘I want to be famous’ (popularity pursuit), ‘I want to be rich’ (pleasure pursuit), ‘I want to be the top-most’ (prestige pursuit), ‘I want to be the leader’ (position pursuit), and or ‘I want to be in the one in charge’ (power pursuit).

Sadly, such a culture is not only evident in the corporate world, but is also observed within the church of Christ or even missionary organizations, where church leaders and missionaries have forgotten their purpose of their calling to serve and instead seek to be served. On that same note, it is also imperative for those who have the heart to genuinely serve to ensure that our attitude of service does not trump over the one whom we are serving (God’s people and God himself). Jesus comes before service, which Jesus made very clear in his discourse with Martha over her complaint that Mary her sister sat at his feet, while she was busy serving (Luke 10:38-42). We must be careful, so that our intent to serve is not based on “I”.

Points to ponder:
I am going to ask you to do something for the next few minutes and so please follow through.
Take a minute and think of all the things you do or aspire to do. Now write at least five of those things in a piece of paper, with each statement beginning with “I”. For example, if you seek/desire a promotion, you can say something like … “I need to become the Director or the top-most”. Pause for a moment and read what you have written down. This next step is crucial. Draw a line through (strikethrough) each “I” in the statements that you have written, a little above the horitzontal center of the “I” and a little shorter than that length of the “I”. What you will find is that when “I” has a line drawn through it, it makes the symbol of a Cross. Now read the statements that you have written, replacing the letter “I” with the the words “The Cross” or “Christ”. So for example, the statement “I need to become the Director or the top-most” becomes “The Cross needs to become the Director or the top-most” or “Christ needs to become the Director or the top-most”.
When was the last time, you thought of making a decision where the benefactor was someone other than yourself or your own? It is time to Cross out the I and this one thing is needful (Luke 10:42) – Christ must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30).

John 3:30 (KJV)
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

Luke 10:38-42 (KJV)
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Broken piggy bank

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On September 14, 2009

In Broken, Christian

Earthern_Piggy_BanksMy beloved wife, Sangeetha, in a conversation about inculcating the principles of saving in our much loved son, Reuben, expressed to me how in India, piggy banks are usually pots made of clay  and in order for someone to get the contents from within, the only way they could do so was by breaking the pot. Interestingly, ‘pygg’ in Middle English referred to the clay used to make jars and kitchen pots and in the 18th century, the term ‘pygg jar’ was the changed into ‘pig bank’.

As she shared, I was struck with a profound revelation hidden in the Scriptures. Like the piggy banks made of clay, we are made in the image of God from the dust of the earth and the Bible refers to our bodies as jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7). Just as within the piggy bank, is stored content of high value, so we store in our jars of clay, THE TREASURE of high value, which is the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). But what is really the most important for us to not lose track of, is that whatever is present within the piggy banks is of little value and cannot be used  as long as it remains within the piggy bank, however, when the piggy bank is broken, the valuable contents are now made available for use. Similarly, unless we break ourselves down, the treasure of Jesus Christ in us, just remains within us, but when we break ourselves, He is made available for the use (of salvation) to many. We need to be broken, humbling ourselves, becoming meek and decreasing in our self, so that He (Jesus) will increase.

The question then to reflect upon is Are you/Am I ready to be broken?

2 Corinthians 4:7 (KJV)
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (jars of clay), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

What Seek Ye?

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On August 31, 2009

In Christian, Seek the Lord

Zephaniah 2:3 reads Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

We are advised to seek the following three explicitly –

  1. Seek the LORD.
  2. Seek righteousness and
  3. Seek meekness 

Seek the LORD – To seek the Lord is to not only give him the priority but also preeminence in our lives. In all we are, we are to be as if unto the Lord. We let Him reign in our lives. In seeking the Lord we ensure that we have no other gods before us. We are about his kingdom business, doing what he wants us to do and not just following our own futile pursuits. In the words of Jesus, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To seek the Lord is to let Him have PRIORITY and PREEMINENCE in our lives.

Seek Righteousness – To seek righteousness is to seek to be in rightstanding before God and man, to be upright and blameless before God. God wants us to be Holy because God is Holy and we are to conform to his image. In the words of Jesus, Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. To seek righteousness is to seek to be PURE.

Seek meekness  –  To seek meekness is to humble oneself before God and let him increase while we decrease. In the words of Jesus, Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth i.e., all these things [of the earth] shall be added unto you. To seek meekness is to POSITION ourselves and our personal interests only after consideration to God and to others has been given.

Jesus as recorded in Matthew 6:33, said the same thing but in slightly different words when He said that “We must Seek first the kingdom of God (Seek the Lord) and his righteousness (seek righteousness), and all these things shall be added unto you (seek meekness as the meek shall inherit the earth).”

The question that remains then is – What seek ye?

Law of the Force of Christ

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On August 25, 2009

In Christian, Physics and Christ

LawOfTheForceNewton’s Second Law (Lex II) which is “Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.” states that ‘Observed from an inertial reference frame, the net force on a particle is equal to the time rate of change of its linear momentum’. Newton’s second law can also be referred to as the law of the force.

An application of this physical law in our Spiritual life could be used to derive what I call the Law of the Force of Christ. The Law of the Force of Christ states that “observed from an Spiritual reference frame, the net force of Jesus Christ on a person is equal to the time and the constancy of that individual’s focus on Jesus Christ.”

Newton observed that in a physical realm, for a given force, the greater the mass of the object, the smaller its acceleration. In a Spiritual realm, for the force of Jesus Christ, the greater the mass of our own self, the smaller our acceleration will be toward Him. The more time we focus on Christ Jesus with a constant and unwavering mind, we will have less time to focus on own self (a.k.a. lesser our head weight) and greater our drive will be toward Him. The weighty matter is therefore this, the more we decrease (our own self), the greater His force will be in our lives and we can relate to what John the Baptist said, that He must increase and we must decrease (John 3:30).

May the Force be with you!

Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV)
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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