Christ must be greater to achieve Joy!

Consider the words of John the Baptist; John 3:29-30 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. The Bride of Christ are those who have been Baptized in His blood and raised by His Resurrection! We who are listening to His voice through the Holy Spirit are filled with joy. The question I would like to ask is this; is your joy complete as John mentions here in the text? If we honestly ponder this question, most of us reading this devotion would so no my joy is not complete. Why? Because Christ is not greater! Maybe we should confess; LORD, what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You visit him? What has man deserved that You should give him Your grace? What cause have I, Lord, to complain if You desert me, or what objection can I have if You do not do what I ask? This I may think and say in all truth: “Lord, I am nothing, of myself I have nothing that is good; I am lacking in all things, and I am ever tending toward nothing. And unless I have Your help and am inwardly strengthened by You, I become quite lukewarm and lax.” Self denial is not an option if we want to have complete joy. The Bridegroom stands waiting! He wants His Bride to be complete. Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. How has the Bride made herself ready? Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. May I also say that He wants us to be filled with joy! Listen to the prayer of Thomas E. Kempes; “Let Your name, not mine, be praised. Let Your work, not mine, be magnified. Let Your holy name be blessed, but let no human praise be given to me. You are my glory. You are the joy of my heart. In You I will glory and rejoice all the day, and for myself I will glory in nothing but my infirmities.” We must become less and He must be greater in order to be filled with complete Joy!