God Use Me and Reduce Me

I am a great believer in disciple making. Jesus had his men that he poured his life and teachings into and we each friends should have someone that we should be pouring our life into as well. For years I've discipled men in my home and I've often heard a man cry out in desperate prayer, God use me.

But deep down that man didn't want to be reduced to nothing to be used of God. There's a cost friends, what cost counts and what counts costs. I look at the life of a Christ intoxicated man here in my Bible in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11.

Let me read you how God used him In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft of the Jews. Five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned.

Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness, besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

The Christian life, friends, has a negative and positive correlation to it, much like electricity, the corresponding negative to the positive. To have the positive, there must be the negative. We must be willing to lose a reputation for Christ if necessary.

We must be willing to lose all our material goods for Christ if necessary. We must be willing to lay down our very own lives for Christ if necessary. Are you a Christ-intoxicated believer? Because that's the only believer that Christ will have.

I believe I want to read us right now a poem from another Christ-intoxicated man. His name was C.T. Studd. Let me read you this poem, friends, and then we'll go to a time of prayer and reflection on how God can use us and what that really means in relation to his viewpoint in how he wants to use us in our generation to reach the lost with the gospel of the Son of God.

Listen to this poem. Two little lions I heard one day Traveling along life's busy way Bringing conviction to my heart And from my mind would not depart Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life, yes, only one Soon will its fleeting hours be done Then in that day my Lord to meet And stand before his judgment seat Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life the still small voice Gently pleads for a better choice Then in that day my Lord to meet And stand before his judgment seat Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life the still small voice Gently pleads for a better choice Bidding me selfish aims to leave And to God's holy will to cleave Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life a few brief years Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears Each with its days I must fulfill Living for self or in his will Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last When this bright world would tempt me sore When Satan would victory score When self would seek to have its way Then help me, Lord, with joy to say Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Give me, Father, a purpose deep In joy or sorrow, thy word to keep Faith untrue, what e'er the strife Pleasing thee in my daily life Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Oh, let my love with fervor burn And from the world now let me turn Living for thee and thee alone Bringing thee pleasure on thy throne Only one life will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last Only one life, yes, only one Now let me say, thy will be done And when at last I hear the call I'll know I'll say it was worth it all Only one life, it will soon be past Only what's done for Christ will last The apostle Paul said that for my strength is made perfect in weakness. He was seeking God to heal him of a messenger of Satan that was buffeting him.

And he besought the Lord three times that it might depart from him. And the Lord said to him, my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And we must ask our friends, are we willing to be brought out of our self reliance? Are we willing to be brought out of our self-sufficiency? Is the church willing today to be brought out of her self-strength to be made weak so he can be strong through us? Are we willing to have that negative and positive correlation in our own life like that of electricity, whereby God can use us, but if he does, it may mean that the self-life may have to be reduced to nothing.

Are we willing to say, thy will, O Lord, only one life, it will soon be past only what's done for Christ will last. Let each of us pray to be more Christ intoxicated in this incursed world so that we awaken with a burden on our heart to bring the lost in and to live to please our God, to live to bring him glory and never to quench or grieve the Holy Spirit in our lives, to live above the world and to live for eternity. Let us go now, friends, to this deep time of prayer.

Let us fall to our faces and ask our God to so transform us that we can have that life where we can say, God use me, and he does. Let's go to God now in prayer.