I feel so small right now…

I feel so small right now, and it is such a sweet time. I wanted to share the way that God has been convicting me in my own heart for a few years now. Humility is a major part of Christian faith. In fact following Christ means just that: following. I have come to realize that the longer I am in relationship with Christ, the more Christ is sanctifying my heart. Even as God is working all things together, He is doing so that I might continue to be humbled and that Christ would be preeminent in my own life. It would be odd if God really wanted us to eclipse His own glory, but this is often the way we approach life.

The more we grow in Christ, the humbler we become. The more we assert ourselves, the more immature we prove our relationship with Christ to be if we have a relationship with Him at all. Those of you who have supported my ministry for any amount of time will notice something very different as you read this. The look and feel of my own blog now reflect what God has been doing for a long time in my heart. I am decreasing. A few years ago, I made a very important realization: I am expendable. In fact, Christ doesn’t depend on me at all. While I have readily admitted that throughout the duration of my Christian life, I did not always understand it as much as I do now (and surely God will continue to increase that understanding). For instance, when I knew that God wanted me to go into ministry, I acted as though there were ministries, and even churches, that needed my specific set of gifts. As I served, I noticed that any roll God would call me to fill was a gift of grace to me. God doesn’t need me in any respect. The people of God do not need me in any respect. No church needs this preacher to succeed. God can raise up anyone He wants to fill any role that He desires. His calling on my life is nothing short of a gift from the great gift giver. It is a gift that I must share with people for God’s glory and not my own. I am reminded of how the prophets of Israel stood against the whole community because God called them to serve. I am also reminded of John the Baptist’s statement in John 3:30, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

John the Baptist had quite the following. Some people even thought he was the Messiah. John understood the politics of heaven. Every calling is a gift from the sovereign Lord and is not more important than any other calling. Jesus was to increase. John was to decrease. This is one of, if not the most humbling statement in all of Scripture. This has, more and more, been my heart for quite some time. God will use me when and where He sees fit. My ministry is not about my kingdom and it is certainly not about my ability to advance God’s. He is perfectly able to advance His own kingdom and bring glory to His own name by any means He sees fit. Andrew Cannon must decrease. In this decrease, I find more joy and satisfaction than I could have ever imagined from any sort of personal gain.

I want to make a simple invitation to you, and perhaps there are some of you reading this who do not usually read, listen, or watch when I get to publish. I want you to decrease with me. Share in the gift of calling that God has placed on my life. Grow with me in Christ as we exalt Him together. Just as this blog has been rebranded to reflect the heart that God is giving me, let our lives be rebranded, simplified, and marked by the name of Christ. He must increase.

Please join me by subscribing to this blog (below). Thank you for sharing in this gift of decrease with me. Please invite others to also decrease with us over the coming months and years. Let this statement be the new heartbeat of Christoa.com. Let our hearts beat together in Christ: I must decrease. Let this blog be a fountain in your life as it is a reservoir of grace upon grace in mine. Thank you so much for exalting Christ with me.