QUESTION TO PONDER/APPROACH QUESTION:
If you knew, the ministry you were involved in could not meet the need/s of a particular individual/group, what would you do?

Observations:
I asked myself who are all the CHARACTERS mentioned directly or indirectly in verses 4-8?

Observations/Interpretations:
I asked myself what can I learn about John from verses 4-8?

1.  John came baptizing in the desert region.
2.  John came preaching a baptism of repentance.
3. John was able to draw huge crowd towards him.
4. John baptized those who first confessed their sins in the Jordan River.
5. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair.
6. John wore a leather belt around his waist.
7. John ate locusts and wild honey.
8. John knew he was a messenger.
9. John shows his humbleness.
10. John was prepared to draw crowds to the One more powerful than he was.

Interpretations/Applications:
I asked myself what was the significance of point 10?

John does not take the opportunity to boost his own resume, getting excited about all the people that were coming to him. Instead, “this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

I asked myself the significance of John's three statements to the crowds?

John made three very significant points to prepare the way for the One who was to come:

Statement 1:  After me will come one more powerful than I.

This shows me that John was powerful but did not let that power go to him. Instead he is humble and tells the crowd that he is not the one to be followed because there is One who is more powerful than he who will come. He knew people had needs that only Christ's power can meet.

Statement 2: The thongs of whose sandals, I am not worthy to stoop down and tie.

He tells the crowd that even though he is seen as powerful, he does not feel worthy to even stoop down and tie the thongs of the sandals of One who is to come and that’s how powerful the One who is to come is.

Statement 3: I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

John lets them know that there is a baptism more important than water baptism and it is being baptized with the Holy Spirit which he cannot do but the One who is to come will.

John has prepared the way for the One who is to come!

INTERPRETATION/APPLICATION:
I asked myself why did John point people to Christ?
John knew that what the crowd needed was not him but they needed Jesus so he was willing to lose the numbers to promote Christ and point people to Christ. I need to do the same.

^"They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ  but am sent ahead of him.' 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." (John 3:26-30, NIV)

John the Baptist pointed people to Christ for a reason and that reason was because He knew Jesus alone is the Living Water and can baptize people with the Holy Spirit transforming their lives. Jesus alone can address the issues of the heart.

Friend, we need to be pointed to Christ because without Christ we will be a wanderer in the dessert surrounded by parched land. Only Christ can offer the water we need to quench our thirst.

"Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" (John 4:10-13a, NIV)

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13b-14, NIV)

"Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (John 7:37b-39, NIV)

Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me!' (John 14:6)

So friend, we need to be pointed to Christ and point others to Christ because Christ alone can give us the Holy Spirit that can transform our lives. Yes, we all need transformation because of sin that has disfigured our relationship with our Creator.

Because of this disfiguration caused by sin, we cannot point ourselves to Christ but the Good News is that God knew how trapped the world has been in sin, so God sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life. God sent Jesus Christ to present us the Gospel so we can be transformed and changed as we accept what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Jesus died on the cross shedding His precious cleansing blood to wipe away all our sins so we can have the opportunity to be freed from the bondage to sin. When Jesus absorbed the sins of humanity upon Himself, He absorbed the past, present, and future sins.

Absorbing the sins still made humanity empty on the inside until His precious cleansing blood was taken to be the transfusion of change in a person's body. When people have received what Jesus did for them on the cross and allowed His blood to replace the deadly virus known as sin, then that also gave the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to reside in that person's heart for receiving Christ.

Through different ministries that may not be our own ministries we do, we point others to Christ because Christ alone has the Words of Eternal Life when we know that ministry will be a better fit for them. He alone has made the Way for us to reach the Father by becoming a bridge between us and God. Heaven can only be reached through Christ alone and His redeeming sacrifice on the cross of Calvary because God in His holiness cannot allow sin to enter His presence.

I so want Pete, Debbie, Maggie, and Kristen to help out with the Pittsburgh Standard in different ways but I also know they are involved in other ministries that are a better fit for them so I have backed down in asking for articles, help, etc. I know in the Lord's timing  they will help even as I work on the position descriptions for the leadership team. The ministries they are involved in can directly point people to Christ while PS is an indirect ministry through print. I want others to be pointed to Christ whether it is through AIV, OIF, Seeds of Hope, PS, etc.

When we have Christ in our lives, when God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Christ and His blood covering over us so His judgment will pass over us giving us access to heaven and also for us when we have Christ!

Salvation is a free gift of grace given by God for our freedom but God will not force us to come to Him in repentance and confession. If Jesus wanted it that way, Jesus could have come of the cross for people to believe in Him but that would have been out of fear instead of out of love. Jesus is about love. To be redeemed we have to be willing to acknowledge that we need Jesus Christ in our lives, who alone can rescue us from the bondage to sin, so Christ can come and transform our lives. It starts with repentance and confession. This also is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

"If we confess our sins, He can be depended on to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

IMPLICATIONS:
I asked myself what are the direct implications for my own life?
What stuck out to me was ‘pointing’. Whatever John did, his mission became to point others to Jesus. Even when the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem came to him to be baptized, he was telling them not to focus on him but the One who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit. I need to do the same and point all that the Lord brings my way to Himself.

I should display the same attitude as John who said, "He must become greater and greater and I must become less and less"

That means being willing to point others to other ministries if I sense, they may grow stronger in the Lord in that particular ministry even though the ministry I am doing for the Lord begins to dwindle or stay at an equilibrium. Ministry should never be about me or what I can accomplish but it should always be about how the Lord Jesus can use me to help point people to Himself who alone can make a difference in their lives. This is something John, the Baptist emphasized from the beginning pointing the crowds to Jesus Christ even as he ministered to them.

I ask you now dear friend, "Why point others to a ministry not of your own ministry?"
Dear friend, we need to be conscious of those that do come our way, sensing their needs and wants and being willing to share with them about ministries that we think may benefit them even if it means they will go away from the ministry we want them to join. That is never easy for me because that means, I may lose them from the ministry I want them in if they join the other ministry but ever since my campus ministry days, I have realized it should always be about the spiritual growth of the individuals to be growing strong in the Lord. Yet, there have been times I have hesitated to share about a ministry that I think would benefit them just so they can be part of the same group I am part of but have fought against that tendency time after time.

That means, I should not hesitate to share about a ministry that is different than what I am involved in if I think that ministry may be more beneficial to them.

I miss Ralston and Cecilia, my Desai friends so much. As long as they could stay in Pittsburgh, they were part of our Oakland International Fellowship. I knew they had a wonderful small group they were part of back in Columbus, Ohio that had a lot of Indian Christians in it that we did not have. I also knew how much they missed that environment. So I shared with them about a wonderful Indian Bible study small group led by Pastor Sandeep Thomas at Sudheer and Beryl's house. Even though I feared if they go there, we may lose them, I sensed they maybe more comfortable there because of more Indians and shared with them that but they were so involved in OIF activities that they were blessed to stay with us. I go to Pastor Sandeep's small group when it does not conflict with Transformers small group or OIF activities. 

When anyone new comes to our church, I want them to be part of Transformers small group that I am part of that Calvin leads but I realized as much as I think Transformers would be awesome for them to be part of, if they are Asian undergrads, their better fit could be Asian InterVarsity that Andrea and Jason lead who are part of our church. Those students need to be informed of AIV small group in addition to the church small groups.

The goal for me is pointing them to Christ through an environment that is a better fit for application to their lives among their peers.  I believe they can be pointed to Christ and grow stronger in whatever environment the Lord draws them to :) If I come in contact with married couple with kids, I point them to Imitators of Christ that Brian leads because they have a lot of married couples and some of them have kids. This is not to say that Imitators for Christ is just for married couples. I was part of a group with married couples for years and I enjoyed my small group there especially when we had social activities.

If any undergrad decides to stay in our Transformers group, we are excited but I am not going to shy away from sharing about Asian InterVarsity if I believe that would be a better fit for a particular student, etc. I am glad we do have undergrads such as Brian, Melissa, Joel, Ruth, etc in Transformers that do love it there.

In the past, when I was a small group leader of Living Acts, I was so excited that Brian and Sharon visited our group. When they left to join another group, I was so disappointed and blamed myself for them not coming back when I should have been happy that they are still being pointed to Christ in another group, growing as Christians, and serving there.

Still, I did not want them to leave which is the total opposite of John's ministry. John wanted people to leave to the One who would be a better fit for all of them than what he was doing even though his ministry was powerful too. I should have been happy knowing the Lord took them to a small group that they saw as a better fit for them.  The key is remembering to point others to Jesus Christ. It was a better fit for them and the Lord has used Brian and Sharon in different ways since then :)

When Kristen and Josh became small group leaders of Living Acts, we were excited to have Andrea, Jason, Jessie, and Jen join us but when they did not return or joined another small group, it was painful again.

All three of us used to talk about why we could not keep newcomers from returning and we thought we were to blame somehow. There could have been a need in their life that our small group was not meeting. But, we also realized that we should not always blame ourselves because it may not have been our fault at all. We evaluated what we did and moved on.

Reading this passage makes me realize even if people in small groups we lead go to another group, it should not be a sad occasion but a happy one for the sole fact that they are still involved in a small group to grow strong in the Lord. They are being pointed to Christ.

Yet, human nature makes us blame ourselves because we think we are the ones keeping that person there or drawing that person there when the fact of the matter is, it is the Lord who draws people to different groups for His honor and glory. He knows what is a better fit for different people. Edwin reminds me of that time after time :)

I can tell you from experience that the majority of Asian students at Pitt did not have a fellowship they were part of even though there are wonderful fellowships available until Asian InterVarsity came along. God sent Andrea and Jason to meet a need on Pitt's campus for a segment of the population among their own culture, ethnicity, etc in AIV. Recently, Ignite InterVarsity was started to reach African American students that Amanda, Alana, and Alexandria wanted to start.

I can also tell you from experience that I am so comfortable in a small group that not only studies the Bible to help me draw to a deeper faith in Christ but builds stronger community together outside of our normal meeting times. Even more, through the social activities that I love to be part of, I see a greater impact happening. BTW, Stronger Community, Deeper Faith, and Greater Impact is the vision that our pastoral leadership team of Pastor Hugo, Pastor Terrence, and Pastor Ed want us to strive for. 

My tendency is to flock to a group that I can relate to the most and the applications are more relevant to the groups demographics. That's why I am a fan of choosing the group that I will be comfortable with instead of others choosing a group for me. Even if a group were to be chosen for me, I have been blessed by those leaders who have said to me in the past, "Ramesh, I know we chose you for this group but I think you will be a better fit in another group even though we hate to lose you." I think that happened to my friend Olivia too some time ago. I am blessed to be part of Transformers now.

I am so touched my John's the Baptist's message in Gospel of John when John's disciples felt there was a competition going on. I should never think of ministry as competing against another ministry because it is God who eventually draws people to a group He knows is a better fit for them. I should also never feel that I should back down from inviting someone to a ministry because if they do come, another ministry may lose them. We do our part and leave the results in the Lord's precious Hands!

At other times, I believe He keeps us in a group that we may not be satisfied in to prune us and teach us more valuable lessons. Edwin and Pastor Hugo taught me that lesson long time ago.

May you be drawn to Jesus Christ in your life and receive the Living Water He offers. May you join a Bible-believing church to be pointed to Christ and His Word from Genesis to Revelation. If you have not found a church, I encourage you to come join me at Oakland International Fellowship every Sunday morning where our passion is to know Jesus and make Jesus known throughout the international community. You do not have to be an international student to be part of OIF.

The church meets at North Dithridge Street opposite to Webster Hall. Prayer meetings start at 9:00 a.m., worship starts at 10:00 a.m., Sunday School at 11:30 a.m., and free lunch at 12:30 p.m. I would also like to invite you to Transformers small group on Friday nights.

When we let Jesus be the focus, He will take care of the rest! Amen!

The purpose of today's devotional was for me to understand that what is more important is having people pointed to Christ in a place where their needs are better met (needs can be physical, financial, spiritual, etc) even if it means, it is a ministry that will take people away from my ministry for the Lord.

"People Offered Important Need Truthfully! (P.O.I.N.T)"/”Why P.O.I.N.T others to a ministry not of your own ministry?"

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray the prayer below, meaning it in your heart.

Prayer:
God I am a sinner. I am invaded by this deadliest virus. Many times I feel so guilty and yucky inside. I need forgiveness. I am so sorry for my sins. I have not obeyed you with my whole heart! I have gone my own way and done my own things. I still struggle with sin. I need you Jesus in my life so I can receive forgiveness and a new beginning. In the process, I can forgive others as you help me to. Thank you so much Jesus. I accept the antidote you have sent me. I believe Jesus you died for me and your cleansing blood will cleanse me from all my sins. You came back to life to save me. Thank you God I am set free, free from the bondage of sin. Hear my cry Oh Lord. I accept you Jesus into my heart. I make you my Lord and Personal Savior of my life. Thank you Father God for giving me Salvation. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you for being my Lord and personal Savior! I can live a life of peace with you on my side. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! In your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN!