He Must Increase
"He must increase, but I must decrease," John 3:30. This is the key to improved christian living and to constant spiritual growth. When you accept Jesus into your life as Lord and Saviour, you begin the process of handing your life over to Him. The more that you hand over to Him the more that you grow and strengthen spiritually and the more effective you become as a christian.
Mostly people are programmed to being individuals, and into believing that they do things their way. We all like to believe that we have total freedom to do what we wish, when we wish. This is only partly true. We are all slaves in some form or the other, serving one of two masters, Jesus or Satan. There is no in between or grey area. Either you have chosen to give your life over to Jesus, or you serve satan.
Satan is the king of deception, and will have you believe that you are "free" to do what you wish. However, you are nothing more than a puppet on a string, bowing down to his wishes, and serving his purposes.
When you do truely break free from the ropes that bind you, and you invite Jesus into your life, you begin to know and understand true freedom. However you still serve a Master and the Master, Jesus, wants to take control of your life. He places His Holy Spirit within you to lead you and guide you into His way. The more that you begin to listen to and obey the Holy spirit within you, the more you strengthen and grow spiritually.
As a servant of Jesus, He fills you with love and joy and peace, and His wish for you is that you would prosper and be blessed. He does not want any of His servants to suffer, and He has a great reward for you in the form of eternal life in heaven. Accept the navigation of the Holy Spirit in your journey towards eternity in heaven, so that the road may be good, and smooth. It is when you disobey the Holy Spirit's direction that you end up on the wrong road.
Allow the power of the Holy Spirit to increase within you. Feed the Holy Spirit through constant prayer and by reading the bible. Allow the Jesus inside of you to grow strong. Spread the love that Jesus has placed in your heart towards others and reach out to them. Allow the Jesus inside of you to increase, and the old man inside of you to decrease, that you may grow strong in Christ.
Serving Jesus
Most Christians are quite comfortable with the fact that we have been called to be servants to the Most High. One of the things that many are not comfortable with is just what serving Jesus really entails. You have been called as a servant to serve and to follow the example that Jesus left for us.
What exactly is the example that Jesus gave to us? There are many instructions in the bible that were given to us to follow, but I am concentrating on one of the important instructions today, that of serving. This is one of the area's that many fall short in. You see, everyone wants to be a leader and everyone wants to be important, it is all part of the pride that lies within all of us, waiting to capture us and lead us astray. Yet no one wants to follow the real example and instruction of Jesus in this area.
Matthew 20:27 to 28, "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Whoever desires to be the greatest (Pride) needs to become humble (Counteracts the Pride) and must learn to serve his fellow brethren. Another scripture says that he who is least will become greatest.
Jesus did not only give this instruction to His disciples and us, but He also led by example. A little further in the chapter, two blind men cried out to Jesus, and Jesus replied to them ,"What do you want Me to do for you." He was prepared to serve them. This is also very evident when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples (John13). Jesus calmly got up from the table and began to wash the feet of the disciples. Now there were twelve disciples and only one actually took note and turned to Jesus and questioned why the greatest among them was doing the dirty work of washing feet. This shows that the disciples were mostly accustomed to the fact that Jesus did a lot of serving to them as well, and did not just sit around being served upon by them.
Many christians are filled with a sense of self importance, which makes them too good to serve the needs of others. While they may be filled with love for Jesus, they are not willing to follow the example of Jesus and to serve their fellow brethren. Start to get your hands a little dirty, and your reward will be great, not only here on earth through the satisfaction that you will gain in helping others, but also in the kingdom of heaven.
A story that touched me recently is about a local church that has a mission to feed the hungry. Every week they have a soup kitchen, to which hundreds of street kids and homeless people flock. Guess who are the people that are there serving the food and cooking for these people, they are all pastors and doctors and business owners. They are not too proud to serve, but through their faithful serving they are being blessed as a church and as individuals, like you can not believe. They are doing what Christ has called them to do - serve.
If you want to be great in the kingdom of God, it is time for you to put pride into it's place, change the way that you are accustomed to thinking by renewing your mind, and start to become useful by beginning to serve and help others.
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. You are not greater than Jesus, so your calling is to serve others, not that others should spend their time serving you.
If you have never had the chance to serve Jesus, why not invite Him into your life and accept Him as Lord and Saviour of your life.
Greater is He
"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world," 1 John 4:4 .
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God," 1 John 5:4 to 5.
The promise has been made to you, through the scriptures above. You have the power within you to overcome all that the world will throw at you, because greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world. You are a child of God and Jesus lives within you through the Holy Spirit that fills you. You became a child of God on the day that you accepted Jesus into your life and started to confess that He is the Son of the living God. Please note the emphasis on the word you, because it is you that needs to take up the power. No one else can do it for you.
Jesus came to this earth and overcame all the powers, principalities, rulers and authorities, and spiritual wickedness in high places. Jesus then gave us the use of His name and the Holy Spirit within us, to carry this victory through. We have the greatest and most powerful name to use, and when the demons hear the name of Jesus they tremble and flee. As a child of God you have the authority to use the name of Jesus and the power behind the name.
Matthew 16:19 ,"And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." This is one of the most powerful scriptures. All authority has been given to you and you control the keys to to the kingdom of heaven. You have immediate access to the heavenlies through Jesus that lives inside of you through His Holy Spirit. Greater is He who lives inside of you, and through Him that lives inside of you, you have the power to overcome the world. You are more than a conqueror through Christ that lives inside you.
Take the authority that has been given to you, lay hold of it in your mind, renew your mind and your thinking to realise that the power of Jesus is within you, and then go out into the world in all the power and authority that has already been given to you, and start to overcome the world. Greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world.
Love Christ
"To know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God," Ephesians 3:19.
The love of Jesus is so much more than we are ever able to understand with our minds for the love of Christ passes all knowledge. We may be of the opinion that we understand, but we do not. we may think that we know, but we do not. His love for us is greater than all of our knowledge combined.
Does Jesus love you? Of course He loves you, and he loves you with a far greater love than anyone else has ever had for you. He loves you far more than your own Mother loved you, far more than you ever loved anyone else. He loved you so much that He was prepared to die for you.
Whatever you can picture in your mind as being the biggest thing ever, whether it is the United States of America, or the vastness of Russia, the great oceans, the depth of the seas, the height of Mount Everest, whatever it is that you feel is awe inspiring to you, take that and multiply it a thousand times, and it still does not come close to the size of the love that Jesus has for you.
Even though you have sinned and maybe continue to sin, Jesus still loves you and holds His arms out wide towards you, waiting to embrace you. Even though you may feel that Jesus could never love you for the wrongdoing that you have performed in your life, believe me in that I say that Jesus still loves you and waits for the day that you will come to Him.
We are bonded to Jesus in the love that He has for us. Nothing can ever seperate you from the Love of Jesus. The only thing that may be keeping you apart from Jesus is the fact that you have not invited Him into your heart, to be your Lord and Saviour, your friend, your Master and your Keeper. Invite Him into your heart and begin to feel that inexplicable love that you will never be able to understand with your knowledge, but which you will know with your heart.
Do you Sleep at Night
A farmer was looking for a new farmhand to tend to his farm and look after his animals. He had a few applicants for the position who were all totally unsuitable, and it was starting to appear as if there would be no suitable candidates for the position that he was offering.
One day a middle aged man came to the farm and stated that he was seeking to fill the position that was being offered. The man was decent looking and seemed to be capable. When the farmer asked him what was his best attribute, the man merely replied, "I sleep well at night".
Cutting a long story short, the farmer hired him as it did not seem as if he would be able to find anyone else suitable. One summer night not long after, a terrible storm occured in the middle of the night. The farmer woke up with a fright. There was lightning and thunder, and the threat of serious damage to his farm and farm animals was a great possibility.
In total panic and fear of losing his animals and experiencing damage to his crops, the farmer rushed out to the shed where his new worker was living. Rushing into the shed he woke the worker and told him to get up and come and help to get the animals into a protected area, and to cover the crops. The worker looked at the farmer and said, "I told you that I sleep well at night," and with that turned over and went back to sleep.
The farmer was infuriated and desperate, so he rushed out by himself into the fields to try get his animals to safety, but he could not see any animals in the field. Then he rushed to cover the crops, and coming to the crops he found then already covered. He went to the barn and found all the animals already safe and closed up in the barn.
The new worker could sleep at night for he had already prepared and had covered the crops and placed the animals in the barn before any threat of a storm or disaster was imminent.
Can you sleep at night? Have you done all that you are able to do, and left the life in the capable hands of Jesus, or are you like the farmer that waits for the storm to hit, before you suddenly try to call out to Jesus to help you and grab the bible and find the relevant scriptures to defend yourself.
Do not wait for hardships in your life before you cry out to Jesus to come and help you, but rather ask Jesus into your life today, and be set in a sturdy relationship with Jesus, so that when the storm does come, that you will be able to say, "I sleep at night."
Praise and Worship
Praise and worship is is not designed only for a church service, but should be a part of your everyday life. We were made to praise God and all of His Glory, and by not entering into praise we deny the creator who created us.
The fastest way in which to enter into God's prescence and into the Holy of Holies, is through praising Him and then worshipping Him. Psalm 95 :-
"Oh come let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His prescence with thanksgiving. Let us shot joyfully to Him with Psalms."
Psalm 100:4 "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise."
Often people tell me that they are unable to reach God or to hear God talking to them. It seems to them as if the Heavens above them are brass and that their prayers do not get through to God. Mostly people do not take the time to enter into the prescence of God. They rush in and start telling God everything that they do not have and everything that they need. If I was God, I would probably be saying, "Uh-Oh, here comes Suzy again and all she ever does is complain, so let me hide quickly." Fortunately I am not God.
My God inhabits the praises of His people. We were created for the purpose of praising God and giving glory to God. The way to enter into the prescence of God is through praising Him. When you start to praise God instead of complaining, and you start to thank Him for all that He has already done for you, and all that He is still busy doing, you will start to see a change in your life, in your prayer life and in your relationship with God.
For those that are married or in a serious relationship with someone, imagine what it would be like if whenever you are in the prescence of your spouse, all they do is tell you what they do not have and what you have not done for them, and how they are always lacking. I think that relationship would be doomed to failure. Yet this is the very type of realtionship that many have with God our Father.
Before you start to pray, take some time to thank God, take time to give Him glory for all that He has done for you, and sing and shout to him, even if it is only in your heart, and immediately you will see a difference. Once you have spent time praising Him, then go to the next level, which is to enter into worship, and before you will even realise it you will find yourself carried away in His presence, in the Holy of Holies, in total relationship with God. When you are in this state, you will find that you no longer need to go before God and cry and beg, for it will automatically be done for you before you even ask.
If you have never had the opportunity of being in a true relationship with God, then all you need to do is to ask Jesus to come into your life today by saying a small prayer.
Why do I Sin?
I love Jesus and have given my life over to Him, and yet I still constantly battle with sin in my life? Mostly the sins that you battle with are smaller sins, but sin is deadly and it worries you to such a degree that you start to think and question if you are worthy of serving the Lord Jesus and if Jesus loves you.
Do not worry as you are not alone. This is one of the frequent problems of the church. One of the big problems in the church of today is that it is quick to preach the "Thou shalt not sin," but it very seldom ever takes the time to show you why you sin and more importantly how to overcome the sin in your life.
Sin is no new thing and has been a constant problem in the lives of christians for all time. Galatians 5:16 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contary to one another, so that you do not do the things you wish." This scripture clearly indicates that there is a constant war going on inside of our bodies, where sin in the flesh fights against righteousness in the Spirit and perhaps some of the battles are indeed won by the Spirit whilst others are won by the flesh.
This is confirmed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 " For what I am doing, I do not understand, for what I will to do, that I do not practise; but what I hate, that I do". Even the most highly regarded of all the apostles had a problem where he found himself hating sin and yet constantly falling short and entering into sin against his own wishes.
Now you know that you are not alone and that you are not a failure. You are worthy of serving the Lord Jesus. All that needs to be done now is to help you strengthen yourself to a stage where you are able to easily forsake sin so that you do not experience the condemnation which comes from satan.
We are all created as three parts, mind body and soul. These three parts have fairly equal rights and powers in our life. Sin is mainly attributed to the body (Flesh) for it is the desires and yearnings of the flesh that bring forth desire and sin. The good part of our body is the Spirit or soul, which we know is the Holy Spirit that lives within us. Now it is these two parts of our body that are in constant war against each other as is indicated in the two scriptures above.
What can possibly make one stronger than the other and make it possible for one to always beat the other. While prayer and fasting and all those things do help to strengthen the body, even some of those who spend hours a single day in prayer, such as Paul, still fall short and end up sinning. So what is the magical factor that easily enables some to overcome the attraction of sin?
We are created as three parts, Spirit, body and Mind. The flesh wars against the spirit and whichever side the mind is on, is the side that is going to win. How you condition your mind is the determing factor as to how you are going to cope with temptation and sin.
Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Do not be conformed to this world means that you must not be shaped by the world and therefore fall to it's ways, but that you should rather be transformed, which is to take on a new shape, through the renewing of your mind.
Ephesians 6:12 says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. This clearly indicates again to us that the war is not in our flesh, but is in the spiritual world of our minds.
Once you are able to renew your mind and concentrate on the good things of the Lord and His promises, then the flesh and the sin that it produces will quickly fall away and be defeated in your life and you will no longer find yourself being entrapped in sin.
Renew your mind to walk in the power of Jesus , overcoming sin and becoming more than a conqueror.
Blessed is He
Extracts from Psalm 32.
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." What is it to be blessed? The most accurate meaning of the word blessed that I have found, as it is used in the bible, is to be envied. People will be jealous of you and envy you. When your sins are forgiven of you by the Father and they are covered by the blood of Jesus, then you are blessed.
"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Guille is defined as treacherous cunning or skillful deceit. If there is no deceit in your spirit, and the Lord can not charge (impute) you with sin because your sin is confessed and covered by the blood of Jesus, then you are to be envied by others.
"I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin". An unconfessed sin that we harbour in our hearts, is like a wound in a limb that has not been cleaned. The wound will soon grow septic and then gangerene sets in and the limb has to be amputated. When we harbour unconfessed sin in our hearts, the sin eventually can result in spiritual death and us being cut off from the body of Christ. Confess your sins that all may be well in your life and that you may walk in the blessings of God.
" I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you by my eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding." When you have confessed your sins before God and when there is no deceit found in your spirit, then God becomes like a personal GPS system that guides you through life to your final destiny in Christ. Do not be foolish and fail to follow the route that God is laying out for you, for He sees your life from above, and He is able to guide you and steer you easily through the hardships of life. If you try to navigate yourself, you may find that you get lost in places that you do not want to be.
"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him". Do not envy the wicked and their prospering, but know that their days shall be short, and the mercy that God surrounds you with is far greater than any of the treasures of the world. Many of the wicked do prosper financially, and many a Christian questions this, but have a look at the lives of those wicked and you will see that they are filled with misery and sorrow. Which is better, the sorrows and riches, or to be blessed by God and have his mercy?
"Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" If I could add to this then I would add at the end - "For you are the blessed of the Lord." What can be better in life, than to know that the Lord your God has forgiven your sins and that you are found blameless before Him, and therefore you are blessed, which means that all around you envy you and are jealous of you! Amen.
Destroy Darkness
Jesus came into this world to overcome the works of darkness in your life that you could walk in the glorious light of the Father and gain eternity in heaven. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
Jesus was already mainfested (Shown) 2000 years ago and so therefore the purpose of His manifestation has already been achieved. This was achieved and sealed through His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection. The purpose of the manifestation of Jesus was to destroy the works of darkness in your life. This has therefore already been done.
If Jesus has already done the work to destroy the works of darkness within, then how do you lay hold of it and make it a reality in your life, for many are still battling with the works of darkness that still manifests within them through sin. The key to this lies in 1 John 2:22 and 23 "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."
The works of darkness are broken by the acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God. This is one of the most powerful confessions that you are ever able to make in your life. A confession is something that is said out aloud before others, and when you confess in front of others that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, then the works of darkness flee from before you. There can be no darkness within you at that stage for when you confess this, you are filled with a glorious light from Jesus himself, and that light removes all darkness from within.
If you have ever dealt with someone who is demon possesed, you will know that they can not bear to hear the name of Jesus. When you start to say the name of Jesus before them, the demons within them start to manifest and to try to prevent you from continuing to say the name of Jesus, for they know that the name of Jesus, is the name above all names, and is the only name by which they have been defeated. When you are continually confessing the name of Jesus in your life, and especially that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the demons of darkness can not bear to be near you and will flee from before you, leaving you in the glorious light of the Father.
When darkness tries to come into your life or the life of those around you, start to confess out aloud that Jesus is the Christ, and soon the darkness will flee from before you, and you will have overcome the world through the name of Jesus.
If you have never before had the chance that Jesus is Lord of your life, then accept Jesus into your heart today and confess that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Old Testament
Is the Old Testament still relevant to us today? Is it something that we should bother with as it can be quite boring to read although in some places there are some good stories? Should you, being a new testament christian, washed with the blood of Jesus, worry about the laws of the old testament?
The answer to all three questions above is ,"Yes, the old Testament is as relevant to us today as it was thousands of years ago." Although we have been excluded from certain consequences and certain rituals of the old testament, through the works of Jesus and the blood of Jesus, the foundation of the new testament and our very lives was in the old testament. A christian who does not bother to read or know the contents of the old testament is one who has no foundation or strength!
When Jesus went out into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan, He was weak from hunger for He had not eaten for forty days. Satan came to Him in His weakest moment, but yet Jesus was able to resist and overcome satan. How did Jesus do this?
Jesus quoted scripture from the old testament and more importantly the scripture that He quoted to satan all came from the book known as the book of law - Deuteronomy.
The first scripture was Deut 8:3 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
The second scripture, Deut 6:16 "You shall not tempt the Lord your God".
The third scripture, Deut 6:13 " You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve."
Through the knowledge of these three scriptures from the old testament, Jesus overcame the tempter and he had to flee from before Him. Many of the old testament scriptures were used by the apostles in the book of Acts and in the letters thereafter.
The old testament is the foundation on which we stand, and therefore it is our strength. The foundation supplies strength to a building and a house built on a solid foundation will not fall. However a house that has no foundation is soon swept away when troubled times come. I have witnessed many a christian overcome and swept away as soon as a few hard times come, for there has been no solid foundation in their lives.
In order to build strength into your christian walk and to build a solid foundation into your life, one that will withstand all the wiles of satan, and against which no weapon shall prosper, entrench yourself in the knowledge of the old testament, for it is as relevant to you today as it was 2000 years ago.
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