HE MUST INCREASE PART 3

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 49, Luke 2, Job 15, 1 Cor 3

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease

To become an ambassador of Christ, Christ must increase and we must decrease. As ambassadors we do not represent ourselves but Christ. Today we will be looking at Christ increasing in what we hear and see. Mark 4:24 says take heed what ye hear, with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. Take heed simply means watch out. What you hear can either make you happy or sad. It can either strengthen you or weaken you. What you hear informs your decision and actions. Romans 10:10 says for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the heart to believe unto righteousness, the ear must have heard something. What you hear can either build your faith or destroy your faith. Hebrew 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to please God. The question is how do I get faith? Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The more of God’s word you hear, the more faith you will have. This is why we must do away with audio and video materials where they curse and swear, talk about sex or glorify crime. By hearing the word of God, our faith becomes stronger and stronger. The more of God’s word we listen to, the more of it we will have in our hearts and the more of life we will have. According to Galatians 3:5, God supplies His spirit to us and works miracles among us by the hearing of faith. If you want to become fuller with the Holy Spirit, hear more of God’s word. Since His words are spirit and life, every time we hear it life comes to dead situations in our lives.

Christ must also increase in what we see. It is impossible for Christ to increase in our life when we indulge in pornography or materials with sexual contents. We must cut down on TV; most of the programs on TV are not really good for our spiritual growth. Most of these sitcoms and soap operas add no value to us, they only eat up the time we could have spent reading the bible. For Christ to increase in our life, we must read the bible more. The goal of every Christian should be to complete the bible in a year. The bible equips you for good work, 2 Timothy 3:15-16. 2 Timothy 2:15 says study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. When you study the word of God, He approves of you. For Christ to increase, we must read more Christian literatures especially the ones on Holiness and the Holy Spirit.

KEYWORD: The responsibility of growing your faith lies in your hands. You can grow it by hearing by the word of God.

HE MUST INCREASE Part 2

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 32, Mark 3, Est 8, Romans 3

 

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease

 

Yesterday we learnt that to become a new creature i.e. born again, Christ must increase in our lives and we must decrease. The desire to feed the flesh must reduce and the desire to feed our spirit must increase. Today we will look at another two areas where Christ needs to increase and we decrease. Christ must increase is in our conduct. There is a way true believers conduct themselves. Philippians 1:27 says only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I can and see you, or else be absent ,I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Believers conduct themselves as if Christ is watching at all times. This was how the first disciples conducted themselves. They conducted themselves in such way that people in Antioch began to call them Christ-like i.e. Christian. Christ so much increased in their lives that all their achievements became invisible. When people see us, what do they see? Our degrees, business success or the signs and wonders the Lord had wrought through our hands or Jesus Himself. For a student to succeed in the medical profession he must decrease and the doctor in him must increase. The cool, calm, caring, meticulous, collected part of him must increase and the rough, untidy, un –serious, lazy part must decrease. This is what the medical school strives at. The law school ensures that the shy, timid, subservient part of the student decreases and the bold, aggressive, argumentative side of the student increases. Unless this part of the student increases, he will struggle in the legal profession. For Christ to become visible in our lives, the part of us that loves to show off must decrease.  The part of us that submits to authority both at work and church must increase; even at home. As a wife you might be the breadwinner but for Christ to increase you must submit to your husband –head. As a husband for Christ to increase you must love your wife to the extent of laying your life for her if need be, Ephesians 5:25. Not only that you must also serve as Christ did. Matthew 20:28 says Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many.

 

Another area where Christ must increase is in how we spend our time. No serious medical student spends his or her time in the club partying. Any law student who means business will spend his or her time in the library reading. Christ will not increase in our lives if we continue to miss Sunday school or mid-week service or night vigil. When you miss Sunday school you become an uneducated Christian. Not only that you read the bible and miss a lot of informations. Many of us do not even know that Abram used to worship fire before the Lord called him in Genesis 12:1-3. I learnt this from Sunday school. It was during one of our mid week services, i learnt the factors that leads to a turning point in one’s life. Point 1- what you heard; point 2 – your response to what you heard and point 3- the outcome you experience. I will not go further into this but there are other life changing messages you are missing by not attending Sunday school or weekly services.

 

PRAYER POINT: Father, help me to become an ambassador of Christ. Also help me to stop missing services that will change my lives.