Increase or Decrease (3)

"He must increase, but I must decrease"                                John 3:25-31     NKJV 

When John the Baptist mentioned that he needed to decrease and allow Jesus to increase in his life, he was saying that he must step into the shadows, allowing Jesus to take the glory for all He does and will do and just be His servant. We all need to do this, however nothing comes easy; as soon as you try, obstacles begin to stand in your way. One of these is Disputes, which can cause three side issues - Division, Destruction and Devastation. Let's look at these:

DISPUTES  You will notice from verse 25, that a dispute arose between the Jews and John's disciples. Disputes carry a certain amount of venom and bad feeling and if not squashed immediately can lead to serious consequences within a fellowship and your relationship with God. Whether it is within a church fellowship or your own walk with God, disputes can overtake us all, so we need to be on guard. Disputes lead us to take sides and before you know it, one of the side-issues surface - Division.

(1) Division Disputes when not dealt with quickly will always cause a division. Whether we have bad feeling about what someone has said or done or it is about the interpretation of certain scripture, this is not helpful. How can Jesus increase in such an atmosphere if we have allowed ourselves to criticise, judge or berate a brother of sister? Sadly, division is a prime weapon for the enemy and many churches become split over it,

(2) Destruction Disputes can affect our walk with Jesus in many ways. When someone gossips, it can be received as the absolute truth and from there, we can allow ourselves to become involved in this behaviour. When we become like this, we tend to leave Jesus out of the equation. We begin saying things that may not be true - believing the lie that has been spread by the devil. We can also read a comment from a Christian writer, or hear a comment from a preacher, misinterpret it and tell the world to avoid the book or preacher. This destroys ministries and Jesus does not increase in your life.

(3) Devastation The results of disputes, as you can see from above, can have a bad effect on us. The results to a fellowship or to your own personal walk with Jesus, can be devastating. Think about it, does this behaviour demonstrate love? Does it promote Jesus? Does it build you up? The answer to these three questions is a big 'No'. All it does is promote people to use unedifying words, take very unwise action and cause argument and unrest to the people around and most definitely to your testimony.

If Jesus is to increase in your life, you must decrease. Jesus will never increase in your life as long as disputes are around, and, you will never decrease the way you should, if you are involved. To decrease means that you are elevating Jesus. One can hardly be seen to elevate Him with such behaviour as this.

Do not allow anything to rob you of promoting Jesus in your life. He is too special for that! Allow Him to increase, while you decrease.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Increase or Decrease (2)

"He must increase, but I must decrease"                                   John 3:26-31    NKJV 

There is no need for competition in the kingdom of God. We're not running a business. If John the Baptist had been competitive and running a massive building complex, he may have felt different about what the people were telling him, 'Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified - behold, He is baptising and all are coming to Him.' v26. However, it didn't worry John. He was secure in his relationship with Jesus. In fact, he said,'A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him" 29 He who has the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice, Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.' 

The size of a church can be a concern to some pastors and congregations. If the church has a lot of members then it must be blessed; however, if there is only a small congregation, concern may be shown by some and the thought conceived that, someone may be doing the job wrong. The thing is, if Jesus is there, this is all that matters, He is the one that must increase, not the church size. Let the people get this right and the church and the believer's life will grow vastly.

We as the bride, belong to Jesus, the Bridegroom. We belong to Him, not Him to us. He is in charge. Gratitude must be high in our lives because we belong to Him and because He chose us. Things may seem important to us but may not be to God; then of course it may be the other way round. We may not see or agree with what Jesus is doing, but we belong to Him and He must increase, He must have the lead, He knows the way.

Notice verse 29, 'He who has the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice.' This comes down to our relationship with Jesus. We can either be an obedient believer, doing all we can for Jesus the Bridegroom, but never really getting too close; or we can be a friend of the Bridegroom, something Jesus has called us (John 15:14-16) and share in His walk. He has given us permission to have this close, and wonderful relationship with Him. The choice is ours.

One thing though, we must never forget that we are to decrease and Jesus must increase in our lives. He requires the first place, the first choice, the first of everything. When He becomes this, He increases us, not we ourselves. There is a big difference.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Increase or Decrease

"He must increase, but I must decrease"                                        John 3:20    NKJV 

How many times do we search for praise whenever we have done something important, especially if we have preached, led the worship or hosted a bible study? What about when we have given a big cheque to the church or Christian Outreach, or stood at the front of the church and given a Word of prophecy? It seems to be an inbuilt part of us to seek a pat on the back. We may even go looking for it, gently referring to what we have done, to see if anyone mentions our efforts. If we get the praise, we gloat over it. If we don't, then we sulk. This is the way we can be at times.

However, 'Love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up' 1 Corinthians 13:4. We must never allow ourselves to become puffed up. Jesus knows you are good at what you do, this is why He chose you. This is all you need, don't ever try to get a pat on the back. Jesus must increase and we, must decrease. If we allow ourselves, we can become easily offended. Jealousy can be the big thing in churches. We can feel that we are left on the sidelines, especially when someone else appears to take our place. Let's get it in perspective, we do not have a place unless Jesus creates that place for us. Jealousy is not in order. We have a role to play, yes, but so do other people. We should never be in competition with anyone; if we are, we have got it wrong. Jesus must increase and we must decrease. We need to give Jesus His rightful place within our lives. We should not seek attention or try to do better than someone else. Satan tried to do that and look what happened to him. Be careful.

John the Baptist had it right. He refused to be put in Jesus' place and he also refused to take part in any gossip. The people tried telling him that Jesus was baptising people instead of sending them to him. He was not offended because he knew his place, he was secure in that fact and would not be persuaded differently. 

Our life with Jesus is all about serving Him. Each day should be intended to bring glory to His name. I once heard a Romanian pastor speaking in a church. One thing he said has remained with me for many years. He was talking about his prayer life, especially prior to going to bed at night. Each night, he said, I say to Jesus, 'Lord, have I pleased You today?' That is a wonderful prayer, short and to the point and one in which Jesus will answer. Can I encourage you to make this your final prayer of the day? It is a revealing prayer, one in which Jesus has the right to say, 'No, you haven't pleased Me.' But it is a prayer that we will be able to assess how we are standing with the King, each day.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Are you Saved or Condemned?

"Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Saviour and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgement, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Saviour and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].      

                                                                                 John 3:18   The Amplified Study Bible  

These are very strong words indeed and, should not be skimmed over. John 3:16-18, very clearly tells the reader the facts - if a person believes in Jesus Christ and accepts Him as Lord and Saviour, they are saved from all judgement and totally forgiven. However, those who do not believe, are condemned already - here on earth. The Moody Bible Commentary comments on this:

'Anyone who believes in Jesus is not judged or condemned in the future judgement. Anyone who does not believe, has been judged already, here and now. The future judgement confirms but does not determine one's eternal destiny.' David Guzik comments on FF Bruce, in his introduction to The Gospel of John: 

“No explicit mention is made here of those who have never had the opportunity of believing in Christ, those on whom the light in its fullness has never shone. But John’s words probably unfold the principle of their judgment too. As the eternal Word came to men and women before becoming incarnate in Christ, so it is with the light of God. If men and women are judged by their response to the light, they are judged by their response to such light as is available to them.”                                                               (FF Bruce 1983)

In my opinion, I would say that this passage of scripture refers to the one's who constantly refuse to believe or accept Jesus as Lord. One cannot believe that God would allow people who have not heard about Jesus, to be condemned, judged and spend eternity in hell. He is too loving for that.

It does though, leave a big question mark on the future of those who have heard about Jesus and refuse to accept Him as Lord. A person must accept Jesus as Lord if they want to spend eternity with Him, because without Him, they will carry the full judgement of their sin. This must be done in their life time. Once a person has died is too late. If they die in their sin, there is only one place that they will end up and that is hell. The bible's teaching not mine.

God has given us every chance that we need to believe in Him and have our sins forgiven. Once our lives are over, there are no second chances. We need to repent now or it will be too late. Do not take the chance with where you will spend eternity. The choice is yours. If you wish to become a Christian, here is a prayer for you to pray:

'Lord Jesus, I recognise that I need You as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive my sins and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I ask You into my life now. Amen

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Secret disciples (2)

"There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night"                                                          John 3:1-2     NKJV

Why did Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? There are probably two explanations. (1) The Pharisees encouraged studies to be be carried out at night so that it didn't interfere with their daily tasks. (2) He may not have wanted his fellow colleagues from the Sanhedrin to know that he had an admiration for the teachings of Jesus. They would most definitely have cast a dim view on him for such behaviour. Therefore, he probably came to Jesus in the cover of darkness to avoid this. Now this flags up a common behaviour in a lot of people's faith. Quite a few people do not want to be known as 'religious' by their workmates and friends. So they play it down, hide their bibles away if someone visits and avoid talking about Jesus. Some workers have to do this because of threat to their jobs by way of persecution. Many people have been told by their management not to wear a cross whilst at work. Therefore, some fall to the ranks of being secret disciples.

Nicodemus had a flaw in his theology. To him, Jesus was a teacher come from God to teach, not God come to teach. He didn't yet understand that Jesus was God Himself in a body, rather than just a representative of God. However, He did later on, as recorded in John 19:39, 'And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.' Nicodemus was obviously a wealthy man as these would have cost quite a lot of money. Just the fact that Nicodemus did this and was involved in the preparations for Jesus' body, shows that he had become more bolder in his belief.

In certain countries, it is forbidden to be known as a Christian. Some people can be executed or thrown in prison because of their faith. Therefore, they have to become, 'secret disciples' to avoid punishment. However, when we live in a country with religious freedom, we should never be ashamed to stand up for Jesus. He stood up for us - at a great cost. We should do the same. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, 'For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.'

Let us never be tempted to be a secret disciple of Jesus. Let us live up to our calling as Children of the Living God, wherever possible.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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Secret disciples. (1)

"After this, Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission."                                                                                     John 19:38   NKJV 

At this time, many people were interested in Jesus and followed Him everywhere. However, they were more interested in the signs that He performed, rather than in Jesus Himself. Thus, they were not identifying themselves with Him and Jesus knew this and didn't give Himself fully to them, because He knew what was in men John 2:23-25. These people were not yet ready for what Jesus had for them. There is a lot of of truth in that for most people today because they seek what Jesus can do for them instead of seeking Him for who He is.

There were two prominent men who were secret disciples. One was Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. We will look at Nicodemus tomorrow so let's concentrate on Joseph. He was a rich. powerful and prominent man in society, a member of the Sanhedrin and yet, he had been a disciple for quite a while. However, with his position in society and being a member of the Sanhedrin, who had been plotting Jesus' death, he kept himself to himself. Perhaps when the Sanhedrin had been debating about what to do about Jesus, he had remained quiet, letting the other's speak. However, when Jesus had been crucified, something happened to him. He decided that he would no longer hide away under the shield of his status and went to Pilate and requested that he be allowed to take Jesus' body away for burial to a tomb that was prepared for Him. Pilate allowed this. This was a dangerous thing for Joseph to do because burying a crucified man would mean that this 'criminal' had dramatically changed his life.

One can say, that Joseph was frightened of being recognised as a follower of Jesus; and this is true. Many people today are scared to admit that they are a Christian because of the reprisals that they may suffer, therefore, they live in a cloak of secrecy. We should never be this way and Joseph finally realised this, otherwise he would never have became so public that he went to claim Jesus' body from Pilate. He must have felt that it was time to 'fly the flag'. And it is time for us to do the same. Jesus knows our hearts; He knows who is willing to live the life no matter what the cost. It is all about standing up for Jesus. We do this for our football teams, or for protests about this and that. Isn't it about time that we make that stand for Jesus and stop living a life of secrecy?

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

dailylifewithjesusbygrahamehoward.blogspot.com          

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His best is not a thing of the past, there's more to come!

"Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"      John 2:10    NKJV 

Here we witness the miracle of transformation. This is what happened here in Cana that day. The wedding celebrations hit a major problem, they had run out of wine. This would have been a social scandal for the bridegroom, his very reputation was at risk. But after Jesus had told the servants to fill the great stone pots with water, miraculously the water was turned into wine, and not the inferior kind either, but the finest. The Master of the Feast tasted the wine and commented to the bridegroom that he had kept the good wine until last. Tradition was such that guests were given the best wine first and the inferior wine later, when they had drunk a lot. Here, it was the finest to be found.

This illustrates the change that Jesus makes in a person's life, when you believe in Him and obey His word. He brings out the best in you and when you position yourself rightly by obedient submission, He pours in the finest for your life. You may have thought the best has come and gone but, there is more to come when you are walking with Him.

This day at the wedding, Jesus changed the social custom of tradition by producing the finest of wines. The same can be said of you as well. He so wants to produce the best in you and if you allow Him, He will do so. Let's face it, many of us were walking in total darkness before Jesus got a hold of our lives. If you can, just think back to where you were before Jesus began to make changes within you; and He hasn't finished with you yet, 'He who has begun a good work in you, will complete it until the day of Christ' Philippians 1:6. Note the word 'begun.' The work is not completed yet so, don't beat yourself up; He has more refining to do. However, note also the word 'complete.' This confirms that He will complete the work in us and if we remain in Him, He will take us into His heaven when our time comes. 

Until then, HIs best is imminent, He is getting us ready, but we can help this along by getting into the position He wants us in - 'the willingness for Him to work in us'.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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