John 3:30 He must increase and I must decrease.

  John knew just as I have come to find out; that if I decrease Jesus will be able to increase! Amen? Let there be more of Him and less of me, less of what I think, believe and understand, and more of what would Jesus do. It’s all about Him; this is not about us and what we have done, but the finished work of Christ on the cross what was done over 2000 years ago, it is not by any work of righteousness that I have done, but by faith I am saved. As a matter of fact Isaiah told us that our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags in His sight. It’s no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me, and the life that I now live it is Christ. This means that He lives in you and through you. He who knew no sin, neither was guile (deceit) found in His mouth; He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness in Him!

 Christ in you the hope of glory! The life I live is for Him I don’t belong to myself. I was bought with a price, redeemed not with corruptible things such as gold and silver but with the precious blood of the Lamb! That is what John was telling them there on the shores of Galilee that day, “behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” Redeemed is a word that means to buy back or to pay off. How many of you are old enough to remember S & H green stamps? The grocer gave you a certain number of green stamps when you bought your groceries. You could trade these in for items in their catalog (they would buy them back). Jesus bought us back from the curse of the law a law of sin and death. He took the keys of death and the grave from the devil.

 John15: 7 if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. The more of the word you have abiding in you the more Christ like you will become and the more things you will accomplish for Him! The word Christian means to be like Christ, and a Christ like individual will look like Jesus, we will walk like Him and act just like Jesus. I’m just a mirrored reflection of who He is. Have you really ever looked into a mirror and seen your reflection as it mimics your every move?

  That is what the word of God is; it’s a mirror and when we look into the “perfect law of liberty” it will tell us what manner of a person ought we to be. That is why we must be doers of the word and not hearers only. O’ magnify the Lord with me! Make Him bigger than yourself. When people see us they should not see us but Christ in us. Just as when you put a magnifying glass on something it makes it larger and brings the object into focus. That is what we must do in letting our light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to the Father, which is in heaven!

 In getting back to the message how do I decrease that He might increase?

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. A new creation, created to worship the creator more than the creature!

 Where sin abounds much does the grace of God abound. Since it’s all about grace let’s focus on that for just a moment. Should we sin that grace may abound? Apostle Paul said “God forbid!” We must mortify the deeds of this body; put them to death! Be crucified with Christ, buried with into baptism, raised in His likeness to walk in the newness of life! Crucify the flesh and the enmity thereof (hatred, animosity, and the hostility toward God), that you might live and walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh!

 Let this mind be you that was also in Christ, have the mind of Christ. Sanctify your thoughts; bring every thought and every thought and every imagination of the heart into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Everything that tries to exalt itself against the knowledge of God! What controls what the body does? The mind (The conscience part of our brains); we are controlled and are slaves (servants) to one master or the other. Either by the flesh or the Spirit, one or the other is at the helm of your ship at all times. If we give occasion to the flesh we are saying, move over Jesus I can’t trust you to steer my ship. Immediately the Spirit of God is grieved which has sanctified you. You crucify the Son of God afresh (all over again) we must let God have control of our lives; He’s the Captain of my ship! If you have a problem with giving Him control, you will have trouble with your servitude. The way you serve God.

 I feel as Joshua did some 3000 years ago “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!” I have given Him control of my vessel because He is the only one who is qualified enough to show me the way. Thomas asked, “How can I know the way? Jesus told him “I am the way, the truth and the life.” See God knows me better than I know myself.

  A man passes from one master to another, but he will always be in subjection to one or the other. You cannot serve two masters, for you must love the one and hate the other, you must cling to the one and despise the other. The great folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan had a born-again experience and wrote the song “You got to serve somebody” it became a secular hit, but it had a very clear message to the Church. Resist or serve. Resist the power of God that is able to save your soul or surrender to Him and serve! We are slaves to Satan or servants of God.

 Which means we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble; grace is how we are saved. Got the picture yet? If we exalt ourselves we will be abased (brought low) but if we are abased (or brought low for Christ’s sake) we will be exalted in due time. I must decrease but He must increase!   O’ But I hear people in the Spirit saying putting myself at the disposal of another persons will is kind of scary even if is God. That is where faith and trust, and confidence come into play. And it is the reason Paul exclaimed, “Follow me as I follow Christ” A good marriage is built on the same foundation. Relationships are built upon the structure of yielding a certain amount of control to the other person.

 I want to end this message with a quote from King James; “There is no slavery like sin, and no liberty like being in God’s service”

 Here is another Slideshow video for y'all

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuYQ8CX9PRI