John 3:30

He Must Increase, I Must Decrease

Memory Verses

James 1:19-20

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James 1:19-20 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

These verses are an admonishment to believers. Practical advice to focus on listening and not speaking too soon comes first. Many a tough day in my own life would have been better had I obeyed this command! Immediately following is the “slow to anger” portion of the verse. Guess who is ACTUALLY slow to anger? Numbers 14:18 – The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness (NASB). So here the Lord is compelling us to be like Him – something He never does without also providing the effectual power to do so. Be not afraid to ask the God of all abundance to provide for you the means to “be slow to anger.”

Why should you do that? Why ask God to provide you with the power to be slow to anger? Because the wrath of man is not like the wrath of God. Our wrath is not often founded in righteousness; more often it is rooted in self-centered or self-righteous pride than the result of a love for Goodness. The real problem lies in our hearts. Being, or getting angry isn’t the issue, truly; it is a symptom of a deeper problem. But attempting to obey this verse will expose for you how terribly hard it is for us to be slow to anger like He is, even when that indignation may be justified! By meditating on this verse and truly wanting to adhere to it, we will see how insufficient we are in the flesh to follow even the easiest instructions; hopefully, this will cause you to turn to Him as source of the power you need.

For more on God’s glorious and amazing patience, click here.

Psalm 147:5

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Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord and of great power; his understanding is infinite.

This verse can be rightfully divided into two distinct thoughts. The first thought concerns the greatness of our Lord and His awesome power. The use of the word “Lord” implies that He is our master; but who doesn’t love to serve a “Good” master? The idea of lordship has such a bad connotation in our culture because so many sinful men have abused power, “lording” it over others. But our Lord is great! And He is worthy of adoration and our submission. His power, or strength, is also abundant, mighty and great! The idea of power is that He has the ability to effect His will. He is not a wishful God, hoping people will come through for Him or waiting on the strength of men. Nor is He unable to thwart Satan’s plans, or any man’s plans that are contrary to His own. His power is overflowing; possibly only overshadowed by His own amazing restraint of that power, according to His will.

His understanding is infinite! What does that mean? It’s incomprehensible…simply because our understanding is FINITE. But imagine how quickly we follow the advice of an expert doctor or coach in this life. How quickly we seek teachers to share their finite understanding with us for life’s problems. How much more then, ought we trust in the commands of the Lord. His understanding is infinite, and is not bound by time. Since you know He sees the end already…He knows what is BEST for you always; allow yourself to trust Him today, and lean on Him and not your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.)

Romans 5:12

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Romans 5:12 KJV: Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.

What a great verse to hold in your heart! What does Paul mean by “one man sin entered into the world?” This is a reference to Adam’s sin in Genesis 3:6-7. Adam’s sin in Genesis 3 provides the foundation for the reason we live in a sin cursed world and need a redeemer in a first place. Dear Christian, do not throw this away! In the spirit of “modernity,” many have found it necessary to avoid drawing on and trusting the supernatural, particularly creation. Some will say, “It doesn’t matter what I believe about creation, if I have Jesus, that’s all that matters.” God forbid. It does matter. Your view of creation is a reflection of, or rather a manifestation of, your view of scripture itself. And the same author who said “In the beginning,” (Gen 1:1, John 1:1) also said “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). That author is the Holy Spirit; and His authority is absolute and trustworthy. If you don’t believe Genesis 1-3, tell me, at what point do you start believing?

Here in Romans, Paul confirms that in Adam we all sinned. We all have had a death sentence passed up on us. We all are sinners, and we’ve all sinned. (Rom 3:23) None can stand righteous before God. (Rom 3:10-12) This is important to understand! Hold this verse in your heart to remind you that scripture is sufficient: from beginning to end. Your cleverness is unnecessary; in fact, it will destroy the message. No human author would have conceived of a curse like this, nor redemption in Christ alone, by His righteousness alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, for His glory alone. Read Romans 5:6-19 during your devotion …and see the hope that we can offer others, hope that holds no meaning except that it is declared by the Word…the Word to which we must hold fast!

Acts 4:12

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Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for this is none under name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

What’s the biggest obstacle in open-air preaching and evangelism today? I’d say it’s the blatant denial of God and His authority to righteously judge. (Psalm 10:3-4,13) Many folks today, largely due to what is called ‘postmodernism,’ deny the very existence of sin, essentially. No sin means no need for salvation.

What’s the second biggest *problem* I encounter today? What about the LARGE number of people who actually acknowledge sin and, in fact, admit they are sinners? What distinguishes them from those who will not perish? Christ does. John 14:6 (article here).

Why is this important? Because Satan has created counterfeit religious systems; these systems teach partial truths, such as the truth that there is such a thing as sin. Satan is entirely satisfied if you believe you are a sinner, as long as you don’t obey Christ. So false systems have been created which allow men and women to believe they are a sinner, but to deny the truth spoken in Acts 4:12. Neither is there salvation in ANY OTHER (emphasis my own). The apostles not only proclaimed that salvation is available in the Christ, but affirmed Jesus’s own declaration that there is NO salvation in any other. Jesus isn’t an “option.” He is not one of many possible paths to God. He is the only path, and the only path to salvation. Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, Church of Christ and Catholicism – these are all religions that deny Christ as the only savior; the only provision for salvation. Christ isn’t one of a number of gods to put on your shelf, He’s God almighty, solitarily! He doesn’t open the door for you to work your way to God, or prove your righteousness to Him; He is the only provision and all the provision!

Does it offend you that I say Christ alone can save? Good! It means you understand the scripture; God has enlightened you to spiritual truths you could otherwise never understand. Praise Him and fall on your knees and beg for His mercy, through Christ alone. If you are not bothered by this it is likely because you are already His; or you are suppressing some truth. (Romans 1:18) You love you sin so you deny its very existence or the power of God. Your pride will not allow you to fully and totally rest on Jesus Christ for your soul’s atonement, because you believe God ought not judge you, or you have a perverted view of God, an idol you worship; usually this is the “God who would never judge.” You make up pithy sayings like, “My god is too big for that” or “My god is love, she would never hate or punish her creatures.”

These statements seem profound in their simplicity from human terms, but they are unscriptural and not based in any truth; they are rooted in “what makes you feel better about yourself.” Christ came to free you from that slavery! The bondage of trusting in an unseen, irrational god. The God of your own reason, or Darwin or Dawkins! Instead you are called to trust in the seen (through the incarnation and revelation through scripture) God, Jesus Christ. You are urged to believe the rational God whose logic is infallible, whose arguments can never lose, whose conclusions are always based on true assumptions and reason.

Dear Christian reader, are you LIVING AS IF you believe this verse? Do you desperately pray for your unsaved family, coworkers, neighbors and acquaintances like they may GO TO HELL ANY SECOND? Do you support other people’s religious activities even if you know they deny salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone? Do you celebrate religious diversity in the name of tolerance and getting along with others, all the while allowing people to be deceived by demons and false teachers? Ultimately, by NOT leading them to the cross, you are, due to your negligence, leading them to Hell. Depraved Indifference is a legal term which we can define as

conduct must be ‘so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime.

For you to say you believe Acts 4:12 is to say you believe that everyone you meet is either going to Hell due to their sin, or on their way to Heaven based on the merit of Christ alone, by His grace alone. For you to approach any individual without the mindset that “this person either LOVES the gospel or NEEDS the gospel” is irrational, based on that belief. So we must always be ready! (1 Peter 3:15) Be encouraged, you carry the most important message ever from the greatest King ever about the most awesome story ever! Share it! Do it with joy, compassion, respect, love and boldness! Everyone NEEDS it or already EMBRACES it, so proclaim it and trust the results to God!

Philippians 2:10

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Philippians 2:10 KJV – That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth;

Philippians 2:5-11 KJV Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (10) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (11) And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Possibly my favorite portion of scripture! Many times I have looked at the humility of Christ, and been humbled…I want to devote a short essay about Ph 2:10, the memory verse for this week, but in order to do that, I felt verse 5 was the latest possible starting point to read into context. Here again, Christ’s perfect attributes are exemplified; even exalted! Essentially, Paul declares that Christ, who had every right to claim of deity, and the benefits thereof, willingly and humbly submitted himself to death on the cross and living as a man as the result of the incarnation. Now getting to verse 9, we see that He is highly exalted: elevated by praise! Why? So that at HIS NAME EVERY knee will bow. I prefer the Php 2:10 NASB translation; and I don’t think it is a bad translation, I think it is the best one if you review the original and cross reference Romans 14:11.

And now, you ask, what could Paul possibly mean by EVERY? I mean, people argue all the time that God didn’t mean “the whole world” in John 3:16, right? Let’s turn to scripture: things in Heaven, things in Earth and things under the Earth! Scripturally, I can’t think of “anyone else.” This encompasses the entire population of Heaven and Earth, all creatures great and small, if you will. And I contend, things under the Earth refers to the dead who are not saved. That means that the very same people who will curse God in this life, who will blaspheme His Name, who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, who deny Christ…not only will they suffer an eternity of torment, but they will ultimately bow to Christ as well. And as we see in verse 11, they will also confess Him as Lord. Please Lord, forgive me for my pride and lack of compassion for the lost today, and cause me to share the good news with others, so that they might confess Him as Lord in this life, and put their faith in Him, so that they may be part of the “things in Heaven.”

1 John 2:15

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As far as 1 John 2:15 goes, Love not the world! For the record, the same words are used for LOVE, WORLD and THE as in the famous verse, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” So what does this mean? God the Father himself loved the world according to John 3:16; does He “not have the love of the Father in Him?” Of course not, God has a perfect love, and His delight and love for Himself is obvious and apparent. God could not NOT-LOVE himself. So what is this verse saying then?

I believe that there are two things we can gather here. First, our love for God ought to be so overwhelming, so STRONG, that our affection for the things of this world should pale in comparison. It should seem to people that you “are too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good.” That’s our goal as Christians. This has an implication that nonbelievers have much trouble swallowing, that is, that our love for Jesus Christ must be above our love for our own wife or husband and kids!

This is not enough though, and I’m sure, not the sole intent of this verse. Loving the Father the most, and truly loving Jesus Christ will result in a love for the things HE LOVES. It will also result in hatred for that which He hates. I’m talking about things like idolatry, adultery, theft and lying. (Proverbs 6:16-19) These are the things of the world to which this verse refers, for examples. Our affections should be for the types of things God love; why would we want anything less? If the God who redeemed you from your sin, and snatched you from the gates of hell does not love false religion, lying, superstition, adultery, murder, dishonoring of parents, sorcery, and idolatry, why would you? (Revelation 21:8) Why settle for anything less than that which is truly loveable?

What less obvious part of your life are you holding onto right now that God doesn’t love? How are you justifying it? Is it too much TV or internet? Are you maybe a little too fanatical about your sports team, and, thus, not always putting God first? If Jesus visited your Facebook page would He write “Well done my good and faithful servant” in a comment, or would He feel like an intruder on your life? Do you spend more time on idle tasks than reading the Word? What if your spouse could look over your shoulder when you’re on the internet, or see through your eyes at the mall, would he or she consider your heart loyal? God knows all those thoughts and actions…Do not love the world or the things that are in the world!