A Practice to Grow In Christ
John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Words from John the Baptist initiating the reign of Jesus where his role must decrease, and Jesus’s mission increase to spread the message of the Kingdom of Heaven.
How does this verse apply to you personally?
In your fellowship with Jesus it’s an ongoing process, like removing the layers of an onion, one layer at a time. For you to grow in your faith and love for Jesus, the intent is to follow Him. As you progress, you’ll notice more of Him and less of you as He takes the reigns, molds your heart, and transforms you into the person He foresees. It’s a journey of trials and tribulations. It takes sacrifice, forgiveness, and most of all, submitting your will to the will of the Heavenly Father.
Jesus performed this act numerous times; however, on the night of His betrayal He prayed fervently, so intensely that drops of blood spilled down His cheek. The anguish ripped through Him as He asked His Father for another way, for the cup to bypass Him and another alternative offered. In the end, Jesus submitted His will to the will of the Father.
To decrease, is to submit your will to the Father. Rise above the desires of flesh and blood through Jesus.
As creatures of habit, letting go of idiosyncrasies repeated blindly isn’t easy. However, you need to recognize how Jesus understands your needs, desires, and the weakness of the flesh. Jesus knew His role and what He had to endure on the cross to save humanity.
He was the epitome of compassion, mercy, and joy. His faithfulness was unwavering. His act of love for you and obedience to His Father insurmountable. He suffered not only physically but spiritually. As He carried His cross down the road, named today as Via Dolorosa, which means ‘sorrowful way’ or ‘way of suffering’, He was spat upon, cursed, beaten, from the very people who welcomed Him in song three days prior. Before He took His last breath, He was abandoned. God couldn’t bear to look upon Him, as Jesus’s spirit was overflowing with the weight of our sins. Jesus needed His Father and cried out, ‘Father why have you forsaken me’. In the moment He took His last breath, He was separated from His Father and alone. The earth shook, darkened clouds covered the sky, as God revealed His anguish over the loss of His one and only Son, who died for us while we were still sinners.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The doorway to salvation, forgiveness of sins, yet sin is ever present. It’s in words, actions, and desires...
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
In Christ Jesus, you overcome these desires by making the choice to decrease, and allow Jesus to increase, and open the door to miracles.
To decrease your needs, wants, and surrender to Jesus, allows Him to grow in you and through you to glorify God. To practice denial of the flesh and thought patterns to align with the will of Jesus, increases your will to decrease selfish patterns to your Lord and Savior.
It’s an ongoing process accomplished through prayer, submission to God, studying scripture and worship. Jesus is there to help you submit your will and allow more of Him in your life.
To help you in this journey, I created a digital prayer journal to identify areas you need to decrease in order for Jesus to increase. For example:
Decrease—Anger
Increase—Joy
Decrease—money reliance
Increase—trust in God’s provision
Decrease—doubt
Increase—how Jesus is always there for you
This journal will hold you accountable as you write down areas of your life to decrease so Jesus can become the center of your life. It’s through Him, your faith will increase more and more.
The following scripture from the Old Testament, reveals the Glory of God from men of faith who chose to decrease rather than submit to the will of a King who placed himself above God.
Daniel 3:24-26
Astonished, King Nebuchadnezzar stood up in terror, and asked his advisors, “Didn’t we throw three men into the fire, bound firmly with ropes?”
In reply they told the king, “Yes, your majesty.”
“Look!” he told them, “I see four men walking untied and unharmed in the middle of the fire, and the appearance of the fourth resembles a divine being.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar approached the opening of the blazing fire furnace. He shouted out, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out and come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
When you truly believe, the fire of God will move you. It’s in your faith Jesus is victorious as you move in His teachings by decreasing your desires and replacing them with His. Moreover, it’s walking away from the desires of the flesh, world, and seek Jesus in every area of your life.
My prayer for you is to embrace the will of Jesus and our Heavenly Father, by allowing them to increase while you decrease repetitive behaviors to see more of Christ Jesus and God’s glory shine in and through you. This relationship is personal, intimate and is between you and the Holy Trinity. Be open to God’s movement in your life, embrace Jesus’s compassion and mercy, and heed to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The journal is in a digital format where you can print numerous copies of each page. The design is based on a variety of different formats to enhance your relationship and prayer time with Christ Jesus.
Prayer is powerful, intimate, and personal. It’s also a petition to our Heavenly Father to intercede on behalf of others. Mostly, it’s communicating and expressing with heart felt passion, to a God who sacrificed everything to break the curse of sin that separated you from Him. He desires to hear your words, be in His presence, and learn to love Him more and more.
The Prayer Journal is available as a digital download at my ETSY Shop, Archway Designs by CFC Studios.
Get your copy today.
Hi, I’m Cathy.
A blogger, photographer, author, passionately driven to pointing people away from new age indoctrination to find redemption in Jesus Christ.
I’m a mixed blend, excited to share all I offer...
Blog-Twisted Roots
Do you find yourself asking questions about new age, whether the practices and beliefs are leading your soul to redemption?
As a reformed new ager, I was saturated in the belief I could co-create with the universe and manifest a life of abundance. But I was deceived. This blog is to point you to the truth of God’s words and how He perceives the new age indoctrination.
Fine Art Photography
I always dreamed of being a professional photographer when I grew up. It was a journey to reach this goal. When the opportunity presented itself, I knew it was time to fulfill my dream.
I owned a home-based studio for over a decade but have been shooting images for two decades. Now, semi-retired, I have a collection of my most cherished images of landscape or nature available for wall décor.
