**He must increase, but I must decrease**

I hear a lot of people say this or quote this.  I started thinking about what does this really mean. I have even heard songs about this.  Do we really get this?  My fear is that this has become one of those "Christian" buzz phrases that we use yet don't fully understand the full reality of what it really means.

John 3:30  - He must become more important while I become less important.

He must increase, but I must decrease. KJV 

Otherwise heard as he must increase, he must become greater.  The list goes on. I started to think about this the other day as this verse, as some verses do sometimes, just occupied my mind and space. 

Surely you have had one of those days where you are walking along, minding your own business and then, all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, BAM a verse jumps up out of nowhere, grabs one of your arms, throws you to the ground and puts you in a headlock 

that you havent seen since your sibling got you after dinner for spilling the beans about where they hid their mashed potatos and makes you yell "Uncle" for everyone to hear.  Yea, this happened to me the other day with this verse.

So anyway, I was thinking... What does it take to become less, after all we live in a world where less is more, right? Did you know there are over 287,000,000 entries in Google for "How to become number one". Then I got a surprise and found out that there were 529,000,000 results for "How to become less" See there is hope in the world. There was even a Youtube video on how to become less popular on YouTube.  Hmm.  We really needed a video to tell us that?

Back to thinking... If I need to become less important and He needs to become more important then... I must become last..servant..If anyone wants to be first he must be last and servant of all.  Less is more

If I need to be less important and He needs to be more important then... There must be less of me in my life and more of Him.  I must surrender.

So now I need to be a surrendered servant.  

When I think of a surrendered servant I immediately think of Jesus.  Jesus gave all so that we could have all.  If I replace my attitude and life style with the example Jesus gave us to follow in the Bible, then in reality becoming more like Jesus and less like me would indeed make Him more important and me less important.

******How to Show Love to Others******

A couple that had been married for 50 years sat reflecting one day. The wife said,  Things have really changed over the years. You used to sit real close to me. But you haven’t done that for a while.  Well I can fix that said the man as he got up and moved closer to his wife.

You used to hold me real tight. said the wife. So the man wrapped his arms around his wife and asked, How’s that?

She continued to say, You used to nuzzle my neck and nibble on my ear lobes. At that the man jumped up from the couch and dashed out of the room. When he returned she asked him where did you go?   He said,  I had to go get my teeth.

This morning we are going to look at the first chapter of Ruth and see five practical ways that you can show love. The love that we are talking about this morning is not the love between a husband and a wife – romantic love. It is the love of friendship – in this case between a mother and her daughter-in-law. We will be looking at the love between Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi.

Tell the story of Ruth and Naomi.

Famine

Move

Husband dies

Sons marry

Sons die

Naomi is left alone – bitter and heart broken. Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to pack up and leave. There is no reason for them to stay with around. Naomi can see no hope for the future. No hope for marriage for the two young ladies. No future in sight for any of them. Naomi develops a pessimistic view of life. One daughter-in-law leaves but Ruth says:

16"Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” 

Ruth 1:16-17 (NKJV)

1. You show love by sticking with someone through tough times.

Ruth said she would stick with Naomi through thick or thin. No matter what happened, Ruth would stay by Naomi’s side.

FACT: Love has Sticking Power.

“Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” Proverbs 18:24 (MSG)

2. You show love by adjusting to others.

“Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” v.16

I never realized how much adjusting there is in life until I married Cathy. When a couple gets married there are lots of adjustments that take place and there should be. Your whole outlook on life should change. You are no longer single – two have become one. You have become a family. Things adjust; from what you eat, to what you wear. One of the big adjustments in my life was the adjustment that happens at Christmas time. Our families handled Christmas completely different from each other. (Explain)

There was a fantastic adjustment that happened about two years after we were married. You see when we got married I was not a Christian. (Explain) Through her silent witness – her faith she had an influence on my life to lead me to Christ. Literally in our case – “her God became, my God.”

3. You show love by reaching beyond your comfort zones.

“Where you die, I will die.” v.17

At this point I can’t help but thinking about the marriage vows. 

You know the vows they go like this: I promise to stay with you:

- For better or worse; richer or poorer. In sickness and in health, till death do us part.

Maybe I’m old fashioned but to me that vow says, “I’ll reach beyond my comfort zone to stay with you.”

Jesus said it this way,

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 (NKJV)

Reaching beyond our comfort zones means self sacrifice.

4. You show love by offering encouraging words.

"Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go." v.16

Ruth was telling her – you’re not in this alone. Where ever you go – what ever happens to you – I’ll be there. You’ll always have someone by your side.

Proverbs 25:11 from the Message Bible says this, "The right word at the right time is like a custom made piece of jewelry."

FACT: Words of encouragement and love need to spoken - because they can have a great impact.

5. You show love by putting their needs above your needs.

“When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.” v. 18

Let me give you a little insight into this verse. This verse doesn’t mean that Naomi stopped talking to Ruth completely. What it means is when Naomi saw how determined Ruth was – she stopped trying to persuade her. Ruth was determined that she was going with Naomi and no amount of talking was going to stop her from doing just that. 

It didn’t matter how uncomfortable the journey was going to be. It didn’t matter whether there was going to be food to eat. Ruth was determined to stick with Naomi – because she needed a friend.

"(Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NKJV)

This story is a picture of God’s love for you.

"There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 (NKJV)

Who is this friend - Jesus.

1. He’ll stick with you through tough times.

2. He’ll accept you just as you are.

3. He’ll reach beyond His comfort zone for you.

4. He’ll offer you words of comfort and hope.

5. He put your needs first when He went to the cross for you.

Through Jesus Christ you can have salvation.

**THANKS TO CALVARY**

                            **Thanks to Calvary**

LUKE 23:33

AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO THE PLACE WHICH IS CALLED CALVARY THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM AND 

THE MALEFACTORS ONE ON THE RIGHT HAND AND THE OTHER ON THE LEFT.

THERE WAS THREE CROSSES......

A.ONE DYING IN SIN.

B,ONE DYING TO SIN.

C.ONE DYING FOR SIN.

THE ONE THAT DIED FOR SIN WAS JESUS THE SON OF GOD.

HE WAS SUBMITTED TO GODS PLAN. 

PHILLIPIANS 2:8 

AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN HE HUMBLED HIMSELF AND BECAME OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS.

JESUS DID NOT HIDE.....RUN OR PUT UP A FIGHT.

LOOK AT THE TREATMENT JESUS FACED......

A.THEY SPIT ON HIM.

B.THEY SLAPPED HIM.

C.THEY SHAMED HIM.

D.THEY BEAT HIM.

E.THEY WHIPPED HIM.

SOME ONE SAID, WHEN YOUR BACK IS TO THE WALL,

REMEMBER HIS WAS TO THE CROSS.

**I WANT TO SAY SOME THINGS ABOUT CALVARY**

1. CALVARY.....WHERE WE SEE MAN AT HIS WORST AND GOD AT HIS BEST.

2. CALVARY....WHERE EVERY PERSON MUST COME IF THEY EXPECT TO BE SAVED.

3. CALVARY.....WHERE JESUS SHED HIS BLOOD.

4. CALVARY.....WHERE WE COME WITH OUR SORROW AND LEAVE WITH HIS JOY.

5. CALVARY....WHERE JESUS DIED THAT THE WE MIGHT LIVE.

6. CALVARY....WHERE WE HEAR THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD.

7. CALVARY.....WHERE SINNERS PLUNGED BENNEATH THAT FLOOD LOSE ALL THEIR GUILTY STAINS.

8. CALVARY....WHERE WE COME WITH OUR RUIN AND RECIEVE HIS PEACE.

9. CALVARY....WHERE WE COME WITH OUR BITTERNESS AND RECEIVE HIS BLESSINGS.

10. CALVARY....WHERE A SAVIOUR DIED AND SALVATION WAS BORN.

11. CALVARY....WHERE WE COME WITH OUR DARKNESS AND RECIEVE HIS LIGHT.

12. CALVARY.....WHERE WE COME WITH OUR HELL AND RECIEVE HIS HEAVEN. 

NO WONDER THE SONG WRITER SAID MY RANSOMED SOUL CAN ONLY SING OF CALVARY.

LITTLE GIRL LOST HER WAY HOME.....POLICE MAN SAW HER AND SAID CAN I HELP YOU, SHE SAID JUST POINT ME TO THE CROSS AND I CAN FIND MY WAY HOME....SHE LIVED NEAR THE CHURCH WERE THE BIG CROSS COULD BE SEEN. SHE FOUND HER WAY HOME.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 

FOR THE PREACHING OF THE CROSS IS TO THEM THAT PERISH FOOLISHNESS BUT UNTO US WHICH ARE SAVED IT IS THE POWER OF GOD.

THERE IS STILL ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR YOU.

THE GROUND IS LEVEL AT THE CROSS.  PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!!!!! 

THANKS TO CALVARY I AM NOT THE MAN I USED TO BE.

**A GOOD FATHER** Part 10

PREPARE YOUR CHILDREN

Proverbs 23:24 - “The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.”

You are preparing your children to leave home … PLEASE! Some day, they’ll take what they’ve learned from you, and begin to apply it out in the real world. You’ve only got approximately 18 years to get them ready.

Preparing them for life away from you is only part of the picture. If you haven’t spent your time preparing them for eternity, you have failed as a father. God didn’t give you your children just to prepare a doctor, a teacher, or a plumber. God gave your children to Christian fathers to prepare them for eternity.

You can’t choose which eternal path they will take … but you CAN choose to show them the way to Heaven … OR … you can choose to just ignore their spiritual destiny. They have to decide for themselves the path they’ll take … but you can have a Godly influence on their choice.

BE A GOOD FATHER … prepare your children … for eternity.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.

**A GOOD FATHER** Part 9

BE A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL

Proverbs 22:6 - “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

You are a role model for your children … like it or not … good or bad … they will, to one degree or another, model their lives after you. You have inherited some of your father’s characteristics … your children are inheriting some of yours. 

Whether you know it or not (or mean to or not), you are influencing the lives of your children, and your children’s children. 

You ARE a role model … A GOOD FATHER will be a GOOD role model.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.

**A GOOD FATHER** Part 8

PRAY FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Psalm 55:17 – “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.”

You can’t be with your children all the time … God can. You can’t protect them wherever they go … God can. You can teach them right from wrong, but you can’t be there when it’s put to the test … God can.

Pray for your children! Lift them up to God to do for them what you can’t do. As parents, we aren’t perfect, and we make mistakes. If we had to do it all over again, we would do things differently. Maybe we’ve done the best we could … we did what we thought was right … we raised our children the best we knew how. 

NOW … PRAY FOR THEM … because your Heavenly Father loves them as much as you do … and He has more experience than you do. Pray that God the Father will take your well-intended efforts at fatherhood … and use them to bring your children into His loving arms.

BE A GOOD FATHER … pray for your children.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.

**A GOOD FATHER** Part 7

PRAY FOR YOURSELF 

1 Chron. 16:11 – “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.”

You don’t have all the answers to their questions … you can’t solve all their problems. You don’t have all the wisdom, love and patience to be the father you ought to be. Without God’s help, you can never be the father God wants you to be.

You need help! You can’t do it by yourself … 

BE A GOOD FATHER … pray for yourself.

It’s not easy being a good father … BUT … it’s NOT IMPOSSIBLE either. It takes hard work, hard praying, and making hard decisions. You can’t do it alone.... God doesn’t expect you to....God doesn’t want you to.....Don’t leave Him out of your fatherhood.