In John 3:27, the scripture says, “John answered and said, ‘a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.’” This is what I have been saying to us for some time now. Everything good that we have comes from God. A person cannot receive anything of spiritual value by his own effort. It does not matter how much you think you see, how much you want to be like God, or what you think God has said to you. You cannot do anything without His Spirit. That is why He gave us the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we can do nothing. He gave us His Spirit so that we would know everything we have been freely given by Him.
John 3:30 says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Believers must get the order correct. You mustunderstand this order. Scripture says, “He must increase” because there will never be a decreasing of your “self” life unless there is first an increase of Christ. Many believers say, “I am going to decrease so He can increase.” If you could accomplish decrease, you would not need Jesus. I believe that there are times when God knocks at the door of our hearts, and other times He just comes in. He has, to my surprise, opened my heart’s door before. He opened it and came into a place I did not want exposed.
This Man, Jesus, has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness. We are to lay hold of Him, and we will live extraordinary lives. This life is not about things. It is about apprehending Christ. The more of Jesus you apprehend, the richer you are, and the richer you are, the more effective you will become. (I am speaking of spiritual riches.) In whatever you do, learn Him and pursue Him. Think about it. That is why the early Church abandoned everything for Him. They did it for His sake! Paul says in Philippians 3:8, “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” The early Church was in hot pursuit of Jesus Christ.
If you receive Christ Jesus, your life will be permanently changed. We have been brought to the threshold of eternity by God, Himself. He has not brought you this far to abandon you. He who began a good work in you will complete it. You can count on it!