An Abundant Life
Good Morning Everyone. My topic is Abundant Life. In John 10:10, Jesus said,
“I came that they may have Life, and have it more abundantly.”
So, I ask you, are you living that Abundant Life right now. You can, and you should, but are you? Do you even know what it means? Do you know how to get that Abundant Life?
What it means –
It does not mean material abundance. You will hear some preachers say that God wants you to be rich, He wants to bless you. Well, He does provide for His children, and the Bible does say, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Note, he said God will supplyall of our needs, not all of our greeds.
That verse is very familiar, and when I have thought about it in the past, I have focused on the “The Way”, and “The Truth”, but I hadn’t thought so much about Him being “The Life.” But having Jesus, abiding in us, IS having Life; that is Having Abundant Life!
1st John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
No, the abundant life does not mean being rich. When Jesus refers to having Life, and having it more abundantly, we need to realize that He is Life! He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).
Well, what does that mean? We obviously see unbelievers walking around on this earth, physically “Alive.” Jesus does not mean physical life, He means Spiritual Life. With Him we have spiritual life, eternal life, and without Him, we are spiritually dead, Lost in our Sins and Trespasses.
Let’s turn to Ephesians 2 please, vs. 1-5. Paul is writing to the believers in Ephesus. This is an important point, he is not writing to unbelievers here, he is writing to believers.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”
He made us ALIVE! He literally brought us back to Life. We were spiritually dead, and Jesus made us ALIVE! We are no longer spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. We have been forgiven, and Jesus has made us spiritually Alive.
Please turn in your Bibles to John 14:19-23. Jesus said,
“Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him…. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14: 19-23)
John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 16:13-15_ 13 However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Once you accept Jesus, you become Born Again, and you areindwelt with the Holy Spirit. When that happens, you KNOWthat the words of Jesus are TRUE, AND you have everythingthat He has: Jesus said, “He (The Holy Spirit) will take of what is mine, and declare it to you!”
The Holy Spirit gives to us – Jesus’ Love, His Joy, His Peace, His Comfort, His Presence – His Life!
That ONLY happens if you have RECEIVED CHRIST as your Savior, ie. when you are Saved, Born Again, Justified, Confirmed – what ever you call it, it happens when you RECEIVE Him! Jesus does not promise the Abundant Life to the unbeliever!
So, How do we get that abundant Life? How do we get all of Jesus’ Love, Joy, Peace, Comfort, Presence – His LIFE? or perhaps it is better to ask, how do we access it? As believers we already have all of that, He has already given it to us, we just need to continually receive it. Yes, I just said that we must CONTINUALLY receive it.
It really is a matter of making God our #1 Priority.
What is the biggest priority in your life right now? Your Career? Your Family? Your Education? Success? Money? Friends, Your Love Life? Sports? Fun? All those things are important, and they can all be good things (can be), but… Our greatest priority should always be God, first and foremost – Nothing is ever more important than our relationship with God. Everything else must be secondary. Everything.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
When we SEEK Him, we will FIND Him – i.e. we will have His presence. And remember, He IS LIFE; so with His presence comes, Love, Peace, Joy, Comfort, Rest and Contentment! i.e. LIFE
So back to Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God AND His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
We are not only to seek God, but we are also to seek HIS righteousness, meaning that we are to be obedient to His Commandments –
Jean Watson said,
“Obedience is the doorway through which we must walk to find God’s very best. Only by trusting and obeying Him can we come into the amazing abundant life He has destined for us!”
I mentioned before that I had been reading her book,“Everything can Change in 40 Days.” I’d like to read you a series of passages that she wrote on HOW to experience the Abundant Life.
Jean wrote, “I wondered what was preventing me from living in the joy, peace, and contentment God intended me to experience. I didn’t understand that these would all come, not as my circumstances changed, but rather as my perspective changed.” p.77
“What if I cherished each moment as if it was my last? What if, instead of permitting my circumstances to determine my mood, I allowed my mood to change my circumstances? Is it possible that joy could be a choice rather than a destination?” p.78
“And so began an adventure in this new way of life. This was more than a power of positive thinking lesson, rather the Lord was challenging me to set my mind solely on the things above. I discovered that by changing my mindset, I could find the Lord’s presence in every moment, and worship Him there! As I chose to thank God when things weren’t going my way and praise Him regardless of how I felt, something shifted in my heart…. The focus of life was no longer on me, but rather on Him. (I repeat – The focus of life was no longer on me, but rather on Him. I think that is the most important part of this message.)
With the Psalmist, I could truly say, “This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice, and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24) p.79
“Suddenly, ordinary days seemed extraordinary. Every person I met was special, and all my relationships seemed more precious. I became intensely thankful for things I had never noticed, and Joy was plentiful as I became aware of God’s presence in each moment. The decision to live the abundant life was actually creating the Abundant Life! pgs. 79-80.
“Perhaps we have been searching all this time for something we already possess. Each day that we have breath in our lungs is truly the best day ever if we know Jesus! With Christ dwelling in us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we get to carry a piece of heaven with us all the time. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when He taught is to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
To experience the abundant life, we must open up the gift of this day, and believe that the kingdom of heaven is nestled somewhere inside. Our circumstances may not be easy, but if we have the courage to unwrap each moment and say thank You, we will find the Lord’s presence there with us! The key to living the best day ever is continually offering this life we have been given to our Maker in worship. As we exalt God above our challenges, our heartache, our fears and our doubts, He will fill our hearts with His peace, His hope, His Joy!” p.80.
“Dwelling in the joy of the Lord has nothing to do with our living conditions but has everything to do with our perspective! To rejoice means to choose joy regardless of our circumstances…. True joy is our response to the presence of God. If we exalt God even when we don’t feel like it, the Lord’s presence will grow within us, and with His presence, comes His joy!” p.84.
…. We can overcome our circumstances by worshipping God wherever we are. When we praise God, regardless of how hopeless things may look, spiritual strongholds will fall in our hearts. As we exalt the Lord above all else, especially ourselves, He sets us free from whatever our bondage may be.
Notice some of these words and phrases that I have been emphasizing:
Thank
Praise
Exalt
Worship
We experience the presence of the Lord when we Thank Him, Praise Him, Exalt Him, Worship Him. Obedience is the doorway to the abundant Life – Thanks, Praise, Exaltation and Worship are the Keys that open that open the door.
Today, let’s ask the Lord to help us to REJOICE in the midst ofheartache, disappointment, and every struggle. The joy of the Lord will be our strength as we learn to trust him, even in the fire!” pgs. 85-86.
1) God’s Desire for you, and for your Life –
a) First, Let me ask – Do you know how much God Loves you? You personally? I think the honest answer is that you don’t. I don’t. None of us really know. God’s love for us is so great, that we cannot truly comprehend it.
“But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.””
(1 Corinthians 2:9)
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
b) And, because God loves you so much, He wants to be with you and you to be with Him, both in this life and the next.
2) Our Purpose –
a) We are created in God’s image for the purpose of fellowship with Him – The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that the purpose of man is “To Glorify God, and enjoy Him forever.” That is our purpose in Life – we have no other purpose!
b) Love – When asked, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And the second is like it, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
c) Good Works – We are created for Good Works.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
(every word in this passage is critical; read it, meditate on it, understand it, live it!”
In Matthew 5 Jesus said, “Let your light so shine be for men that they see your good works, that they glorify your Father in Heaven.”
ps. You do not accomplish this by effort, you do it by loving God so much that you then desire to do good works out of obedience to Him, out of love for Him. His will becomes your will!
3) Getting right with God –
a) Understanding Sin – rebellion against God.
b) Repentance – turning from Sin (self) and turning to Christ
c) Submission – Obedience to Jesus
4) Staying right with God – by Abiding in Christ
a) Knowing God’s Word
b) Knowing God
c) Trusting God
d) Obedience
e) Loving Others
f) Giving/Tithing
5) Overcoming Challenges to your Faith – Standing Strong
a) Challenges from within (doubts)
b) Challenges from others
c) Temptations
d) Trials
e) …isms, e.g. Materialism, Intellectualism, spiritualism,
6) Your Future
a) Dating (Quote from Elizabeth Elliot)
b) Career – God gives you a desire to do what He wants you to do. Ask for His guidance, and follow it, Pursue it.
c) Priorities – “Seek ye first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
So God is First! Not your career, not wealth, not your family, or your friends, and certainly not you. God comes first.
7) The Result
Joy Unspeakable, full of Glory!
“We feel the love of God shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost given unto us.” By producing a love of all mankind and more especially to the Children of God, expelling the love of the world, the love of pleasure, the love of ease, of honor, of money, together with pride, anger, self-will and every other evil temper – in a word, changing the earthly devilish mind into “The mind which is in Christ Jesus.” John Wesley
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.”