LIVING THE ABUNDANT LIFE

I am fully convinced that there is a life available for every disciple of Jesus Christ and that life is filled with goodness, wholeness, prosperity and all the blessings of the covenant. I am equally convinced that the only way for us to experience that life is for the Word of God to become a manifested reality in our lives. It is on my heart to look at a specific passage of scripture and begin to allow its truth to settle in our hearts in such a way that it will become a practical reality to us. That passage is found in John 10:10 Amplified: The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

I believe that it is important for us to understand that Jesus' primary mission in coming to earth, taking on the form of man, living, dying and being resurrected again was not to get us to heaven. That is certainly a benefit of Jesus' coming, but it was not His goal. This verse tells us His mission.

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
Jesus did not come to earth to get us to heaven. He did not come to set a moral standard, or to teach us a philosophy of love or bring peace to the earth. There are elements of truth in all these things, but Jesus' didn't come to earth just to make a few changes here and there. Jesus came to give His followers life, and not just any old life, but a life more abundant than most of us have yet imaged or experienced.

Living the abundant life is not just a matter of elevating your standard of living or changing your thinking or readjusting your moral code. Living the abundant life is a matter of being alive instead of being dead in your mindset and that translates to bearing good fruit in your life. I like to say that I plan to 'Live Every Day That I Live'.

Living the abundant life includes financial prosperity but I encourage you to not focus on financial increase as the end goal of the abundant life. There are many people in this earth who have no natural needs. They have all the wealth and natural things their hearts' desire and yet they are miserable, lonely and depressed.
John Paul Getty was a multi-billionaire at the time of death. Near the end of life he was sick, emaciated, and totally dependent upon others for his daily necessities. One of the last things he is quoted saying has stuck in my heart. He said, "I have enough money to buy every cow on the face of the earth, but I cannot eat one steak, so what good is all that money now?" John Paul Getty did not live an abundant life.

The church must move from the arena where "believe" is just a verb to the place where it becomes a noun. By that I mean that we are to become believers, not just occasionally believe what God has said. The mark of a true believer is that he hears and heeds God's voice. A true believer in Jesus Christ hearkens to and obeys Him. True believers are breeders, not just readers. They don't just know about the things of God, but they activate those things in their lives and by that live the abundant life.

To help you on your journey to Living the Abundant Life I encourage you to make a heart-felt commitment to:

• Stay connected to the only true source of life
• Guard the words of your mouth
• Get a heavenly perspective

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