The abundant life

John 10:10 - The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.Fulness of life 


The abundant life does not necessarily consist of an abundance of material things. You would have noticed that Jesus, except for one or two places,  hardly spoke about material blessings. But He did speak much about suffering, carrying the cross and seeking the Kingdom of God. In fact the beatitudes, the principles that govern the kingdom of God are paradoxical and out of this world. So to equate fulness of life to physical blessing may be a misnomer. 


There is always the tendency to compare the Old Covenant of the Law with the New Covenant of Grace. There are several overlaps but there are also clear distinctions. It takes a careful diligent student of the Word to know the distinction. A failure to do so will result in distortion of the scriptures and wrongly diving the Word.

 

Fulness of life is spiritual abundance which starts with a relationship with God. The special relationship that allows us to call God our Father and to enter into His Holy of holies with boldness. This is a fulness that degenerate man fails to understand. To a born again believer, this matter more than anything, much more than silver of gold. It is to enjoy God and rejoice in Him - Hab 3:18. Moses understood this when he said - If you will not come with us, we will not move from here (Ex 33:15). For David, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked" - Ps 84:10. And if we have not experienced this, we are not living in the fulness of life.

 

The abundant life is eternal life which begin the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. The abundant life is a continual process of learning, practicing, and maturing until we see Him face to face. Mat 9:29

 

The abundant life is a Spirit filled life which involves bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and being led by the Spirt. A life that is marked by love, joy , peace. I think this is the abundance the Lord is speaking about. Gal 5:22

 

Of course the Lord will bless us with all the necessary blessings but they are not the primary source of an abundant life. I would call then fringe benifits. The beatitudes are a good example to follow. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…

 

Anything other than this will fall dangerously close to the prosperity gospel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"It is finished" - Jesus Christ

Image
John 19:30 - When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. It's Good Friday again. The world pauses and recollects the events that changed the course of history. For me it was a time to reflect on the finished work of our Lord on the cross. He paid the price for my redemption. But it dawned on me that Jesus, himself, had a task to do while on this earth, He was on a mission. There was a time frame. There was a script to follow. In military terms , there was an objective he had to capture. Anything short would have been a disaster. But towards the end, in spite of the agony at Gethsemane, the unfair trail, humiliating and torturous journey via Dalarosa, Jesus cried, "It is finished". What an achievement. What a fitting eulogy.  Jesus was faithful to His mission - Hebrew 3:2 Jesus was focused on His mission - Luke 9:51 Jesus finished His mission - John 19:30  Judas towards th
Read more

What a trip to Nepal

Image
I am sitting at the airport restaurant in Kathmandu, checked in and waiting for my departure to New Delhi and from there, onward to Singapore.  Just sipping and enjoying the Americano coffee and a slice of cheese cake as I reminiscent my last nine days in Nepal. It has been a incredibly tough trip but one filled with joy, great satisfaction and challenges. Tough because of the bad roads, tracks and mountain trekking that really tested my endurance and my back was sore.  Couple of knocks on the head as the vehicle danced to the tune of the undulating terrain. Days when I had terrible diarrhoea, running from one mountain toilet to another. Thank God I had Dr Mike Ong on this trip who is a medical doctor from Singapore, who attended to my condition. Times when we had to sleep on the cold floor with thin sheets of cloth, with rodents in the vicinity. Temperatures dropped to a low of 10-12 degrees centigrde in the nights. Eating the food offered by the villagers as we were up in the mounta
Read more

Devotion - Psalms 44: 6-7 - Its God who gives the victory

Image
Psalms 44:6-7 - I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. Any soldier will know that the basic weapon of warfare, in those days, were the bow and sword. Without which no soldier will not venture into the battle field. Even the famed Goliath was geared in full battle order when he faced David with the stones and the sling. Isn't it a paradox then that David, one of the finest soldiers Israel had ever produced, proclaims that its not the bow and the sword that gives the victory. Its is the Lord, Jehovah, that gives the victory. I don't think David is trying to say that we should not prepare ourselves for warfare. His concern is that we recognize that ultimately its the Lord that gives the victory. A few things we need to remember: Human efforts are necessary in the God-man partnership Human efforts alone does not guarantee God intended results Recognize that its God that always gives u
Read more