Alive in Christ
www.AliveinChrist.us
The Abundant Life
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Jn 10:10
The abundant life is one of God’s greatest promises to believers. When you have the abundant life, you are dead to sin and full of joy and peace and NOTHING can take it away from you. Everything you do for the Lord will be done in His power, not through your weakness, and you will bring forth much fruit through patience, separate from the world and it’s ways. But unfortunately many professed Christians today do not have the abundant life. Some cannot even stop sinning, let alone seek God. Many are living in despair, discouragement, and bondage. Christians are living without the power of God, using their gifts through the flesh, not the spirit. Their Christian life is a failure and they know it. Many of them are fence-sitters; they have one foot in the Word and the other in the world. If this is you, you need to repent and get out of the world. Flee the world and all its pleasures. Ask yourself, is not TV of the world?
Having the abundant life means living the life that
God wants for you, sanctified and consecrated for Him, actively using your
spiritual gifts for edifying the church and building the Kingdom of God while
giving up your whole life for God; your possessions, your time, your money,
your social life, your all, holding nothing back. The abundant life is related to the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. You cannot get the abundant
life if you are not filled with the Holy Ghost. When you get the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, He enables
you to live the abundant life.
When you have the abundant life, you will be filled with peace and joy
and life such that you can never get anywhere else. You will be very fruitful in the Lord and unbelievers
notice you. You will get
your life, your excitement, your pleasure, from living for the Lord and serving
Him. The abundant life
strives against all sin, personal and societal. You are hard following Christ, casting down anything
that prevents you from knowing Him more. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Cor
10:5). You will
be running from the world and all it’s pleasures. You will be free from the influence of sin and
free to serve Jesus Christ fully.
When you have the abundant life, you will be so full of joy and hope
that out of your belly will flow rivers of living water (Jn 7:38). You will be filled with the Holy
Ghost, and when persecution comes, your joy in the Lord will be so overflowing
that you will not notice the persecution. Jesus told His disciples that their “joy no man taketh from them” (Jn. 16:22).
How to get the Abundant Life
To obtain the abundant life, you must be willing to
turn from all sin in your life.
Allow God to search you out and purge you of ALL your sins. Christ said that He would purge you so that you will bear more
fruit. “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away:
and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth
more fruit” (Jn 15:2). You need to make the
decision to DENY yourself, take up YOUR CROSS and live for Christ every day: “If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”
(Lk 9:23). If you do not
have the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (not everyone receives it at salvation), you
should also strive to receive Him. The Holy Ghost enables you to
live the abundant life; you need Him in order to get it.
You need to be willing and ready to turn your ENTIRE life over to
God. Not just some areas
of your life, but all should be turned over to God. Let Him lead you in every area of your life. You need to not just read and
study the Bible; you need to OBEY it, for joy cometh from keeping
Christ’s commandments:
10 If ye keep my commandments,
ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and
abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Jn 15:10,11
Keep my commandments,
and live; and my
law as the apple of thine eye.
Prov 7:2
1 My son, forget not my
law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days,
and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Prov 3:1,2
You need to follow Christ and glorify Christ with all aspects of your life, at work, at home, at church, in the classroom, in your social life, in your thoughts, in the bathtub, out fishing, while you sleep, your whole life. You must be willing to submit to and OBEY Christ at all costs. When you do this, you will have peace and joy such as are indescribable. You will ignore the world, and you will be able to hear the still, small voice of the Lord (1 Kings 19:12). You will have the abundant live.
What are you holding back? What are YOU allowing to prevent you from obtaining the abundant life? What TV show, what Wood-wood movie, what worldly desire is between you and the life that God promises you. Ask God to help you discover your sins and repent of them. Ask Him to help you turn from them, and He will surely help you. He only wants the best for you.
The
thief [Satan] cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am
come that they might have live, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
On the other hand, Satan does not want you the have the abundant life. He wants you to stay miserable; he wants you to think that you are a failure. If you are a lukewarm, carnal, powerless Christian, you pose little threat to him because your sin and hypocrisy help keep others from Christ. But if you have the abundant life, there is no stopping what you can do for the Lord. If you trust Him and OBEY Him with every area and aspect of your life, and seek to please and glorify Him in things while denying yourself, that old dragon will be POWERLESS to stop you as you go on to perfection. There is only one thing that Satan fears more than the Christian that is on fire for Christ, and that is his destiny in the Lake of Fire.
Therefore, the devil will do everything in his power
to keep you from the abundant life.
I know this from my own experience. He will throw memories of your sinful past at you
trying to convince you that you can never be perfect. The devil is a liar, the father of lies, and no truth
dwelleth in him (Jn 8:44), so when he tries to remind you of your past, REBUKE
him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, if you have accepted Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Saviour, your sins have been forgiven. Satan will also use distraction
to trip up your search for the abundant life, attempting to get your attention
off of God and on earthly things, possibly by trying to make you worry about
something. Remember that our
conversation is in Heaven, not on earth, and we should set our affection on
things above:
1 If ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth.
Col. 3:1,2
18 (For many walk, of
whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things.)
20 For our conversation is in heaven;
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phil 3:18-20
Satan is a thief and he wants to steal the abundant life from you. DO NOT LET HIM HAVE IT. The Lord Jesus called the devil a thief in the same verse He promised us the abundant life. This was no coincidence. Satan is a thief and will do everything in his power to steal (or keep) the abundant life from you. So when you begin to earnestly look for that abundant life, EXPECT attacks and distractions from the evil one, and be prepared to counter them. Do not let your guard down. When you start to fill with the joy of the abundant life, don’t let your guard down because of the overwhelming emotions. Let that serpent know that you mean business. Remember Col 3:1,2: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
The abundant life is God’s promise to Christians. He will grant us His abundant life
when we are determined to follow and obey Him no matter the cost. We need to continue in the Word
of God, obeying it, and studying to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Tim
2:15). When you read
and OBEY it, you will grow in the knowledge of God: “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord
unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God;”
(Col 1:10). You then
shall have the abundant life, and no longer live despair and bondage; you will
live in righteousness, holiness, peace and joy. You will be alive in Christ, fully enabled to live
that He wants you to. You
will be fruitful, and you will glorify God through your fruitfulness.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples.
John 16:8
You need the abundant life.
