"The thief comes ONLY to steal, and kill, and destroy; I have come that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" (John 10:10; emphasis, added). Just for the record, these are Jesus' words and in my humble opinion, it is time for us to take them to heart.
Please notice the proverbial "two-sided coin" that is depicted in this verse: on one side, the thief comes; however, on the other side, Jesus comes, and their reasons for coming are diametrically opposed to one another. The thief comes ONLY to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus comes that we might have life and have it super-abundantly!
Make no mistake, the "thief" has been doing a very good job at accomplishing his purpose, as is evidenced by the fact that most Christians live as if they are either terminally ill and waiting for their last breath to come, OR as if they are already dead and waiting on the hearse to come. In either case, they are NOT enjoying the super-abundant life that Jesus came to provide for them.
MY POINT: I am tired of the "thief" stealing, killing, and destroying the super-abundant life that Jesus promised. In my opinion, it is time for us to stand up, and having done all to stand! After all, we have a life to live--an incredibly important life--and we need to begin living it!
See you in the morning!
Your Pastor
4 comments:
Mac,
We are asking God to minister in a mighty way to Joanie at this time. It seems to me the greatest issue is her pain control, so I'm asking that the key players in this situation will focus on that issue and resolve it quickly so that Joanine may begin the healing and rehab process. We look forward to God's speaking through you to instruct and encourage us to not only "know of" but truly experience the abundant life He has already secured for us His elect and desires for us to daily live and enjoy. Thank you for diligence in seeking and implarting the implementation of God's truth as given to us in the scriptures. We love you and look forward to worshiping with you in the morning.
Love,
Debbie and Dudley
Hi Mac,
Don't forget that even the people who can seemingly "do" nothing have that abundant life Jesus was talking about. The theif may come and steal someone's health, but they CAN still have abundant life with Jesus in their life, and with Jesus AS their life. He even works through those who cannot move or respond, since the soul is where abundant life takes place.
I like it when my body enjoys abundant living, but it's far more important that my soul enjoy it, since that will never die and can not ever be taken from me by ANYONE or ANYTHING!!
Job lost it all, but really "got" it all when he found a personal connection with his God, not when his earthly health and wealth were restored. He was forever changed by that one encounter and after that, everything else was just so much fluff.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow and being with my family again.
Love,
Karen
David and Goliath, Living the Abundant Life and The Balance of Power: The problem with most Christians is that they wake up every morning seeing themselves as David and the circumstances they live in as Goliath. You will tend to reap each day exactly what you mentally expect from it. Far too many times we never reach for the one thing that will give us that balance of power over our problems, adversaries and circumstances. Had David taken that same cavalier approach toward that meeting with Goliath he would surely have met his death that day.
The Abundant Life is more than the promise of things to come after death, not that it by itself is not sufficient but God clearly wants us to enjoy all of the things here on earth he has provided. Many critics of Christianity say the we use Jesus as a "crutch" to get us through this miserable life we may be enduring ,due to circumstances of our own making usually, here on earth. Looking at many Christians and the way they live their lives gives the critics plenty of ammunition to validate their point. The "woe is me" syndrome is alive and well in the Christian community. I don't think God wants us to reach a self inflicted "martyrdom" to live out our lives here on earth. There are instances in the Bible where Jesus Himself wanted only the “best” of things here on earth at certain events.
The point is this, you’re going to have problems and set backs in you life as a Christian, but; it’s okay to want and expect the finer things in life as well. Your daddy is a King!
That's what I'm saying!!!
Post a Comment