Greetings in Christ!
Once again, we are coming to that special day of the year that we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Christmas, I have often said that Christmas is every day when the Lord wakes me up in the present when he blesses my eyes to open my feet to hit the ground, my first words are Lord, I thank you for another day let thy will be done not mine.
I wanted to share a verse that we would not often associate with Christmas, but I believe it is relevant, especially in light of all we have faced over the past months and a couple of years
John 10:10 (NKJV) 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.
The Global Pandemic has impacted so many lives in a variety of ways. Last year at this time, there was so much division about the various opinions of how things should or should not be. It was hard to imagine things could be more divided at the time, but it seems the enemy is doing all he can to “divide and conquer.” This even includes the separation within families the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated, not wanting to sit down and worship together, the enemy is on the prowl.
The verse I just shared gives such a powerful thought that Jesus came not just so that we could have life, but that it would be abundant life! Please bear with me as I speak of abundant life. We receive this abundant life the moment we accept Him as our Savior.This word “abundant” in Greek is perisson, meaning “exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate.” In short, Jesus promises us a life far better than we could ever imagine, a concept reminiscent of 1 Corinthians 2:9: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” The apostle Paul tells us that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, and He does it by His power, a power that is at work within us if we belong to Him (Ephesians 3:20).
Before you and I begin to have visions of lavish homes, expensive cars, worldwide cruises, and more money than we know what to do with, we need to pause and think about what Jesus teaches regarding this abundant life. The Bible tells us that wealth, prestige, position, and power in this world are not God’s priorities for us (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). In terms of economic, academic, and social status, most Christians do not come from the privileged classes. Clearly, then, abundant life does not consist of an abundance of material things. If that were the case, Jesus would have been the wealthiest of men. But just the opposite is true (Matthew 8:20).
Abundant life is eternal life, a life that begins the moment we come to Christ and receive Him as Savior and goes on throughout all eternity. The biblical definition of life — specifically eternal life — is provided by Jesus Himself: “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). This definition makes no mention of length of days, health, prosperity, family, or occupation. In fact, the only thing it does mention is knowledge of God, which is the key to a truly abundant life.
What is abundant life? First, abundance is spiritual abundance, not material. In fact, God is not overly concerned with the physical circumstances of our lives. He assures us that we need not worry about what we will eat or wear (Matthew 6:25-32; Philippians 4:19). Physical blessings may or may not be part of a God-centered life; neither our wealth nor our poverty is a sure indication of our standing with God. Solomon had all the material blessings available to a man yet found it all to be meaningless (Ecclesiastes 5:10-15). Paul, on the other hand, was content in whatever physical circumstances he found himself (Philippians 4:11-12).
Second, etern