It is God who breathes into us His life-giving Spirit when we receive Jesus as our Master and Lord. Some people want Jesus to be the One who saves them from their sin, rebellion and from themselves, but Jesus must be Lord and Master also. Because of His life, death and resurrection, Jesus is the One who has the right and authority to direct, lead and tell us how to live this lifethat we have received through Him.
John 13:13-15 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. KJV
Some people have received God’s life-giving Holy Spirit but have not obtained a good understanding of what it is to live the abundant life Jesus came to give. Many believers in Christ still struggle with living an abundant life, because the soul of their mind is still rooted in the consciousness of this fallen worldsystem. This world cultivates a spirit of greed, materialism, jealousy and envy that has people in covetousness, which causes division, distrust and hatred among themselves.
Many believers’ minds have not been renewed by the word of God or to His perspective and way of living. Followers of Christ are asked, pleaded with and begged to renew their minds to God’s way and His perspective. To be transformed to Hisways of thinking and to perceive life, happiness and success according to God’s kingdom ways on earth. We are to be an example to the fallen world around us and show them what it means to live an abundant life in Christ. This does not mean we will live a life without troubles but we are to have a mindset of peace believing God will bring us out of every trouble and situation in a way that will bring glory to God.
Romans 12: 1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJ
Our concept of life, happiness and success are built on how we perceive, view and value the things around us. Jesus is our example and His word is our guide that we should use to rethink the way we experience life and its purpose. Somepeople think that their lives are for them to live and experience the finer things and if they fail to obtain the level of wealth and fame they desire, they believe God has failed or forsaken them. But sometimes the problem is how they view their situations and circumstances and what they are experiencing.
If we see our lives as tools for God’s purpose and to be used sothat He may display His love, mercy and compassion to the lost, then when the troubles of life come we will not loose heart. In the Bible we see the people of God experiencing tribulations and persecution all for God’s purpose and to display who He is to the lost so that they may acknowledge and receive Him as their God.
Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery but he saved his family and nations from starvation and famine. David washunted by Saul, who sought to kill him, but David became a great king in Israel. Paul was whipped, stoned and left for dead by his people but became the apostle to the non-Jews, gentiles and now the word of God is open to all humanity. Jesus was crucified that He may bring many sons to the Father. Weshould change the way we view our challenges and troubles so that we may live a life of expectancy, looking forward to see the mysteries of God and how He will work out our challenges for our good and His glory. We should know and believe that God is working all these things together for our good and that thelikeness of Christ is being revealed in our inner soul and spiritfor His glory.
Romans 8:28-30 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreoverwhom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. NKJ
We are to live in hope and in anticipation to see how God will take these difficulties and dilemmas that we are facing and use them to display His glory on the earth. If we live in fear, regret and disappointment we will lose sight of God and His purpose for us on earth. We as followers of Christ must choose to cast down every thought and imagination that sets itself against the word of God. We must choose to walk in faith that God is faithful and choose to believe in His compassion and love for us, which gives us hope to persevere in tribulations. In this we can show the love of God to the wounded, hurt and those living in hate because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit toward them.
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance,character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. NKJ
When our minds have been transformed and our perspectivesand views are changed to line up with the word of God, then we will understand that God has made every person nation on earth and He has determined their times and where they are to live. The followers of Christ should seek the Lord and show His love to others. It is by God and the Holy Spirit in us that we can live, move and have our purpose of life as children of the Most-High God. We are to take on the Divine nature of God, which is to show love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion and grace to the undeserving and lost.
Acts 17:26-30 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. NKJ
Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. The might in this statement is showing that the power and the capacity of an abundant life is ours to have. The possibility of this abundance is offered to all who believe, but once again the choice is left up to each individual to choose whether they will view life according to the world or the word of God.
John 10:10 he 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. KJV
Abundant life is not how much we have in the way of gold, silver or the riches of this world, but it is our perspective and how we view God our Father and others. We are here to fulfill our created purpose, to replenish the earth and to glorify God in our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent.
Integrity- People of God 