Defining the Abundant Life!

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.  “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-9

To fully understand what it means to have the abundant life that Jesus promised, we have to start with the fact that it is God who defines abundant life.  It is not defined by the fulfillment of our fleeting human inventions or desires.  It is a powerful and precious life that Jesus Himself both promised and modeled for us.

See, back in His day, people had expectations about their lives and the way they wanted God’s will to play out for them, just as we do.  The people of Israel were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their promised Messiah.  And they knew exactly who they thought He should be - an earthly King who would defeat their earthly enemies and bring them to freedom and prominence. 

Instead, what they got was a lowly baby, born in a stinky barn.  He was not royal by earthly standards at all.  In fact, the Bible goes so far as to say there was nothing attractive about Him!

“He grew up like small plant before the Lord, like a root growing in a dry land. He had no special beauty or form to make us notice him; there was nothing in his appearance to make us desire him.   Isaiah 53:2.

He came from humble means, was nothing special to look at and would end up being questioned by His own earthly family during His ministry. 

Jesus was persecuted and lied about.  He was rejected.  His cousin was murdered.  In His final moments, His closest friends betrayed and abandoned Him.

And yet. . . 

Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s thoughts and plans for a Messiah for His people.  And He lived an abundant life.  He knew who He was.  Even at age 12, He knew He was to be about His Father’s business.  And though He faced the same humanity that we all do, He knew an intimacy with God that sustained Him, as evidenced by the many, many times He would go away to pray.  He experienced the life-giving power of the Spirit that enabled Him to walk on this earth.  Jesus’ abundant life was found in doing His Father’s will. 

And Jesus knew that we, like Him, would face incredible difficulty and pain on this earth.  He knew we would ache with rejection and grieve in death.  Still He promises us so many things:

-He would carry our burdens and give us rest (Matthew 11:28-29)

-He will give us peace of mind and heart, far beyond what this world can give (John 14:27)

-He wants to bring healing to us – He is a God of miracles! (Matthew 8:3, Mark 1:42. . .and so many more!!)

-He will give abundantly to us:  a good amount, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into our laps (Luke 6:38)

-He told us we don’t need to worry about what we will eat, drink or wear – He will supply all of our needs as we seek Him first (Matthew 6:25-34)

-He said when we ask, we will receive… we will find… and the door will be opened to us (Luke 11:9-10)

-He will always be with us, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:20).

These are only a few of the promises Jesus makes that show us what abundant life looks like – and there are so many more! 

But we get confused when we see the promises through human thinking instead of God’s way of thinking. 

It is very hard for us to encounter illness and death on this earth and still believe that Jesus promises miracles and healing. 

It is difficult for us to be down to the last pennies in our bank account and believe that Jesus tells us not to worry about what we eat or drink, but that God will supply all our needs.

But here’s another promise that Jesus makes to us:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

Jesus does not sugar coat this fact: we will have a lot of pain in this life.  But He also offers promises in the midst of pain.  Hope in the face of tragedy. He has overcome for us!  Do we believe it?  Because that is the definition of an abundant life. 

Abundant life is not merely a life of ease - it is a life of victory.  A life of overcoming.  A life of hope when all looks hopeless because we know Jesus paid for our victory.  We know Who holds our lives in His all-powerful hands.  We can rest in His perfect peace that passes finite human wisdom.  We don’t have to strive when things are falling apart – we can cling to the promises of Jesus, even if our circumstances may be opposite to those promises.

And that kind of abundant living is a beautiful mystery to those who don’t know God!  Why can we find stability in the midst of chaos?  Why can we wrestle with pain and yet still find peace?  How can we deal with rejection and still know that we are passionately loved by our Creator?

The beauty of abundant life is not in its earthly excesses, but in its power for living in every day! 

It is knowing we have victory in Jesus – even when victory doesn’t look like we thought it would. 

It’s in living a life surrendered to Jesus as Lord, and trusting He is with us, for us and moving on our behalf, no matter what our circumstances are.

It is choosing by faith to believe that because of Jesus’ work, we will overcome, even when facing adversity.

I’ve wanted God to provide for us by giving Craig a job.  But His provision for us has looked so different than I thought it would.  His thoughts and plans about this season of our lives have allowed us to feel the love of God’s people, see His miracles and trust Him more deeply as we wait on His timing and plan.

And when we seasons of blessing come – as we know they will - when our barns are full and life is sweet, abundant living means this:

"God has given you this good stuff so that you can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is still totally obsessed with God."  (Francis Chan)

That’s the kind of abundant life Jesus modeled and died for us to have.

We can live in victory because of Jesus!  And when we submit to Jesus as our Lord, we can live surrendered lives that allow God’s will to play out in ways beyond what we can imagine.  We can show those who don’t know Jesus that we passionately love Him and trust Him, no matter what we are facing.  That is the abundant life!

Abundant Life vs. the American Dream

“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.”  John 10:10

Abundant life.  It’s something that sounds so appealing, doesn’t it?  So fulfilling and hopeful.  It’s something that Jesus said He came to give to us – what a promise!

But as I look around today, I think there’s some confusion in the Church about abundant life. 

My fear is that the Church is being dazzled by the promise – not of abundant life – but of a Christianized version of the American Dream.  That somehow the goal of our faith is not a passionate, intimate relationship with Jesus and living to do His will.  Instead, following Jesus is a means to end - to end up with what I want, my own “heaven on earth”. 

My friends, this is not what Jesus gave His precious blood to give to us.

The American dream is what everyone wants, after all.  We want the 4-bedroom house with the white picket fence.  We want both us and our families to have what we need AND what we want.  We desire, not just financial security, but financial windfall.  (Which we usually want to happen overnight!)  We want to “live the dream”, follow our passions, become successful (and for many, insert ‘become famous’ here)!

I’m not, in any way, saying that these things are necessarily wrong or bad. Many of us have these things and they are a blessing from the Lord!  But what I am saying is that those things fall far short of being the definition of abundant life.  Attaining status and wealth were never meant to be a guarantee of a relationship with Jesus.  In fact, in some ways, those things can be the very enemy of the abundant life that Jesus suffered and died to make available to each one of us.

I’m reminded of the story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10.  He comes to Jesus with an honest question:  “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus shared with him, “You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.”

But the rich young ruler was a rule follower – he told Jesus he had already done all those things, and from the time he was young!  Yet still he knew something was missing.

So he asks again what he must do.  I bet in hindsight, he wished he hadn’t asked.

“Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Fellow believers in America, I want to ask us to see ourselves as the rich young ruler.  We say we want eternal life.  We want salvation.  We want grace.  We want eternity in Heaven.

We want Jesus to be our Savior.  But friends, we aren’t sure we want Him to be our Lord. 

We want the free gift of eternal life.  But we don’t want it to cost us something.

The Bible says that Jesus looked at that rich young ruler, with all his wealth and possessions, and genuinely loved him.  Just as Jesus genuinely loves us.

But Jesus also told him that if he really wanted to walk with Him, he had to surrender everything of his earthly treasures to truly follow Him.

This young man had followed all the rules.  But Jesus wanted more than his actions – Jesus wanted his heart. Jesus wanted to be Lord and Master of this man’s life.  He wanted the young man to surrender what was most important to him on this earth for the all-surpassing Treasure of Heaven.

Jesus asked.  And the rich young ruler said no.

He was not willing to surrender his earthly treasures.  His stuff had his heart.  So he walked away from Jesus.  He felt bad about it – but not bad enough to change his ways or to give up his riches to follow Jesus.

Have you ever experienced that moment with Jesus?  Where He asks you to give up something that you love?  Something that you may have worked hard for?  Something you treasure?

I know I have.  And it has happened more than one time.  Making Jesus the Lord of our lives is a continual choice.

Jesus will let us make that choice.  Notice He did not run after the rich young ruler to try to convince him to change his mind.  He does the same with us. 

But if Jesus is asking me to surrender - if He’s asking me to let go of something I’m holding on to and reach out to take the hand of my Lord and follow Him more closely. . .

. . .is there danger in saying no?  I think that there is.

I don’t ever want to get good at saying no to Jesus.

I believe that Jesus stands today in front of the American church.  He’s looking at us with genuine love.  He knows all the good things that we’ve done and the ways that we’ve obeyed His commands. 

But He’s standing here asking us if we will also give up those things in our lives that we value more than we value Him.  He’s asking us to allow Him to be the Lord of our lives.

Maybe for some of us, He’s asking for riches.  Maybe for others, it’s surrendering our kids.  Maybe it’s our job.  Maybe it’s our dreams.

I invite you to wrestle with the Lord over these issues.  He understands that we are dust and that we struggle to let go of the treasures and rights that we hold so dear.

About three years ago, the Lord challenged me on my right to spend money the way I wanted to.  And let me tell you, this was especially hard when it came to going out to eat.  I really do enjoy a good meal that I didn’t cook! 
Jesus was asking me to let Him tell me how to spend our money.  To let Him decide where our dollars would go.  It wasn’t about the fact that we could afford to go out.  It was about the fact that I had to let Him tell us how we appropriated our funds.

I wrestled with God because I didn’t realize how much I just did what I wanted with money.  And frankly, I wanted to spend it as I wanted to!  French fries were never so tempting to me as they were in that month that I struggled with surrendering this to the Lord.  I know it may sound silly, but it was hard for me to let go of this!

How grateful I am that the Lord allowed me to wrestle this out with Him.  It took – no joke – a month of praying, arguing, and frustration on my part.  But I remember the moment, on my knees, when I gave my rights to our finances to God. 

In hindsight, I am amazed at His goodness in preparing me for this season when our finances would shrink to so little.  Not only was He asking me to be Lord of how we spent, but He was preparing me for a season I had no idea was coming.
That is the beauty of allowing Jesus to be Lord.  If I had said no, if I had walked away from Him – well, this may have all played out very differently.

When we contemplate surrendering to the Lord what we hold most dear, we are only aware of the loss.  Of what we feel that we are giving up and how hard that it is.

But we are trading these earthly things for the treasures of abundant life.  And not abundant life as defined by us, but as defined by God.  And that is a life beyond our wildest dreams and desires.


More on that in the next blog. . .

Lessons Learned in The Garden

My family and I just moved to a different house about a year ago. It is has been a blessing to live here, as it meets each of our needs so perfectly.  One of the best attributes that we have all come to enjoy is the backyard. And it is an area that most definitely needed a great deal of attention in order to be fully appreciated and enjoyed.

You see, this house sat unoccupied for over a year before we moved in. You can imagine the state of disarray and disrepair that had befallen the unattended backyard –no watering, no weeding, no trimming, no pruning. It had truly become a ‘wild’ environment where anything goes. It was our own personal Jumanji and the ‘jungle’ of wild life was ready to be tamed.

Luckily, I had two very willing assistants, my daughters, Meagan and Kelsey, who were ready and able to join me in the daunting task of conquering this wild outdoor habitat. It took us 7 days and 8 full trash cans of debris to whip this backyard into usable condition. Once the space had been prepped and cleared it was time for the real work to begin – tilling, planting and growth.

I used soil, fertilizer, soil nutrients, mulch, flowers, plants, tools, weed killer, bug spray, gloves - everything that could possibly be needed to make this backyard space a perfect outdoor living environment. It took me roughly 4 weeks of hard labor and lots of love to make the transition from wildlife habitat to tamed backyard.

During this labor of love I began to hear the Lord speaking to me about the similarities between all of this physical work and the work of my spiritual life. I know this comes as no surprise to anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time, as the Scripture is constantly using garden analogies to make comparison to our spiritual lives, but these particular lessons that the Lord taught me caught me off guard and made me think.

Allow me to share the lessons learned in the garden (my backyard):

1. Despite all the same work of tilling, feeding, watering and weeding the soil, I could still plant 2 of the exact same bushes 3 feet apart and watch one of them thrive and flourish while the other struggled just to survive. For the first time I saw things from the perspective of the Gardener and realized that each plant requires personal care and attention based on the exact conditions and circumstances that arise from their exact location.

I saw my own life in these plants – in one area I was thriving and growing with just a little effort (i. e. journaling and reading my Bible).  Yet there were other areas where I was struggling when showing the same effort (i.e. dealing with anger or self control).  The challenge was to meet each “plant” or area of my life with the necessary effort and focus that will cause it to grow.  One area might need more prayer, more counsel, more discipline, more focus, where another happens a little easier.

2.  Weeds (a cheap and free alternative that I didn’t want) popped up out of nowhere and grew at a rate much faster than the bushes and flowers (items of worth and value that I did want) that I purposefully planted and desired to grow. 

I saw the physical weeds as a spiritual metaphor. There are always going to be ‘free’ alternatives that cost nothing to initially buy and will show growth at a much faster rate and actually might be attractive. However, ultimately the weeds will consume the ‘real’ plants and flowers as their root systems choke out the foliage that I truly want to grow and flourish.

There have been times when the weeds in my life are when I am searching for the approval of man.  I worked hard to prove myself and show that I was worthy, and at times, it caused my family to suffer.  The instant approval of man can look good, as some weeds can.  But ultimately, it choked out life in me, because I was seeking to please man rather than God.

3.  My yard had endured a full year without water, food or any care at all. Yet somehow I really felt that after 3 weeks of back-breakingly hard work on my part - consistent watering, feeding, and maintaining - that I could reverse the neglect of 52+ weeks and get this environment back into shape. But a long time of neglect takes a long time to be brought back to health and life.

This reminded me of the spiritual ‘quick-fix’ that often gets communicated, either intentionally or unintentionally, that once I choose Jesus and begin to change my life all will go well and my garden will be fruitful. This is not necessarily true!  The Lord showed me that true environment change takes time and that the consequences of neglect and bad habits will not disappear just because I have begun the process of change. It must be sustained over consistent seasons in order to bring about the desired results.

In this current season of struggle there were several things said about me that were very hard to hear. I had to take those things before the Lord and find out what was true and what was not.  And of what was true, what would require life change. So then, after implementing these personal changes for two or three months, why hasn’t everyone’s opinion changed along with it? After all the changes have been made haven’t they? The Lord was using this to show me how although immediate change is good true change will be measured over time and with my consistency.     

Using this metaphor of a garden makes me think about my spiritual life very differently. And begs a few questions:

Am I being purposeful in my spiritual garden or just allowing things to happen?  

Am I truly being the gardener that I have been called to be and doing all the work necessary to ensure personal spiritual growth?

Am I being purposeful and feeding the soil of my soul, asking God to remove rocks, watering the ground, ensuring proper sunlight, and keeping the grounds free from weeds? Or am I being accidental and allowing things to-fall-where-they-may based on the blowing of the wind, receive water only when it rains, and weed only when it becomes a problem?  

I hear the Lord calling us to cultivate a spiritual ‘green thumb’.  Let’s not wait another day to get started!