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“A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!” John 10:10 (The Passion Translation)
About three or four years ago I was feeling like the abundant life of John 10:10 had plumb passed me by. And I wondered why. I knew it wasn’t God’s fault, so it had to be mine. Even if it was the devil causing me to feel that way, it was still my fault because I wasn’t resisting him enough to make him flee. “So then, surrender to God. Stand up to the devil and resist him and he will turn and run away from you.” James 4:7 (TPT)
I looked for sermons, books, and blog articles and found a lot telling the reader that the abundant life is spiritual, not physical wealth and belongings. While I wholeheartedly agree, I was looking for answers beyond the elementary level. I believe it is true that spiritual abundance does spill over to the physical though.
Then I tried to think of someone I knew who is living the elusive abundant life. When I say, “I tried to think of someone” I mean I tried and could think of no one I knew personally except for an old man I had met many years ago. But he died in 2006.
Having reached a dead end, I resorted to making a list of everything I could think of that keeps people from enjoying the John 10:10 abundant life. Over the course of about a year I would jot things down on my running list as they came to mind. Eventually, since nothing seemed profound, I stopped thinking about it and contented myself to live with life as it was – until a few days ago.
I was meditating on the fear of the Lord and how I have seen that phrase so often lately, and how I had let my own “fear of the Lord” diminish from what it had once been. Then all of a sudden, there it was, as plain to see as a big neon sign! All of those things on my rather lengthy list stemmed from one thing: a healthy proper fear of the Lord, as the Bible describes, is the basis of that abundant spiritual life. Then I found this scripture:
“When you live a life of abandoned love,
surrendered before the awe of God,
here’s what you’ll experience:
Abundant life. Continual protection.
And complete satisfaction!”
Proverbs 19:23 (TPT)
Maybe I’m a slow learner – it’s been there in Proverbs forever, and at the tender age of 69, I’m just now seeing it. But I prefer to think of it this way though: God has known all along that in February 2021, I would be in this very place considering the fear of the Lord, and He arranged for me to find this gem of understanding as a special blessing for my good. “So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose.” Romans 8:28 (TPT)
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