August
29, 2003
LIVING
MORE ABUNDANTLY, part I
"I
have come that they may have life, and that they may have
it more abundantly" (John 10:10, NKJV).
What
is the more abundant life that Jesus came to give?
He
came to give us health: "Then your light shall break
forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily"
(Isaiah 58:8).
He came to give us peace: "You will keep him in
perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts
in You" (Isaiah 26:3).
He came to give us happiness: "Whoever trusts
in the Lord, happy is he." "Where there is no revelation,
the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the
law" (Proverbs 16:20; 29:18).
He came to give us prosperity: "Blessed is the
man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands
in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law
he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its
season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he
does shall prosper" (Psalm 1:1-3).
He came to give us freedom from the bondage of evil doers:
"A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at
your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with
your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked"
(Psalm 91:7, 8).
He came to give us freedom from the bondage of sin:
"He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever
confesses and forsakes them will have mercy." "If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
(Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9).
He came to give us joy: "These things I have spoken
to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may
be full" (John 15:11).
He came to give us a future and a hope: "For I
know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and
a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).
He came to give us eternal life: "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved"
(John 3:16, 17).
He came to give us knowledge and understanding: "To
give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission
of their sins." "Then He said to them, 'These
are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written
in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning
Me.' And He opened their understanding, that they might
comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 1:77; 24:44, 45).
He came to give us the formula for a successful life here
and now and for the hereafter: "But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
To
be continued-
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