I was a person that was ignored, lonely, and rejected during my school years until Jesus Christ stretched out His nail-scarred hands to me and lifted me onto His lap and into His family. In His abundant goodness, which He stores up for everyone who honors Him and takes refuge in Him (Psalm 31:19), He provides for us everything we need to enjoy a plentiful life.
Abundance is a word that means many things to many people. We all have preconceived ideas of what consists in an abundant life. Some expect financial riches, affluence, fame, perfect health, long life, etc. Few consider abundance as having our needs met with a little extra to share with the disadvantaged (Luke 6:38).
We also experience abundance in the spiritual realm. Having a personal relationship with the Trinity of God brings lavish peace, joy, and contentment that has nothing to do with what we achieve or possess on this earth (John 10:10). The foundation for abundance comes when we realize we are crucified with Jesus, and He now lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20).
Once we believe in and pattern our life after the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are God’s adopted children (John 1:12, 3:16-18). Walking in God’s provision includes storing up our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), and perceiving life by having faith in the unseen heavenly issues (2 Corinthians 4:18) rather than only in what we can understand with our earthly human resources.
We start to reap abundant life when we seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness each moment of our day (Matthew 6:33). He shows us the path on which we should walk, and He gives us fulness of joy and continual pleasure in His provision and in our intimate relationship with Him (Psalm 16:11). He gives us His wisdom and strength to traverse the trials we encounter.
Discouragement, insignificance, discontentment, loneliness, weariness, and emptiness fade away in the light of the abundant life, which God provides for us. We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and He gives us every good and perfect gift from above (James 1:17). He teaches us how to benefit from His provision, and He leads us in the path He preordained for us (Isaiah 48:17; Ephesians 2:10).
Prayer:
Father God, thank You for freeing us from the ideology and addictions of this world, by filling us with Your Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). We do not survive only by earthly provision, but by Your eternal Word as well (Matthew 4:4). You store up Your goodness for those who seek You first and who trust in Your faithful provision and protection (Psalm 31:19). You delight in supplying abundantly above anything we could ever need or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
As we seek Your Kingdom first with our choices, we know that You will provide everything we need to do Your will for us (Matthew 6:33; 2 Corinthians 9:8). Our life overflows with Your wonderful blessings that You shower us with each day of our life (Psalm 23; Psalm 65:11). Thank You for sending Jesus to pay our sin-debt, and to give us a personal relationship with You, as well as an abundant eternal destiny by Your grace (John 10:10).
Thought for the Day:
God, our Father of Lights, gives us good and perfect gifts, and He provides for us multiple blessings that are measured out, shaken together, and running over in our life (Luke 6:38; James 1:17). As we walk in a childlike and trusting relationship with Him, He provides us with abundance in every area of our body, soul, and spirit (Matthew 18:3; Psalm 37:11).
