We live in a time when death and destruction are all around us and it seems to be on the increase with everything that is happening in the world today. The natural disasters, revolutions and increase in violence have the potential of causing our attention to be focused on death. For some people life is too hard or is meaningless and they make decisions to end their life and often the life of other people who they have seemingly insurmountable issues. In my home state of Minnesota a 16 year girl was murdered by her17 year old boyfriend who then committed suicide. He had been planning this act and left evidence of it on his computer. Japan is a nation with a high suicide rate because of its emphasis on success and the pressures that are created from it. We need to continue to pray for the people in Japan who have suffered great losses that the temptation to end their lives will be replaced with the message of hope that comes from the gospel.
During this time in Guatemala there is great emphasis on the suffering and death of Christ. You will see many processions that play the dirge music and show Mary weeping and Christ's suffering. The term the passion of the Christ means the suffering of Christ. It is important for us to remember what Christ endured for our sins and we must never take lightly the suffering he encountered physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually when he was on the earth. He came to earth to give us life through his death. He came to free us from the bondage of sin so we could experience life in its fullness. He wants us to celebrate being a culture of abundant life and not death. Jesus came to show us the life that we can have when we are in right relationship with God.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,
Mat 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Mat 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
One of the first things Jesus addressed was being anxious about the basic life needs of food, drink and clothing. Jesus wants us to be free from these concerns so we can focus on what is really the essence of life. The reason we can do this is explained in the next verses that assure us that God, our Father knows what we need and will be faithful to provide for us when we focus on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
(Mat 6:32) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
(Mat 6:33) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Mat 6:34) "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
We will experience the life God wants for us when we first set our mind on seeking the things that have the highest priority: God's Kingdom and His righteousness. God wants us to be free in our thinking to be able to have fellowship with Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. Anxiety about the basic needs of life will distract us from our true focus that will give us the life that God has for us.
Rolland and Heidi Baker are tremendous modern day examples of people who have placed their trust in God’s faithfulness to fulfill his word to meet physical needs. Many times they have seen food multiplied to meet the needs of the people who they did not expect to come. They minister in Mozambique where the needs are great but as Heidi has stated, “Jesus is more than enough.”
Anxiety and worry can consume our lives and for many people it does. If we are in right relationship with God we can have confidence that He will fulfill his promise to provide for the basic needs of life. Paul encouraged the Philippian church to be anxious for nothing
(Php 4:6) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Through trust and prayer, the enemy of anxiety can be conquered and we can be free to focus on the work of the Kingdom.
Another enemy of experiencing the life God has for us is covetousness.
Jesus also spoke against covetousness because it is a major distraction to keep us from experiencing real life.
Luk 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
The word covet means to “always desire to have more” Vine’s dictionary
We are a consumer driven society and the focus of our life is not to be on the accumulation of possessions, striving after things that bring only temporary pleasure. Advertisers play on our greed and a feeling of entitlement to have more things that we so deserve even if we cannot afford them. I noticed that Best Buy stores are now offering to buy back your computer when you want to upgrade to the next level. They want to eliminate any concerns that you may have about selling your computer so you can buy a new one. There will always be better, faster, easier etc. things that will be on the market and we must be careful that we do not allow greed or covetousness to motivate our actions. John D. Rockefeller was an extremely wealthy man. When asked how much was enough, he replied, " A little more." For him there was never enough and with that focus one will always be seeking for more. We can spend a lot of time thinking, planning, searching for the next new thing that we have to have and this will divert our attention away from the things that really matter in life.
One example of a believer who lived a life without many possessions was Sundar Singh. He felt that God had called him to be a teacher of His word among the people of India, Nepal and Tibet. He spent most of his life walking through these countries sharing the gospel with the people. The only things he carried with him were the saffron tunic he wore, his sandals and his Bible. He depended on God to supply his needs for food and shelter. He often refused to accept gifts from people because he did not need them. One time he was given a blanket which he kept only for a few minutes because he met someone who needed it and he gave it away. He lived his life not trying to accumulate possession or coveting after things. He was content with the little that he had and to fulfill his calling he did not want or need much of anything else. He may be an extreme example because he did not have other responsibilities such s a wife or family to care for yet his heart attitude is one that is a model for us to follow.
Everything we have should be held with an open hand to be able to freely give it away without any feelings of loss. The more things we possess the more time we have to devote to maintain them or built a place to store them. Sometimes the greatest freedom we can experience is found in giving away all the things that are cluttering our lives and taking away our focus from what is really important.
A third obstacle to living the life God has for us that Jesus taught is trying to save our life or protect and preserve our life. This is living for yourself and making sure that you keep everything that is yours and build a fortress to ensure that it will not be taken from you. “The natural tendency is to save our lives by selfish, complacent, routine, petty existences. We may indulge our pleasures and appetites by basking in comfort, luxury, and ease, by living for the present, by trading our finest talents to the world in exchange for a few years of mock security
When we try to preserve our lives we miss out on the real life God has for us. We have to lose this life in order to gain the life the truly is life.
Luk 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Luk 9:25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
Following Jesus requires us to die to our self life and place everything under His Lordship. It may require that we lay down our life for the sake of His Kingdom. Fear of death can keep us from being obedient to follow after Christ and his call upon our lives. The life on earth is temporary and we tend to live it as safely as we can which can keep us from stepping out in faith and obedience to what God calls us to do.
Sundar Singh was on a journey with another man and they were walking through the snow in the mountains when they saw a man who had slid off the path, down the mountain and was laying motionless. The man who was with Sundar wanted to keep going and not risk helping the man in need. The weather was getting worse and it was cold and in his mind the delay and the dangers involved in rescuing this man were going to jeopardize their ability to reach their destination. Sundar ignored his advice and went down the slope to rescue the man while his partner decided to go on without him. Sundar rescued the man who could not walk and carried him on his back toward their destination. In route, they came across a man who was lying on the path. He had frozen to death. When Sundar looked at the man's face he recognized that it was his partner who had left him behind. Sundar realized that the man he was carrying caused his body to generate heat from the extra weight and effort he had to make to carry him and because of this he was able to keep from freezing. In being willing to lose his life, he actually saved it. When we take risks for God in obedience to Him he honors and rewards us. Being "safe" is not our highest priority and can be one of the greatest hindrances to advancing God's kingdom.
I recently listened to a message by Afshin Ziafat, given at Dallas Theological Seminary. He told about a young man named BJ Higgins whose story is captured in the book about him called, "I would die for you."
At 8yrs old BJ accepted Christ. When he was 9-10 years old he was actively sharing his faith on school bus with great passion telling the passengers that they would be going to hell if they did not accept Christ. When he was 13-14 years old he was sharing faith on line on a regular basis, leading people to Christ. At age 15 he was called to mission field and wanted to go to Morocco, a Muslim nation. He and his sister went to Peru on mission trip where he contracted and died of a rare disease. The book that was written about his life was based on the diary he kept. The impact of BJ's short life has touched many people, possibly more than it would have touched had he not died. Afshin learned from this book, that BJ accepted Christ after hearing him preach at his first outside speaking engagement. He and his wife decided that they wanted to meet BJ's parents after contacting them via the internet. When they met Afshin learned more about the impact of BJ's life.
After BJ's funeral his parents took his ashes to Morocco, the country BJ felt called to serve. They walked up a hill that overlooked a Muslim village and poured out his ashes and prayed for the village. The Muslim guide was told about BJ's life and he was greatly impacted by his story and eventually gave his life to Christ. He is now pastoring one of the underground churches in Morocco. BJ's life also impacted another life of a young man from Sudan.
When BJ’s father was on a bus in Kenya a Sudanese young man sat down next to him and he shared his faith with him. The young man wanted a Bible but the only Bible he had was BJ’s with all of his treasured writings in it. He was reluctant to give it to him because of its value to him but he did. He prayed for him and God spoke to him that he was praying for the next evangelist in Kenya. He shared this with the 15 year old young man who was the same age as BJ when he died. Today this man is preaching the gospel in Kenya.
We never know the impact our life will have on people when we surrender it completely to the Lord and allow Him to direct us wherever He wants us to go. Even in death our lives can bear much fruit.
The life that Jesus has for us is an abundant life. Anxiety, covetousness, selfishness and self preservation keep us from experiencing the real life Jesus has for us.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The word for life is "zoe" which is the life of God, the very life that He gave to Jesus. Jesus wants us to experience and live the same life he had. The zoe life is a life of abundance because God is not lacking in anything.
The words more abundant in the Greek mean: super abundant, superior in quality and excessive. I relate the abundant life to the fruit and the power of the Holy Spirit. Some may want to relate this verse to material things but to me the Kingdom of God is not about possessions or things. It is more about the inner qualities that reflect the character and nature of God that God wants us to have in abundance. When the fruit of the spirit is in operation in my life I am living the zoe life.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
In a world that is filled with hatred, killing, anger, deception, selfishness, greed, and all the other works of the enemy the value and importance of having the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives becomes more obvious to those who do not have it.
Afshin Ziafat grew up in a devout Muslim family that fled Iran to the USA when he was young. While living in the USA, he and his friends would throw rocks at a group of Catholic nuns when they left their home. One day his friend threw a rock that broke a clay pot the nun was carrying. He was afraid of what would happen to him so he turned to run away. He tripped and fell and was injured. The nun approached him and he thought she would harm him for what he had done. Instead she bent down and tended his injures. That image profoundly impacted these young boys as they witnessed the fruit of the Spirit working in the life of the nun. She responded in the opposite spirit because she was controlled by the Holy Spirit.
How we respond to opposition will reveal our character and the maturity level of the fruit of the Spirit in us. When we have the abundant life in us it can flow out of us in times of adversity and trial and be a witness to the world that expects the opposite. In the midst of every storm in life we can experience the life of God in abundance. When we are squeezed by ungodly actions of people, difficult circumstances, trials and tests of our Christian beliefs, our true fragrance will be emitted.
Abundant living is living the life of God. It is living with the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Paul understood the greatness of this power that was at work in him and his prayers and writings to the churches and leaders reflect this.
To the Ephesian believers he wrote:
Eph 1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
To the church at Colossae he wrote:
Col 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
Col 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
To the church in Thessalonica he wrote:
1Th 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
To Timothy a young pastor he wrote:
2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
God supernatural power is at work within each of us and He wants us to learn how to operate in its power as part of the abundant life He has for us.
Holy Spirit fruit plus Holy Spirit power will make us witnesses and workers who will experience the abundant life God desires for each person. Let us never settle for anything less than what God desires and has made available to us.
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