How to Experience Abundant Life in Christ
The more you fulfill your purpose in Christ the more you experience the fullness of God – What He is, Who He is, What He gives.
When God gives you a purpose He gives you the resources to fulfill that purpose.
The further out of the will of God you are, the less of God and His resources you experience – Less of His life, His love, His leading.
Think of Jonah in the bottom of a ship, tossed to and fro in a terrifying storm in the middle of the ocean – out of the will of God.
The worst horror of hell is existence without God – None of His person, His power nor His presence.
Even if you are a Born Again Christian with the Life of God in you, when you resist God’s will, you resist God and all He offers.
Does this mean you can lose your salvation? Absolutely not!
What it does mean, is that you can have Eternal Life and still NOT experience Abundant Life!
Eternal Life vs. Abundant Life
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
There is a difference between Eternal Life and Abundant Life.
To have Eternal Life one needs to become Born Again by receiving Jesus as Savior.
To experience Abundant Life one needs to actively fulfill God’s purpose for your life.
Experiencing Eternal Life comes from making the right decision once.
Experiencing Abundant Life comes from making right decisions daily.
The primary key to consistently making right decisions is found in Galatians 2:20.
The King James Version says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
The problem with this verse is that most Christians read it wrong and therefore understand it wrong, so, they derive no power from it to help them.
They read it as saying, “I live by the faith (in) the Son of God,” and most Bible Translations compound the error by using the incorrect (in) instead of the correct (of).
However, the KJV is correct in saying, “I live by the faith (of) the Son of God.”
Faith IN vs. Faith OF
Living by faith (in) the Son of God means “I” have to demonstrate faith in Christ for success, therefore, it’s up to ME!
Living by the faith (of) the Son of God means my success depends on the faithfulness of Christ to me, it’s up to HIM!
The International Standard Version says it accurately, “I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Success in this life depends primarily on Jesus’ faithfulness to me NOT on my faithfulness to Him!
Most preachers and teachers have it backwards. They put all the emphasis on YOU and your ability TO DO and not on what Jesus has ALREADY DONE!
Does this mean I don’t have to obey God and I can just relax with a don’t care attitude? Of course not!
What it does mean, is that my focus has to change if I want to experience the abundant life Jesus died to give me.
I have to see that Christ through His Holy Spirit in me will accomplish the work that needs to be done in fulfilling the purpose of God for my life.
I have to depend on His divine power in me to obey God and not on my own will power.
The Power of Divinity vs. The Power of Humanity
In Ezekiel 36:27, when God promised the New Covenant of Grace He said,”I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Did you see that? He said He will (cause) us to walk in His statutes.
The ability to obey God comes from God’s divinity not our humanity – God’s power not our will power.
Again, the International Standard Version nails it, “I’ll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees.” Ezekiel 36:27
It is God Himself who empowers us to obey Him.
Paul in the New Testament confirms this when he says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13
The ISV says, “For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:13
God is the One who gives us both the desire and the ability to obey Him… neither the desire nor the ability comes from us.
The very reason most Christians are failing to live a life of obedience to God is because they are trusting in their own ability to do it!
Jeremiah 17:5 describes God’s attitude toward trusting in self and human will power, thus, “I, the LORD, have put a curse on those who turn from me and trust in human strength.”
When you trust in your self and your own will power to obey God you are turning from God to self and therein lies your failure.
Your successful obedience to God does not depend on your own efforts but rather on relying on the person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth.
He, the Holy Spirit is specifically given to you to empower you to perform every task set before you in accomplishing the will of God.
What it boils down to is a matter of trust… how much do you trust God to take the reigns of your life and lead you into success?
As long as you continue to have the attitude that “it all depends on me, I have to do it” you will continue to experience the cycle of failure and defeat.
The moment you get the revelation that it’s NOT up to you but up to the JESUS IN YOU, you will begin to fulfill your purpose with excellence and experience the abundant life of God.
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