Abundant Life

He has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:9-10 NIV)

When we think about living a holy life, often times we can think about the list of things we are not allowed to do.  Living holy as He is holy seems impossible.  It also may seem negative, like we are trying to be “holier than thou” and look down our noses at others.  But these thoughts simply aren’t true.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21 NIV)

Holiness and righteousness are God’s way of giving us life.  God wants us to have life.  God wants us to enjoy life.  God wants to give us all good gifts throughout our life.  God’s gifts may not make us uber wealthy, but they will bring us satisfaction, fulfillment, peace, joy, and love.  God’s desire for our lives is much better than any alternative we may think about.  God wants to give us life…abundantly.

The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly! (John 10:10 TLV)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12 NIV)

How about you?  Are you experiencing the fruit of God’s Spirit and the gifts of God’s grace?  Are you living life abundantly?  Take hold of life.

Sober-Minded

Walking with God requires an awareness of our environment. We need to know what is going on around us.  We need to know where God is, so we can stay with God.  When it comes to staying close or moving away, we are the ones who change the distance between us and God.  So, we are aware of the real enemy who tries to tempt us away, we take every thought captive and we make it obedient to Christ.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:33-36 NIV)

Notice what Luke ties to carousing and drunkenness: the anxieties of life.  That’s because much of the time drunkenenss, and getting high, are ways of dealing with life.  We get drunk to help the stress of life.  We take a hit to forget the problems of life.  We pass out to escape life.  The problem with these approaches is that it never works.  Alcohol and drugs do not help us face life.  They don’t even help us escape life.  Only God can help us live life.  In order to walk together with God, we need to remain sober-minded.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:17-20 NIV)

How about you?  Are you filled with the Spirit or filled with something else?  Are you sober-minded?

Good Steward

I don’t know about you, but when I get up in the morning I like to have something to go do.  I like having someplace to be.  I like having people to see.  That sense of purpose comes from a desire to work and that desire is put inside of us by God.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15 NIV)

I hear people complain about their work situations all the time.  Sometimes they complain about their job, their boss, or their hours.  Sometimes they complain about not having a job, but wanting one.  Sometimes they complain about not having the stuff that they want, but they don’t look for a job.  Sometimes, they just complain…

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:7-10 NIV)

Work, however, was not something to complain about.  In fact, work existed before Adam ate the forbidden fruit and had work made more difficult for him (and his descendents).  Work is supposed to give us a sense of fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and a reason to get up in the morning.  Before Adam sinned, God still gave Adam work.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV)

The enemy not only works to get us to hate work.  He also works to get us idolize work.  We work long hours.  We work for the next promotion.  We work for more money, more stuff, and, well, just more.  When we do, we forget the fact that we do not really own any of that stuff.  It still belongs to God.  Not only that, we can’t take it with us.  The only thing that we can take with us is our relationship with God.

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. (Ephesians 4:28 NIV)

That’s why every economic system sanctioned by God in the Bible includes some level of caring for those in need.  All of us are supposed to work, but bad things happen to people to stop that.  When they do, the ones who are working have an additional purpose: help those in need.  Good stewardship simply means God-management.  We manage God’s resources for God’s purposes while we are here.

How about you?  Do you like to work?  Do you like it too much?  Do you see it as a part of your walk together with God?  Are you a good steward?

Life Builder

Ok, so you’re convinced.  God has been reaching out to us from before the beginning of creation.  Everything God has done points us to Him and His perfect design for our lives.  When we stray from that picture and rebel against God, He provides a way home to the Father through the Son and then He gives us the Holy Spirit.  We come home to God.  Now what?

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:36-38 [NIV]).

God wants us to get to know Him.  God wants a relationship with us.  God wants to walk with us.  This is our God.  It shouldn’t surprise us, then, when we hear Jesus talking about God’s commandments in the law.  God wanted this relationship from the very beginning.  He forgives us for the times we did not want it and gives us what we need to walk with Him again.

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:10-11 [NIV])

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:3 [NIV])

Living a life of godliness is not about stopping the bad things in our lives and doing good.  It’s about building a relationship with God.  Its about drawing near to God.  It’s about walking through life with God.  When we do, it results in God’s design for our lives.  It results in life.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:63 [NIV])

How about you?  Do you walk by the Spirit of God?  Does it give you life?

What God Wants

I’ve met a lot of people throughout my life who want to please, follow, or in other ways give glory to God.  The problem for all of us who fall in this category is simply this: What does that look like?  What does God want?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in a church context where I was encouraged to learn the right doctrines, creeds, and ways of participating in church services.  I was never really encouraged to read the Bible, investigate on my own, or learn what Scripture said.  When I started reading and learning, I found out that God has a picture for my life.  God put everything together in such a way that I could learn God’s design from all of creation as well as the Scriptures.

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NIV)

When I started attending a church where the Bible was taught, I learned something new about God as well.  God wants a relationship with me.  Not only does God want a relationship with me, He wants a relationship with you as well.  God is not impersonal or far off.  In fact, God has always been reaching out to you and me.  This was a part of God’s plan from before the beginning of creation.  Luke said it this way:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:24-27 NIV)

What does God want?  He wants to walk with me.  He wants to talk with me.  He wants to let me get to know Him, myself, and the world He created for me.  He wants this for you, too.  God has always wanted us to seek Him, reach out for Him, and find Him, even though He was there all along.

How about you?  Do you want to walk with God?