Keys to Abundant Life in Christ

Finishing up our look into Abundant Life in Christ, (although one can never exhaust this subject), I thought about some of the keys that it takes to live an abundant life in Christ. Remember we aren't talking only about earthly abundance but about spiritual abundance. But when we live in spiritual abundance it always leads to having our needs met through Christ. Sometimes the Lord does bless us with earthly "things" but this is always to lead to a greater good in the lives of others- not to heap up "things" or wealth for ourselves.


In Matthew 14:15-21 is the story of Christ multiplying five loaves and two fish to feed thousands. Christ used this opportunity to teach His disciples and us a couple of very important lessons. The first lesson I see here and a key to abundant life is to be thankful for what we do have. Many times we spend our time thinking and complaining about all the things that we don't have and we give very little thought to all the things that we do have. At this event, Christ had the disciples go through the crowd and gather up all the food. There were only five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples were like us many times-- they only saw the obvious. It was too little to feed this large of a crowd. But Jesus took what they had gathered up, "and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude." (Verse 19) The entire multitude was fed, and the amazing fact here also is that they gathered up twelve baskets full of leftovers!

The second lesson in this scripture that I see is that we are not only to be thankful for what we have but also to USE what we have and God will multiply it! The word "remained" in verse 20 in the original means an abundance, overflow. That was what was left over! They had more left over than what they had at the beginning! When we truly are thankful for all that the Lord has given us and then use those things that He has given us, He takes what we do have and multiplies it. Luke 6: 38 tells us "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."  Running over! Beyond measure! Overflow!

I remember a time in our marriage where we hit a very low state financially. I began to keep a "Blessing Book". It was just a notebook in which I wrote every little thing that others did for us during that time. A meal here, some groceries there, some money, some clothes. Whatever anyone did for us I wrote it in this notebook. I still have it today and every so often I take it out and look at where God has brought us. And I see in that notebook, the blessings continued till I wasn't able to keep up with them. I was thankful for what God was doing for us instead of complaining about all the things that we lacked. Our rented house was having some bad issues, the cupboard doors had fallen off, there was mold growing in the basement from the water that seeped in when it rained. The tenants next door smoked cigarettes and the  smoke was coming through a hole above the lowered ceiling into our side of the house. Many other things were happening and we were not able to fix the problems. I kept thinking about all this and didn't want to have anyone come into our home. But then after the Lord dealt with me, I went ahead and began to invite people over again. I had a woman's Bible study, and we had people in at least once a week if not more. I did what I could to make our home acceptable and left the rest to God. I became thankful for the roof over our heads, even if it did have openings where the squirrels and birds came in. It wasn't long after that the Lord led us to a beautiful huge farm house in the country that didn't come with all those issues. For 2 years we rented that oasis that was situated on 90 acres with 4 ponds and beautiful foliage and wildlife. And then as we continued to be in His will He lead us to where we are now. I never thought we would be able to own our own home, but here we are. No, it isn't all I would like it to be. It's an older home and always in need of repairs. But as I continue to be thankful for and use what God has given us, He continues to bless us.

This leads to a third key to an abundant life in Christ. It is this: seek the kingdom of God first in all that we do. Matthew 6:33- "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  All what things?  Those mentioned in the previous verses: our clothing, our shelter, our food-- our basic needs will be met. Instead of worrying or complaining about the things we don't have, we need to be focused on seeking God and His righteousness. He will supply what we lack.

When we give to God FIRST- when we seek His righteousness FIRST, when put Him FIRST in our lives, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon blessings. (See Malachi 3:10).  I don't believe in the "prosperity message" when it comes to thinking that just because we are Christians we should have everything we want. Scripture does not back up that kind of thinking. But I am a firm believer in the fact that when we place our lives in the hands of the Master, when we give Him first place in EVERYTHING that has to do with our lives-- that He in turn blesses us without measure. And then in return we are to bless others. We can never out give the Lord, but we need to be sure that we are being thankful for what we have, using what we have for the Kingdom and giving God first place in all that do.

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Dear Lord, help me to be continually thankful for all your many blessings. And may I be careful to use what you have given me to bless others and to always seek You and Your kingdom first. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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