Abundantly part 3
One of the most important parts of living out of your abundance... is knowing what you have. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. If you think you haven't got anything, you sure can't share it. And you'll spend your Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to get it. Remember our key verse for this Rant series? John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Well, watch this: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). We seem to think the thief is the devil, or some such, but really the thief... is us. When we try to get something we've already got we rob ourselves from experiencing it. When we try to earn something that can't be earned--something that has already been given to us, and must be received--we rob ourselves. And each other. Because if you're trying to be someone you're not (in order to get something you think you haven't got) then you're not being YOU. God created you to be YOU. He created you the way you are. On purpose, for purpose, and by purpose. You are the way you are because you're supposed to be that way. You're in contact with the people you're in contact with for a reason. There are some people you can't reach. That's kind of what I was saying yesterday. So stay in your lane. Be YOU. But there are some people that ONLY you can reach. So if you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to earn the gift of God... believing the lie that says you have to do in order to be... then not only are you robbing yourself, but you're robbing those people in your life who need you to be you. The thief comes not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. There's a song I really like called, "Hardwired." And the tagline is that we, as humans, are hardwired to self destruct. Like, even when we have the best of intentions we often end up hurting more than helping. Because we're not living out of our abundance. We're not operating from a place of rest. We're trying to get, instead of giving what we've got. We're trying to get into the sheepfold some other way than the door. Jesus is the door. And in Revelation 3:20 we see this: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." So the door is standing at the door. Again, Jesus is the door. The heart is the door. Love is knocking on our hearts, practically begging us to guard our hearts--by keeping them open--and let love in. Love is what makes the abundant life abundant. Living a life of love is how we live life to the fullest. Not trying to get anything, but knowing that because we are loved... we have everything! And then giving what we've got. Sharing it. And in that way experiencing it. Enjoying the gift we've been given. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Knowing and believing the love of Christ, and then BEING that love to everybody we come into contact with. That's the kind of life that matters. That's the kind of life that's worth living. And it comes from Jesus giving His life for us, and to us. It comes from Jesus living His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection life in us, and through us, and as us!