“A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!” -John 10:10 tpt
“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.” -Ephesians 3:20 tpt
“I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.” -Philippians 3:12 tpt
In the U.S., today is Memorial Day—a day to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. I’m glad we have a day to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but I think we honor them best on an everyday basis is by not taking our costly freedom for granted.
Likewise, when I think of “the ultimate sacrifice” I can’t help but think of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. And when I think of what our eternal freedom cost Him…
I want to make sure I lay hold of everything it cost Him so dearly to purchase.
I love that the verses referenced above not only speak of the fullness—the abundance—that Jesus died to secure for us, but they also provide a bit of insight into doing just that. Really, they give us a glimpse into how meditating on the Word can turn into apprehending the Word.
The first verse is a declaration from Jesus Himself:
“A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!”
Jesus has established His purpose for us: Abundance! Fullness! Overflow! This isn’t wishful thinking or fantasy-land, these are the very words of the Son of God. He tells us how to recognize hell’s purpose (steal, kill, destroy) but then speaks of His purpose. If He has spoken it, I can believe it. If He has spoken it, I can be confident in it.
If He has spoken it, I can rest in it.
I can rest in it, but that doesn’t mean I always do. In Ephesians 3:20, Paul makes an exhortation:
“Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.”
On the journey of life, we all struggle with doubting God’s promises at one point or another. Sometimes, they just seem too good to be true. Sometimes, our outward circumstances don’t look anything like the abundance He has promised. Sometimes, if we’re honest, it looks like hell’s plan of destruction is having more influence than God’s plan of abundance.
Sometimes, it is a struggle to keep believing for what we need to survive, and abundance drops off the radar entirely.
But the good news in Paul’s words is that it is God who will do more than we can believe or imagine. It really doesn’t matter if there are times when we can’t seem to believe for all that much—because He will do MORE than we believe. It’s not about our faithfulness, it is about His. That’s where we need to take our thoughts captive to the truth and focus on Him and what He can do—and not what we can’t do. His power is still alive in us and can energize us to keep standing, even when we feel like we’re barely hanging on.
But once again, learning to actually rest in that truth, is a process for all of us. Apparently even for the Apostle Paul:
“I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.”
That’s where the rubber meets the road. In the “in-between” will we keep pressing on? Will we continue to run with passion into the abundance Jesus has called us to even when we haven’t yet seen the fullness He wants us to discover?
Through all of the ups and downs of Paul’s life, his one compelling focus was Jesus. He wanted to know Him every way He was knowable. He wanted to apprehend all that he had been apprehended for. Paul wrote Phiippians from a Roman prison. Yet even from that dark place, he was still running the race with passion into abundance.
Because he knew the One in whom he believed. And Truth had apprehended Paul’s heart to such a degree that he trusted Jesus’ character and words more than his own temporary circumstances.
I haven’t acquired the absolute fullness-—the abundance—I am pursuing either. Not by a long shot. But the more I learn to rest in the Truth, the more the power of His words transform and energize me. Despite what I do or do not see, my God is faithful. If He said abundance is mine, it is mine. And with that truth alive in me…
I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.
Here is the FB Live I did on this topic earlier this morning:
Cindy Powell 