A few days ago I received an e-mail from an old friend advertising a series of revival meetings he and his wife were conducting. One line really caught my attention: “Come join us and let’s enjoy the presence of the Lord together.” That sentence just jumped out at me!
Sadly, for many believers, a church service or a special meeting is the only time they are aware of the presence of the Lord. No, I’m not talking about the fact that God is everywhere. I am talking about those times when the presence of the Lord is so strong that virtually anyone who is born again is aware of the Lord’s Spirit in the church, room or wherever the group is meeting.
When I was seven or eight years old, my parents took me to one of Oral Roberts’ meetings in Vancouver, B.C. I don’t remember much about the service and cannot remember what Oral Roberts preached about, but nearly six decades later I still have a very clear memory of the presence of the Lord under that huge tent. I remember that when you walked into the tent, the atmosphere inside was different from what it was just outside the tent—it was rather like walking into a waterfall of God’s presence.
As I said above, it’s a tragedy that for many of us, the only times of awareness we have of the “presence of the Lord” are tied to a church service of some kind. It is not supposed to be like this. Let me explain.
In the Old Testament God’s presence on earth was contained in the tabernacle or, ultimately, in the temple in Jerusalem. With the tabernacle/temple, the Holy of Holies was the earthly dwelling place of God’s presence. It was separated from the rest of the building by a five-inch-thick curtain. Once a year the high priest went into the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice and make atonement for the sins of the people. No one else ever went into the place where the presence of God dwelt.
Yes, God was everywhere; in theological terms that is called omnipresence. But in Old Testament times the average person never experienced the intimacy of a personal relationship with Jehovah like we are privileged to in the New Testament era.
All this changed at the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The moment Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). The significance of the torn veil is that God was accepting the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf and the presence of the Lord would now be with His people.
So now where does God dwell? His Spirit dwells in us and Psalm 22:3 says, “God inhabits the praises of [His people].” This is why I talk frequently about the importance of praise and worship.
Let me try and paint this picture a little differently. I see praise and worship as being like a family reunion. All the family—brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces— everybody gathers together at reunion time and as a family we have a joyous and celebrative time. That’s like worship at church; it is special and I love it. But then there are those times when a child gets to sit with his/her father and it’s just the two of them; it is personal and intimate. Those times are very, very special! God has times like that reserved for each of us; we come to Him in praise and worship and in so doing we enthrone Him as our King and He makes Himself known to us.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8 NKJV). At the time of our salvation we draw near to God by confessing our sins and asking for forgiveness. It’s the same principle as we mature in our Christian experience. We must come to Him with a pure heart, and if it’s not, then we confess and He will forgive. When we worship, when we exalt Him, He is ready to manifest His kingdom’s power in a way that is appropriate to our situation. We are to come to Him, into His presence, with the confidence that we are welcome there. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).
In the first paragraph I mentioned that I had received an advertising e-mail from a friend that used the sentence that so struck me. Betty and Joey Hamby are longtime friends of our family. I have worked with them in church services, revival meetings and crusades since the early 1980’s. They are very gifted at leading worship and encouraging people to step into praise and worship. Betty and Joey Hamby…..faithful warriors! Join them whenever you can.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
COME OUT OF THE STRONGHOLD
When David escaped from King Saul’s attempt to kill him, one of the first places he fled to was the city of Gath, which was in enemy territory (1 Samuel 21:10-15). The Philistines recognized David as the man who had killed their hero Goliath, and this immediately put him at risk. When David heard what the people were saying about him, his concern turned to fear and in order to protect himself, he pretended to be insane. He behaved in a bizarre manner and let spit dribble down his beard. The Philistine leaders observed his insane behavior and wanted nothing to do with a madman, so they wouldn’t let him stay.
David ran again and this time he ended up in the cave of Adullam, also in Philistine territory. Somehow word spread that David was in hiding and some of his family came to be with him—but they were not the only ones who came. About 400 other people who were in distress, in debt, in all sorts of trouble, came to join David. This is how David became the leader of an army of malcontents: angry, bitter people running away from their problems, running from their hurt and sickness.
After a time, David and his ragtag army left the cave of Adullam and journeyed to the land of the Moabites where they dwelt in a stronghold. It was there that one of God’s prophets, Gad, came to David with a message from the Lord: “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5 NKJV).
This is a pretty straightforward message for David. “Stop running around and hiding in enemy territory and get back to the country you belong in.” David took the message to heart and he and his “army” left Moab and went into one of the remote areas of Judah.
What does this have to do with us in 2011? Actually, it is a very powerful word for every believer!
Sometimes life beats up on us; we get hammered and beaten down because of disappointments, discouragement, sickness and a thousand and one other reasons. At times like these it is very easy to retreat and “hide in a cave” and stop pressing on. Have you ever felt like that? I have—and I admit it. There are moments as I move through my present valley that I find myself thinking, “I just can’t go on, I am too tired and I’ve fought so long and so hard. I can’t keep doing this.”
The word stronghold means “a net, a trap, a snare.” When I give in to my feelings of discouragement, I am giving in to a snare, a trap, and as long as I stay there that’s exactly what happens to me…I’m trapped.
The prophet’s word to David was, “Go to the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5). The meaning of the word Judah is “praise.” And this is the word of the Lord to all of us today: “Don’t stay in the land of despair; get up and move into the land of praise.” It will take some effort on your part, as it has on mine, but you can do this!
As I am journeying through the valley of cancer, I choose to live in the land of praise and rejoicing instead of giving in to despair and self-pity. When I feel despair beginning to rise, I respond by beginning to worship and rejoice.
Every day (Mon-Fri) I go for a radiation treatment in the head/neck area. I lie on a table and they fasten a mask over my face to hold my head perfectly still while laser-like radiation beams do their work. During each treatment I try to do three things when I am under the mask: I pray, I recite Scripture, and I worship. I don’t particularly like the radiation times but I have come to love the intimacy with the Lord that has developed. Also, during my journey through this valley, sleep is often difficult and some nights I don’t sleep at all. But I have learned afresh to spend large portions of these times in worship and praise. One night I spent three or four hours in His presence just thanking Him and remembering all the good things I have seen and been a part of in over forty years in ministry. During these worship times I sense God’s presence in a very intimate way, for God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3).
The word of the Lord to David was, “Don’t stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” To get to Judah David had to “depart” and that meant he had a choice to make. To go or stay is the question David had to answer—and so do we. To depart means we are walking away from one thing toward something else.
In Isaiah 61:1-11 we have the prophetic promises of what will happen when the Messiah comes and salvation is proclaimed. A part of that promise in verse 3 says, “To give them…the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” and that is God’s word to you today!
David ran again and this time he ended up in the cave of Adullam, also in Philistine territory. Somehow word spread that David was in hiding and some of his family came to be with him—but they were not the only ones who came. About 400 other people who were in distress, in debt, in all sorts of trouble, came to join David. This is how David became the leader of an army of malcontents: angry, bitter people running away from their problems, running from their hurt and sickness.
After a time, David and his ragtag army left the cave of Adullam and journeyed to the land of the Moabites where they dwelt in a stronghold. It was there that one of God’s prophets, Gad, came to David with a message from the Lord: “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5 NKJV).
This is a pretty straightforward message for David. “Stop running around and hiding in enemy territory and get back to the country you belong in.” David took the message to heart and he and his “army” left Moab and went into one of the remote areas of Judah.
What does this have to do with us in 2011? Actually, it is a very powerful word for every believer!
Sometimes life beats up on us; we get hammered and beaten down because of disappointments, discouragement, sickness and a thousand and one other reasons. At times like these it is very easy to retreat and “hide in a cave” and stop pressing on. Have you ever felt like that? I have—and I admit it. There are moments as I move through my present valley that I find myself thinking, “I just can’t go on, I am too tired and I’ve fought so long and so hard. I can’t keep doing this.”
The word stronghold means “a net, a trap, a snare.” When I give in to my feelings of discouragement, I am giving in to a snare, a trap, and as long as I stay there that’s exactly what happens to me…I’m trapped.
The prophet’s word to David was, “Go to the land of Judah” (1 Samuel 22:5). The meaning of the word Judah is “praise.” And this is the word of the Lord to all of us today: “Don’t stay in the land of despair; get up and move into the land of praise.” It will take some effort on your part, as it has on mine, but you can do this!
As I am journeying through the valley of cancer, I choose to live in the land of praise and rejoicing instead of giving in to despair and self-pity. When I feel despair beginning to rise, I respond by beginning to worship and rejoice.
Every day (Mon-Fri) I go for a radiation treatment in the head/neck area. I lie on a table and they fasten a mask over my face to hold my head perfectly still while laser-like radiation beams do their work. During each treatment I try to do three things when I am under the mask: I pray, I recite Scripture, and I worship. I don’t particularly like the radiation times but I have come to love the intimacy with the Lord that has developed. Also, during my journey through this valley, sleep is often difficult and some nights I don’t sleep at all. But I have learned afresh to spend large portions of these times in worship and praise. One night I spent three or four hours in His presence just thanking Him and remembering all the good things I have seen and been a part of in over forty years in ministry. During these worship times I sense God’s presence in a very intimate way, for God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalm 22:3).
The word of the Lord to David was, “Don’t stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” To get to Judah David had to “depart” and that meant he had a choice to make. To go or stay is the question David had to answer—and so do we. To depart means we are walking away from one thing toward something else.
In Isaiah 61:1-11 we have the prophetic promises of what will happen when the Messiah comes and salvation is proclaimed. A part of that promise in verse 3 says, “To give them…the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” and that is God’s word to you today!
Friday, January 14, 2011
THE JOY OF THE LORD
One of the most frequently quoted and often misunderstood promises in the Bible is, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b).
The misunderstanding largely rests around two words: joy and strength. It’s not unusual to hear exhortations about the joy of the Lord bringing strength, as if to imply that muscular Christianity is a product of a happy Christian experience. That simply is not what Nehemiah was saying and it somewhat sidetracks a powerful truth.
First, let’s examine the context of what brought about this wonderful statement from Nehemiah. Persia had conquered Israel and destroyed Jerusalem. Nehemiah, a Jew, had risen to a very important position in the court of the Persian king and God had burdened his heart with the dire straits of the Jews in and around what was left of Jerusalem. Against great odds Nehemiah made an exploratory trip to Jerusalem and then, with the blessing of the Persian king, he returned to organize and lead the rebuilding of the city.
Nehemiah has to be counted among the great leaders of all time. Not only did he organize a ragtag bunch of Jews into a formidable construction crew but he also taught them to build and fight at the same time. Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild were continually hampered by enemy tribes from the area that attempted to intimidate and threaten the Jews. Nehemiah successfully navigated the enemies’ attempts to stop the rebuilding by keeping the builders building, and the walls of the city were rebuilt in an unbelievable fifty-two days (6:15).
Following the completion of the walls, an assembly was called and Ezra the priest brought a copy of the Book of the Law of Moses. Ezra stood and began to read it to the people, many of whom were hearing the Law read for the first time. Worship began to break out among the people along with times of weeping and sorrow as the people were confronted by their sin. It was a time of renewal and revival among the children of Israel. Nehemiah spoke to the great assembly and encouraged the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”
The people were exhausted from the intensity of the construction effort and the relentless pressure from their enemies, and now they were being confronted by their own failures and sin as the Law of Moses was read to them.
In this highly emotion-charged moment, Nehemiah stepped forward and said, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV).
I believe we have allowed the meaning of joy to be confused with happiness. Happiness is dictated by circumstances in our life. If things are going well then we are happy. If circumstances are creating pressure and pain, then we are not happy. Joy is a gift from God; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit that is not dictated to by the circumstances of life.
During these last several months I have gone through one of the most challenging valleys of my life. There have been moments of great weariness, emotion and questioning, but I can honestly say that the joy and peace of the Lord have never departed from me. This is a gift given to all His children and if we are not living in it, it is not His fault!
I believe this is the heart of what Nehemiah was saying to the people of Jerusalem. “Rejoice, worship, praise Him. Enjoy His blessings, share the goodness of God with others. Rejoice in Him, for He is our place of safety, He is our refuge.” The word strength means “place of safety, harbor, protection, refuge.”
The apostle Paul’s great book to the Philippian church contains at least twelve references to joy. Paul wrote that letter while he was imprisoned in horrible, vile circumstances. How could he write about joy while he was in a filthy, cold, dark, rat-infested hole in the ground the Romans called a prison? Because joy is not dependent on circumstances!
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
When we choose to rejoice in the Lord, we are lifting our attention off the circumstances of our life and placing it onto Him. As we rejoice and focus on Him, His peace envelopes our heart and it becomes a place of calm no matter what is going on around us, no matter what reports of evil are being delivered to us. Paul shows us that when we’re at peace, we have strength and, conversely, when we’re anxious and fearful, our strength is dissipated.
Fanny Crosby lost her sight when she was only six weeks old. She lived into her nineties, composing thousands of beloved hymns. One of my favorites is her hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” On her 92nd birthday she cheerfully said, "If in all the world you can find a happier person than I am, do bring him to me. I should like to shake his hand."
What enabled Fanny Crosby to experience such joy in the face of what many would term a "tragedy"? At an early age she chose to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4).
The misunderstanding largely rests around two words: joy and strength. It’s not unusual to hear exhortations about the joy of the Lord bringing strength, as if to imply that muscular Christianity is a product of a happy Christian experience. That simply is not what Nehemiah was saying and it somewhat sidetracks a powerful truth.
First, let’s examine the context of what brought about this wonderful statement from Nehemiah. Persia had conquered Israel and destroyed Jerusalem. Nehemiah, a Jew, had risen to a very important position in the court of the Persian king and God had burdened his heart with the dire straits of the Jews in and around what was left of Jerusalem. Against great odds Nehemiah made an exploratory trip to Jerusalem and then, with the blessing of the Persian king, he returned to organize and lead the rebuilding of the city.
Nehemiah has to be counted among the great leaders of all time. Not only did he organize a ragtag bunch of Jews into a formidable construction crew but he also taught them to build and fight at the same time. Nehemiah’s efforts to rebuild were continually hampered by enemy tribes from the area that attempted to intimidate and threaten the Jews. Nehemiah successfully navigated the enemies’ attempts to stop the rebuilding by keeping the builders building, and the walls of the city were rebuilt in an unbelievable fifty-two days (6:15).
Following the completion of the walls, an assembly was called and Ezra the priest brought a copy of the Book of the Law of Moses. Ezra stood and began to read it to the people, many of whom were hearing the Law read for the first time. Worship began to break out among the people along with times of weeping and sorrow as the people were confronted by their sin. It was a time of renewal and revival among the children of Israel. Nehemiah spoke to the great assembly and encouraged the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.”
The people were exhausted from the intensity of the construction effort and the relentless pressure from their enemies, and now they were being confronted by their own failures and sin as the Law of Moses was read to them.
In this highly emotion-charged moment, Nehemiah stepped forward and said, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV).
I believe we have allowed the meaning of joy to be confused with happiness. Happiness is dictated by circumstances in our life. If things are going well then we are happy. If circumstances are creating pressure and pain, then we are not happy. Joy is a gift from God; it is one of the fruits of the Spirit that is not dictated to by the circumstances of life.
During these last several months I have gone through one of the most challenging valleys of my life. There have been moments of great weariness, emotion and questioning, but I can honestly say that the joy and peace of the Lord have never departed from me. This is a gift given to all His children and if we are not living in it, it is not His fault!
I believe this is the heart of what Nehemiah was saying to the people of Jerusalem. “Rejoice, worship, praise Him. Enjoy His blessings, share the goodness of God with others. Rejoice in Him, for He is our place of safety, He is our refuge.” The word strength means “place of safety, harbor, protection, refuge.”
The apostle Paul’s great book to the Philippian church contains at least twelve references to joy. Paul wrote that letter while he was imprisoned in horrible, vile circumstances. How could he write about joy while he was in a filthy, cold, dark, rat-infested hole in the ground the Romans called a prison? Because joy is not dependent on circumstances!
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
When we choose to rejoice in the Lord, we are lifting our attention off the circumstances of our life and placing it onto Him. As we rejoice and focus on Him, His peace envelopes our heart and it becomes a place of calm no matter what is going on around us, no matter what reports of evil are being delivered to us. Paul shows us that when we’re at peace, we have strength and, conversely, when we’re anxious and fearful, our strength is dissipated.
Fanny Crosby lost her sight when she was only six weeks old. She lived into her nineties, composing thousands of beloved hymns. One of my favorites is her hymn, “Blessed Assurance.” On her 92nd birthday she cheerfully said, "If in all the world you can find a happier person than I am, do bring him to me. I should like to shake his hand."
What enabled Fanny Crosby to experience such joy in the face of what many would term a "tragedy"? At an early age she chose to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4).
Friday, January 7, 2011
THE ABUNDANT LIFE
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
The tenth chapter of John is about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. A shepherd is one who cares for and watches over his sheep to protect, feed and guide. In this chapter Jesus contrasts His purpose in life and ministry with that of the enemy. He calls the enemy a thief whose sole purpose is to rob, steal and destroy. In contrast, Jesus says that His purpose is that those who follow Him might have “life” and have it “more abundantly.”
The word “thief” means embezzler, pilferer; the picture that emerges is that our enemy operates in the shadows, in the dark. Those who embezzle do so very quietly, in secret. A few years ago I was doing an outreach program for a church and while I was there the pastor found out that his secretary had embezzled thousands of dollars from the church. She took a few hundred dollars at a time by taking advantage of the trust and confidence of the leadership and using a check request system to her personal advantage. The devil is an embezzler, a pilferer. His most devastating work in the life of a believer is not pornography or promiscuity (as bad as they are) but it is stealing away truth, stealing away our dreams and promises, stealing away the abundant life that God has given us. All of a sudden we realize that our dreams and promises are gone—a robbery has taken place and we weren’t paying attention.
A shepherd is one who tends, leads, guides, cherishes, feeds and protects his flock. The shepherd watches over the “life” of his sheep, all of it. I don’t know much about shepherding but I’ve attempted to understand Jesus’ frequent references to being a shepherd. I have done research in an attempt to get a simple grasp on the meaning of the passage in Psalm 23, for instance. One of the things I learned is that Holy Land shepherds often constructed hut-like buildings where they put the sheep at night for protection. Jesus refers to this in John 10:1 as the sheepfold. Once the sheep were inside and settled down, the shepherd closed the door and made his bed right inside, across the threshold. No intruder could get at the sheep without going through the shepherd.
In verse 10, Jesus says that He has come that we might have a real, genuine, full life. He then goes on to say about this life, “That they may have it more abundantly.” It has taken me a while to understand that the life Jesus was referring to was more about me than it was about the circumstances of my life. Our world is conditioned to perceive “abundant life” as being made up of things: possessions, money, position, even our physical appearance and health. The truth is that these are blessings but they are not life; they are the cosmetics rather than the substance of the “abundant life.” A person who has life and has learned to live it abundantly is a person who has learned to live the life God has given him or her to the fullest extent possible. Some of the most “abundant lifers” in Christ have very little in the way of possessions; others have tremendous physical struggles but they have learned to live life fully and completely in the Lord and they are happy and fulfilled people. I recently read Philip Yancey’s book, Where is God When it Hurts? I was very inspired and moved by his chapter on Joni Eareckson Tada. In spite of her extreme physical limitations, Joni lives out, very clearly, the abundant life Jesus was talking about.
Speaking to the Pharisees about a life bearing good or bad fruit, Jesus said, “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34 NKJV). The original words here for abundance and the word abundant in John 10:10 both come from the same Greek root word meaning “to be furnished so richly that the person has an overflow.” That’s the life Christ wants for us and has provided for us—and it is the one the enemy wants to steal. The abundant life’s dwelling place is in the heart and that is what we are to guard and nurture; everything else, like money, possessions and position, are just peripheral and cosmetic.
I choose to live the abundant life in Christ. I don’t have a lot of things but I have a full and peaceful heart centered in Christ. Also, my life is filled with family and friends I dearly love, so what more could I ask? My life truly is full and abundant!
The tenth chapter of John is about Jesus, the Good Shepherd. A shepherd is one who cares for and watches over his sheep to protect, feed and guide. In this chapter Jesus contrasts His purpose in life and ministry with that of the enemy. He calls the enemy a thief whose sole purpose is to rob, steal and destroy. In contrast, Jesus says that His purpose is that those who follow Him might have “life” and have it “more abundantly.”
The word “thief” means embezzler, pilferer; the picture that emerges is that our enemy operates in the shadows, in the dark. Those who embezzle do so very quietly, in secret. A few years ago I was doing an outreach program for a church and while I was there the pastor found out that his secretary had embezzled thousands of dollars from the church. She took a few hundred dollars at a time by taking advantage of the trust and confidence of the leadership and using a check request system to her personal advantage. The devil is an embezzler, a pilferer. His most devastating work in the life of a believer is not pornography or promiscuity (as bad as they are) but it is stealing away truth, stealing away our dreams and promises, stealing away the abundant life that God has given us. All of a sudden we realize that our dreams and promises are gone—a robbery has taken place and we weren’t paying attention.
A shepherd is one who tends, leads, guides, cherishes, feeds and protects his flock. The shepherd watches over the “life” of his sheep, all of it. I don’t know much about shepherding but I’ve attempted to understand Jesus’ frequent references to being a shepherd. I have done research in an attempt to get a simple grasp on the meaning of the passage in Psalm 23, for instance. One of the things I learned is that Holy Land shepherds often constructed hut-like buildings where they put the sheep at night for protection. Jesus refers to this in John 10:1 as the sheepfold. Once the sheep were inside and settled down, the shepherd closed the door and made his bed right inside, across the threshold. No intruder could get at the sheep without going through the shepherd.
In verse 10, Jesus says that He has come that we might have a real, genuine, full life. He then goes on to say about this life, “That they may have it more abundantly.” It has taken me a while to understand that the life Jesus was referring to was more about me than it was about the circumstances of my life. Our world is conditioned to perceive “abundant life” as being made up of things: possessions, money, position, even our physical appearance and health. The truth is that these are blessings but they are not life; they are the cosmetics rather than the substance of the “abundant life.” A person who has life and has learned to live it abundantly is a person who has learned to live the life God has given him or her to the fullest extent possible. Some of the most “abundant lifers” in Christ have very little in the way of possessions; others have tremendous physical struggles but they have learned to live life fully and completely in the Lord and they are happy and fulfilled people. I recently read Philip Yancey’s book, Where is God When it Hurts? I was very inspired and moved by his chapter on Joni Eareckson Tada. In spite of her extreme physical limitations, Joni lives out, very clearly, the abundant life Jesus was talking about.
Speaking to the Pharisees about a life bearing good or bad fruit, Jesus said, “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34 NKJV). The original words here for abundance and the word abundant in John 10:10 both come from the same Greek root word meaning “to be furnished so richly that the person has an overflow.” That’s the life Christ wants for us and has provided for us—and it is the one the enemy wants to steal. The abundant life’s dwelling place is in the heart and that is what we are to guard and nurture; everything else, like money, possessions and position, are just peripheral and cosmetic.
I choose to live the abundant life in Christ. I don’t have a lot of things but I have a full and peaceful heart centered in Christ. Also, my life is filled with family and friends I dearly love, so what more could I ask? My life truly is full and abundant!
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