The

Abundant

Life

  

offered by

 Utmost Ministries

  

Written by

Michael Aprile

 

  

If you desire a printed copy of this booklet, Please write for

The Abundant Life Booklet
101 E. Laurel Lane
Big Sandy, TX  75755

Please include shipping and handling of $2.00 to “Utmost Enterprises.”
(If you feel led, please also include a donation.)
On-line orders can be made at: http://www.utmost-way.com/webmall/abundantadpag.htm

Please do not copy for distribution without our permission.

 

Introduction to The Abundant Life

The abundant life was more to Jesus than a catch phrase.  It was His purpose.  It was His direct opposition to what Satan long had done on earth.  Idolatry and devotion to things abominable to His Father in Heaven were swallowing up the saints.  Jesus expressed His imperative as the provision of abundant life for those who would enter into it.

If it was so important to Jesus, then it should be important to the Christian.  We cannot be providers of abundant life, nor can we even usher it in.  That is the job of the Holy Spirit.  However, we can make people aware that they do not have to be captive of the devil in this everyday world.  Christians are meant to live this life abundantly through Christ Jesus, while preparing for the kingdom to come.

Hopefully this book will bring to light some point about the abundant life that is ever in a shadow of Satan’s wiles.  If it strikes you in a joyful manner, please share it with others who seem to be missing out on the joy to which they are heirs.  Since “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, all that the Lord has in store” on the abundant life, the writer will continue to add to the pages of this book, and republish it, as the Lord is gracious to provide.

 

Have Life More Abundantly

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” ~ John 10:10

This verse speaks contextually of eternal life – that life, which only God can provide, and one that we may receive only through Jesus Christ [1].  But here we propose to include the eternal as part of this present life for those who love God and strive to follow Christ each day.  This is the same context in which Christ spoke saying, “The kingdom is upon you,” when, in point of fact, the kingdom was speaking about the millennium kingdom in the future.  He conveyed that it was possible to enter early on into the kingdom by living as if the kingdom was already here.  In the same way, eternal life, and therefore abundant life, begins as soon as you enter your life into the realm of the eternal – living by its principles.  You might even specify, “When does eternity begin?”  Eternity begins, at the moment that you make Jesus Christ lord and master of your life – and so does abundant life.

  

Abundance Through Obedience

 “Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers.” ~ Deuternomy 30:9

The abundant life is found in obedience to God and His commandments[2].  It finds rewards beyond what we can beforehand imagine, both in this life and the next.  The list of blessings includes, but is not limited to, abundant fruit from our labor.  How often do we not feel rewarded for our labor?  This will not be the case, when we live the abundant life.  The sense of real fulfillment follows the work designed for us in this life that we do for the Lord, opposed seeking and finding our own fulfillment[3].

Even more wonderful, in the abundant life, is the reward of children.  These offspring are a blessing from the Lord[4].  Children are often seen as a burden to families in modern societies, however, God sees them in a much different light -- as He does so many things.  A person living the abundant life has God’s vision of spiritual warfare.  They see it as a continual battle of good against evil.  God considers a man’s children to be like arrows in his quiver[5].  Just imagine a man going out to meet his many enemies, with only 2.3 arrows in his quiver.  The more arrows the better.  The man does not consider many arrows a burden to carry.  On the contrary, they are well worth their weight – in wartime for fighting the enemy and in peacetime for hunting.

In the Garden in Eden, one of the burdensome results of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God was that Adam (and mankind) would have to toil in the soil to produce food for existence.  In God’s Garden, the soil was full of life and all that grew there was plentiful and abundant with almost no effort.  But, outside the Garden, in this world, Adam had to work literally by the sweat of his brow to produce very little fruit.  The abundant life comes with abundance for those who are willingly obedient and who remain in love with Him[6].

 

Abundant Redemption

 “O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is loving kindness, And with Him is abundant redemption.” ~ Psalm 130:7

One very strong and delightful aspect we can see from the Scriptures, that God adds to abundant life, is that aspect of hope[7] or redemption.  In addressing Israel, God uses David to deliver the message that living the abundant life for them means “abundant” redemption.  One might argue that redemption is plenty, without having to be abundant.  But this means more than trusting God, or Christ, for salvation.  Abundant redemption is more at receiving a continuous protector[8].  It translates “relying on the Lord.”  But, it means more than that.  It actually intimates that a person’s whole being and freedom relies on the Lord[9].  It is as one who is watching for the Lord with every part of their being.  This is not a casual, but rather a very strong, relationship[10]. 

  

Abundant Provision

 "This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy with bread. Her priests also I will clothe with salvation, and her godly ones will sing aloud for joy.” ~ Psalm 132:14-16

The reward from God, when pleased to the point of being able to take His rightful place on high, due to a priesthood that does proper homage to Him and to a people who keep His commandments, is complete provision.  He is willing to provide sustenance and bring such joy to the hearts of those faithful that they have need for, and almost cannot refrain from, singing aloud.   This is a very spontaneous reaction that is added to the hearts of those who live the abundant life.

God loves the majesty of the mountaintop[11], where Noah, Abraham, and others built altars for Him[12].  His people love the peace of the valleys, where they can grow their crops[13] and receive rain.  This is a perfect existence and relationship, when all is right between mankind and God.  In this right relationship, where God is given His due, He is more than pleased to provide all that His people need – in abundance[14].

 

Abundant Pardon

 “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD,” ~ Isaiah 55:6-8

One of the greatest attributes of God is His compassion, which makes Him willing to allow people, who have been both wicked in their actions toward Him and wrong in their thinking about Him, to return to Him.  He really is a God who loves His creation dearly.  The best part is that when He forgives us, He does it without question.  Perhaps this is seated in His desire to see us return.  A good read through Chapters 1 to 9, in the Book of Genesis, reveals that all God wanted is for people to realize they were wrong, ask forgiveness, and return to fellowship with Him.  But, to the wiles of Satan, very few would do that.  Those few that did enjoy an abundance that far exceeded all the world had to offer.  This abundant life brought them a covenant relationship[15], long life, translation from the world – without dying, an abundance of offspring, protection[16], an answer to their cries[17], and many other great blessings.

  

Abundant Grace

 “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.  And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.  For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales” ~ Acts 4:32-34

To the apostles of Christ, living an abundant life meant clearly that everyone who shared the faith also shared all their material goods[18].  With God as sole provider and protector, there was no need for the things that material goods brought to life for the unsaved.  Trust in material goods and wealth was next to faith in a false god or idolatry.  The accent of the apostles’ lives was witness to the gospel, the kingdom, and the abundant life.  The abundant life was established on the foundation that selling all your possessions and giving the money to the poor precluded a perfect existence[19].  The result of this was a treasure of goods more precious than could be imagined on earth, added to the abundant life possible by being permitted to follow Jesus.

It was clear that in preparation, during this life, for entrance into the kingdom, it was extremely difficult to be released to enjoy the bounty of the kingdom of heaven while one was clinging to the material wealth and dependencies of the flesh[20].   It was as though the Holy Spirit was pulling us through a hole leading to the kingdom, but the things we held on to would not fit through.  It becomes obvious that the only way to fit through the hole is to let go of those things hindering our passage.  Jesus used the “camel through the eye of the needle” analogy, but it would be just as clear today to think about a young child trying to pull cookies from a small-mouthed jar.  Unless he lets go of the cookies, he will never be able to enjoy them.  However, once he lets go of them, he will be able to poor out an abundant blessing without effort.

 

Abundant Honor

 “On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,” ~ 1 Corinthians 12:22-24

In this society today, we tend to have an Olympic perspective about the worth of people in this life.  It begins with choosing members of our baseball team.  The fittest are always the first chosen for the team.  Yet, history has continued to confound our thinking.  True stories abound of lesser, seemingly insignificant individuals to become heroes, either sung or unsung, in their lifetime.  The fact is, true success and personal worth does not depend on how you were created and is almost always the opposite of a worldly perspective or merit.

When we are made to think of lesser individuals as heroes, we experience a profound peek into the abundant life that God has for “those who have eyes.”  People who live the abundant life throw no one away, based on worldly measures and weights.  As a matter of fact, not even one person is compared to another from the perspective of those who have abundant life[21].  All are compared to Christ and none measure up except for those who are part of Him through the grace of God.

 

Abundant Comfort

 “Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.” ~ 2 Corinthians 1:4-6

Irony is no stranger to those living the abundant life.  The abundant life requires a sharing of life with Christ that one may live a life in Him.  Christ is more than just a model for the Christian who has abundant life.  There is a need to share in, or to drink the cup of[22], Christ’s suffering throughout this worldly existence.  Therefore, in order to share in the abundant life, you must at least be willing to share in the suffering of Christ.  The suffering of Christ was great[23], and the abundant lifer is expected to share in it, but God will not give more to a person than that person can bear.

The purpose of sharing in the suffering of Christ is first to grow in appreciation of the immensity of what He did for us.  Second, but just as important, the abundant life is available for those who are willing to be broken for that lifetime.  An analogy can be made to a wild horse, full of itself.  In order to be useful, in this life, the horse must be broken.  This has to be done, bearing a certain amount of displeasure on the horse, but nothing that cannot be withstood, until the horse has a will to serve.  Because of its size and strength, no horse can be made to do what it does not will to do.  Therefore its will must be refashioned to the desires of its master. 

Though we do not like to think of it in this manner, it is the same with us.  In order for us to be useful for the Lord, while on this earth and thereafter, we must be humbled.  This makes us useful[24].  But, what is better, God rewards[25] us with an abundant life – useful to Him.  Even greater in the sight of the Lord is someone who chooses, of his own will, to carry a cross or to humble himself[26].  This is what Christ did.

 

Abundantly Beyond All We Ask or Think

 “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” ~ Ephesians 3:19-21

Interestingly enough, God’s power is love that operates within the Christian as super glue that protects them from being separated from Him[27].  The Romans threatened Christianity with the jaws of ferocious lions, the agony of crucifixions, and horrendous tortures to convince them that the abundant life was no life at all.  This not only did not have its intended effect, but it made Christianity stronger.  One could almost surmise that, if these challenges did not occur, then Christianity would have disappeared or faded, for a period, in the minds of the people.

The abundant life treads on the paths of the righteous that have gone before.  We are continuously looking at these lives and seeing more importance in the life lived for Christ here on earth.  We see how God has given us His Spirit that empowers us to feats beyond our imagination.  All to His will and glory are those things we accomplish for His kingdom through the release of His Spirit in us.  We learn not to fear, but to depend wholly on Him in prayer.  We make daily requests boldly before His thrown, and without understanding how, He answers them and we are under His protection all the while[28].  Now where else are we able to find more fulfillment, in this life on earth than when we are living abundantly in His will in this way[29].  We find the very mystery of Jesus Christ revealed in this life, as did the patriarchs[30].

The abundant life comes with every kind of grace and capability that the Lord offers[31].  This is a fortification that is impenetrable from the beginning and for eternity.  Those living the abundant life are willing to use this gift to do damage to the enemy at every turn.  People using this grace are the servants of God used mightily for His purpose[32].  These saints have come to expect and realize that the only reason they exist is for God.  They know the reason everything exists is for God.  Thereby they have abandoned their own will and life to His will and purpose.   These people experience the true abundant life through God’s grace.  They really miss out on nothing really important and glorious about this life.

  

More Than Abundant Grace

 “Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love, which are found in Christ Jesus.  It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” ~ 1 Timothy 1:13-15

The abundant life is an existence wherein a person living therein bountifully appreciates just exactly what Christ has done for him[33].  This person lives in a reality that keenly understands the degrees to which his former and somewhat present actions are sinful transgressions against God[34].  The pain this brings to the person living the abundant life is balanced by the joy that this person draws from knowing that Christ suffered and died for his sins and was the proverbial sacrifice that God requires for eternal life in heaven[35].  The person living the abundant life continuously dedicates his days on earth toward exercising gratefulness out of the overflow of the heart for what has been done for him by Christ Jesus[36].  The person living the abundant life realizes that he does not deserve anything short of death, but has received forgiveness through nothing he has done (or could do) but only by the grace of God[37].

  

Abundant Passage

 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. Therefore,I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.” ~ 2 Peter 1:10-12

Entering into the abundant life includes careful listening to the call of God upon ones life, knowing that He has a purpose more spiritual than the temple in which we temporarily reside[38].  A careful concern for and carrying out of this purpose establishes for us a foothold that cannot be shaken upon the path until we finally arrive in Him[39].  What is given an individual, beyond salvation, is given as the matter of obedience to God’s call[40].  He continuously tests us in this and then draws us nearer.  He never changes His mind about the call He has upon us, but waits ever so patiently for us to hear the call and come[41].  The closer we get to Him, the more light there is[42].  It is more difficult for us to not see what is there, in darkness, to trip us up or make us stumble[43].  The sufficient grace of God accompanies the abundant life[44].