What? = (The Life).

We all have different thoughts on what it means to live an abundant life. For some of you, it means buying that dream house you’ve always wanted. With a big kitchen, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, an office, and a beautiful view overlooking the ocean. As you sit back to watch the sun go down you say, “This is the life.” But for some of you, an abundant life means riding the white water rapids, as you go down the in your raft, you shout “Woo! This is the life!” Today, I want to talk about an abundant life that’s even more satisfying than a dream house, more fulfilling than a season spent on the white water rapids. I want to talk about the abundant life that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We will be looking at John chapter 10. Verses 1-6 portray Jesus as the shepherd of the sheep. Verses 7-9 portray Jesus as the gate for the sheep so that they can enter into the pastures of salvation. And verse ten portrays Jesus as the One who gives life to His sheep. But the first thing we notice in verse ten is the enemy of the sheep. Jesus says that “the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.” In Bible times, sheep pens were surrounded by big stone walls. But there was always the danger of a thief climbing over the wall to steal the sheep away from its shepherd. Jesus is saying that there’s a thief out there who wants to take you away from the Good Shepherd. There’s a devil out there who wants to keep you from experiencing the abundant life that only Jesus can give. In this information day we live in we see more into others lives than ever before. We see Hollywood stars and how they cope with daily life, and for the most part you see dissatisfaction, and emptiness. “They have it all!” you may say, the cars, money, land, which is true. However if you do not possess internal peace those blessings can become a curse. Why because the enemy of our souls will make certain that there are other things externally to fill the void, such as sex, drugs, & alcohol to name a few. All of which still leave you empty at the end of the day. But I’ve got good news. If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, there’s nothing the devil can do to tear you away from God. There’s nothing he can do to keep you from experiencing the abundant life that Jesus wants you to live. How do I know that? Because Jesus goes on to say in John 10:28 “I give my sheep eternal life, and they shall NEVER perish, NO ONE can snatch them out of my hand.” Some people say “the devil is scary, sneaky, & strong.” But the power of the devil is no match for the power of Jesus Christ. Nothing in all creation is able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! The devil wants to take life; But Jesus says “I am here to GIVE life!” He’s talking about SPIRITUAL life. Millions of people wake up in the morning. They go to work. They come home. Eat dinner. Watch TV. Go to bed, and that’s it. Ever! And Jesus is saying “I don’t want that to be it! There’s more to life than just taking up space on the earth! There’s more to life than just the rigors and the routines of daily existence. I came down here to give you a life that will last far longer than your years on the earth. I came down here to give you a life of fulfillment and satisfaction that comes from having a relationship with God! I came down here to give you a life of significance that comes from serving God in the way you were created to serve God! In John 11:25, Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me will live, even though He dies and whoever lives and believes in Me will NEVER die!” (spiritually) And 1 John 2:17 says that “the world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever!” Jesus came to earth to give us spiritual life. Then He goes on to describe it as an abundant life. He says “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it TO THE FULL!” He’s not just talking about the duration of the life. He’s talking about the RICHNESS of the life! He’s talking about the QUALITY of the life! New Testament scholar Leon Morris writes “Not only does Jesus give the best of things in the life to come; He gives the best of things in this life now! Yes, there are difficulties. Yes, there are problems. Yes, there are challenges. But the constant fellowship that we enjoy with the Father far outweighs the temporary trials of this life.” There are some beautiful pictures of this abundant life in the Word of God. We have a picture of the abundant life at the end of John’s Gospel. In chapter 21, the disciples go back to fishing in the Sea of Galilee. They fish all night, but they don’t catch anything. The next morning, Jesus is standing on the shore, but the disciples don’t recognize Him. (They were out pretty far) He says “Haven’t you caught anything?” “No! The fish just aren’t biting!” Jesus says “Try throwing your net on the right side of the boat.” So that’s what they do, and they end up catching so many fish that they can’t even bring the net into the boat! And right away, one of the disciples figures out what’s going on, and he says “It’s the Lord! JESUS is the One who provided us with this miraculous catch of fish! JESUS is the One who has made us successful!” Jesus is trying to tell us “This is a picture of the abundant life you can experience when you invite me into your heart! This is the kind of life you can have if you allow Him to be the Shepherd of your life. I have come so that you may have life, and that you may have it to the full or more abundantly. And over in Galatians 5:22, Paul is comparing the beauty of the Spirit-led life to the futility of the sinful nature-led life. He says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In other words, if you have Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, your life will become much greater. There are plenty of moral and good people out there, we all know some. But we are born separated from God and that is something we all must face. It is nothing that you have done, likewise there is noting that you could do about it. Not within yourself anyway. The bile says that if we confess our sin, our need for God. And admit that we know we are spiritually separated from him and desire to be reconnected to Him, by asking Him to forgive us and to become our Lord (teacher) and Savior. The Bible says that He is faithful and true and He will immediately come rushing into your life, into you heart and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The catch is that you have to believe with the faith of a child. As adults especially in our day and time, we have become hard hearted. We’ve seen multiple murders on television and movies, and just about every vile thing imaginable. We need to approach our spiritual journey as an innocent child willing to surrender our way of thinking to Gods’ way of thinking. Ask Jesus into your heart today. What have you got to lose? Nothing! What is there to gain? Peace! Joy! Abundance! Happiness! Everything! God Bless