The Abundant Life of Jesus
Part II - The Greatest Life
Introduction:
Well, if you were living on "Depression Avenue," have you
moved; have you moved to the "Abundant Acres of Jesus." John
10:10 invites all to come, the place is paid for, come on and see,
what the Lord can do.
A friend once lived in Atlanta doing intern work for a Church.
He had to pass a Church every day and it had one of thos Church
signs that usually contained a message. One day, he noticed, no
message, but a prayer request. It read, "Pray for Pastor Richard-
son." This went on for quite a while, until one day he had to laugh.
Because the permanent message on the sign read, "God is Good."
But, that day, the other message read, "Pastor Richardson is
Better."
What is the greatest life? If you could choose another life,
the greatest kind of life to live, what would it be? Would you
choose riches? Would you choose fame? Would you choose
adventure? Would you choose to be a great athlete? Well, Jesus
tops them all. HIS abundant life is greater IN EVERY CATEGO-
RY than anything else.
You ever watch those "infomercials?" I do. I’m fascinated
by them. If you watch close, you’ll notice that they are not really
selling money. They’re selling what MONEY CAN BUY.
We really don’t want more money! I mean, who wants stacks
of lousy pictures of dead presidents? And they’re green! Of course,
they’re green, they’re all DEAD! We don’t really want money, we
want what money CAN GET US. We really want feelings like:
Love, joy, peace, freedom, self-control and the like. And $50,000 a
month seems like a good way to get it, depending on who’se
program you believe.
Jesus said, in John 10:10, " . . . I have come (remember how
He came) that you might have LIFE, and this life MORE
ABUNDANTLY." This is the greatest life because it offers what
the world is really seeking.
Luke 5:1-11 and Gal. 5:22-23 describes this life in more
detail, and we don’t have to pay three easy monthly installments of
$125. We merely need to believe His promise and do what He said
to do.
I know, for me, I began getting these ends without those TV
means. I began getting my nets full, and my boat sinking from
Jesus Himself. Love, Jesus came to me with amazing love. There
I was, a rebel, stiff-necked, arms folded, and my back to Jesus (you
know, we are not poor little puppies, beaten down by life, abused
children of sin, we are REBELS). I remember a time when I was
all of this and more, I didn’t seek Him, He sought me. He came to
me, the rebel, and pulled me to Himself. I was not eager, but He
was persistent.
But, He didn’t just love me. It wasn’t, "Oh well, I guess I’ve
gotta love Gary Waguespack." He did it with JOY! With a smile
and a chuckle, gladness in His countenance, He drew me to Him-
self.
And, He shared a great PEACE with me. He took me to the
end of my life and showed me my security. My name was written
in His blood, in the Lamb’s Book of Life. I know, I’m going to
make it to the end. His blood cleanses A l l sin. And, boy, was
He patienct with me. And KIND? Why should He bless me so,
after my stubborn self-will. GENTLENESS, was always His man-
ner, I deserved a good swift kick, many times, but it wasn’t
harshness that greeted me, it was always gentleness. And, so on
through the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus fills our nets all by Himself.
But, he goes beyond this. His life, is MORE abundant. He
allows us to get blessed everywhere we go, by everyone we meet.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, add to the blessings. Family and
Friends also squeeze more good feelings in. And, indeed, our
lives are overwelmed, NOT BY THE WORLD, but by the Lord
and His Blessings!
Well, if we’re not living this, why not? There are reasons,
and they all flow out of Mat. 7:24. "He that heareth these words
of mine, and doeth them, is like a wise builder, who built his house
on a ROCK."
Wisdom is practical knowledge. It’s knowing how to make
life work. You know when you shake something to get it to work,
or your computer isn’t cooperating, so you turn it on, and turn it
off, turn it on, and turn it off, until it works. Well God designed
our lives to work in a certain way.
BY HEARING AND DOING, ALL THINGS ARE
POSSIBLE! You’ve probably heard, "Knowledge is Power."
But, that’s not quite true. Knowledge ALONE is not power,
it must also be accompanied by DOING. Did your mother or
someone ever say, "If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich."
Well, there’s a reason, because we never put action with our
"smarts." Jesus understood, it was hearing (knowledge) and
doing )action that makes life work the way it should
I seem to remember as story about Henry Ford. He had
a problem with one of his factories; it was a major shutdown and
all his experts couldn’t fix it. He called a friend, a genius in this
field, also a millionaire in his own right. He asked for help and
the guy came. He tinkered for about a half an hour and then pushed
a lever and: Wooosh! It worked. A week or so later, Henry Ford
got a bill and it was for TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS.
He was upset and called the guy and complaine. "10,000
dollars for a half hour of tinkering?! This is outrageous!" Henry
said. The man said he would send another bill. This one read,
"For 1/2 hour of tinkering, $5. For knowing where to tinker,
$9,995." Knowledge, APPLIED, is power. And the better the
knowledge, the more the power.
When it comes to the Abundant Life of Jesus, there are
5 (?) areas of hearing and doing that we need to understand to fully
release and begin to live the Greatest Life.
1. We need to hear, know and understand, that the Abundant Life
of Jesus is real and meant for everyone, that we all CAN DO John
10:10. There are 4 reasons why we can. See Sermon 1.
2. We need to hear, know and understand, who does what, when.
3. We need to hear, know and understand, what really motivates
us to do anything: Joy and Sorrow!
4. We need to hear, know and understand, how we work. The Lord
has given us gifts, powers that can change anything we want to
change: In the Creation it was "Having Dominion, but, sin
damaged this capacity, but didn’t completely destroy it, especially
for Redeemed persons, 2 Cor. 5:17, we are new creations!
5. We need to hear, know and understand, how to change things
we don’t like into things we do like, that we can take true control
of our lives.
6. We need to hear, know and understand, how to break up the
sabotaging patterns of fear, procrastination, rejection, confusion,
and depression.
The Bible is full of information, directions on how to be
happy, successful, prosperous, take control, etc. but we don’t do
what the Bible says, therefore we don’t get what the Bible offers.
The first reason we don’t is that many of us are confused over
1. Who does What, and When. Many of us are "waiting on the
Lord" to do things, the Lord is waiting on US TO DO! Another
way of saying the same thing is Nobody is going to life your life
for you.
Many of us seem to have the MISTAKEN idea that the Lord
is like a drug or alcohol. He kind of, overwelmes us with good
feelings so that we can’t help ourselves, but to do wonderful things
and feel a wonderful way.
In this state, we are not ourselves, but mystically blended with
Jesus. Then, this wears off and we struggle with sin, waiting on the
Lord for another "fix" so that we can be blended with Him, not our-
selves and do wonderful things.
That’s not the Bible. Jesus didn’t live anyone’s life FOR
THEM. Take Peter in Luke 5. Jesus gave directions, but Jesus
didn’t push the boat our, nor did he throw the net, nor did He
pull the nets in. Had Peter "waited on the Lord" the way many
of us do, he’d have caught NOTHING.
We’ve got a radically unbiblical notion of WAITING ON THE
LORD, from a MISREADING of Isaiah 40:31. "He that waits on
the Lord will renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings
like eagles . . . ." So, we wait, and the Lord waits, and nothing
happens.
That passage comes from the science of birds. Apparently, a
young eagle sometimes needed help to learn to fly high. I mean,
"Buddy" Eagle, would jump out of the nest and fly a bit, but he’d
fly low. It was just easier, higher air is less dense and more difficult
to maneuver, so "Buddy" eagle would simple do the easier thing.
But, mother wanted little, "Buddy" eagle to be an eagle which
means to fly HIGH! So, she would swoop down directly beneath
the little eagle, lifting him in a gliding pattern, then letting him go.
She would help him "rest," so that he’d be able to ascend with
her. Over and over she would do this, until he’d be flying high, like
he was created to do. This was a very active form of resting.
But, we wait, Peter could have sat and waited. "I’m waiting
on the Lord." He could have said, sounding wonderfully
"Spiritual." And, the Lord might have said, "But, I AM the Lord,
and I’m telling you to push the boat out, cast the nets." Peter
could have replied, "No, I don’t want to ’get in the way,’ of whatever
the Lord might be doing here, I’ll just wait, He’ll sovereignly move
the boat, make the fish jump in the boats, and everything, I’ll just
wait." "But, I am the Lord," Jesus might have replied. "Push the
boat out, cast the nets!!!" "You mean you want me to D O
something?!" Peter might have responded. "YES!" Jesus might
have said, to US!
Confusion over Who does what has stopped many Christians
before they get started, they never even get up to "bat," much less
get to first base.
"When" is the other part of this. When do we "do" what the
Lord is saying? Now! See, I must do it, I can do it, and I must
start NOW! The Lord provides the directions and the power and
we do the rest.
Let me illustrate my wife & I have a "Luke 6:38 testimony."
Some years ago we had a desparate financial situation. We prayed
and the Lord told us what to do (and it wasn’t "wait"). He told us
first to Increase our regular offerring. And second, for one month
do not spend any of our salary on food, to trust Him to provide and
spend the money on our bills. We did, and He did. We increased
our offerring an food started showing up from near and far and
without us telling anyone our need.
1. Who does What, When? We do, whatever God says, NOW!
