John 10:10b. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Boy oh boy! Two days of decent sunshine in a row! That must be a record! But I think it’s going to be a tad on the cold side. That’s okay though, I can handle the cold when the sun’s shining. It’s just the dark, damp, dreary weather that gets to me. But all thanks to Jesus, I can handle both types of weather, if I just put my mind to it.
And that’s the beauty of living for Jesus: He enables you to do anything that coincides with His will or plan for your life. That’s why we say, with full confidence: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!’ Phil. 4:13) Now just saying it doesn’t make it true. You have to sincerely believe it, and make it a customary practice, a habit in your life, so that after a while, it just blends in automatically. (smile)
Ah friends, knowing who we are in Christ, and knowing the benefits that spring forth from such a privileged position, is extremely important if we want to live the abundant life that Jesus promised, and died for us to have. And you ask, what does it mean to be in Christ?
Well, the simple answer is that when we are born again, when we receive Christ as our Lord and Saviour, He comes to dwell in us through His Holy Spirit, and we become a part of Him. We are made clean, renewed and acceptable to the Holy Father. But I found this article on the subject on the gotquestions.org website which I believe explains it better than I can. (smile)
So let’s see what it says. ‘In Christ, we are regenerated, renewed, and born again, and this new creation is spiritually minded, whereas the old nature is carnally minded. The new nature fellowships with God, obeys His will, and is devoted to His service. These are actions the old nature is incapable of doing or even desiring to do. The old nature is dead to the things of the Spirit and cannot revive itself. It is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) and can only be made alive by a supernatural awakening, which happens when we come to Christ and are indwelt by Him.
Christ gives us a completely new and holy nature and an incorruptible life. Our old life, previously dead to God because of sin, is buried, and we are raised “to walk in newness of life” with Him (Rom. 6:4). If we belong to Christ, we are united to Him and no longer slaves to sin (Rom. 6:5-6); we are made alive with Him (Eph. 2:5); we are conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29); we are free from condemnation and walking not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:1); and we are part of the body of Christ with other believers (Rom. 12:5).
The believer now possesses a new heart (Ezek. 11:19) and has been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:3). We might wonder why we so often do not live in the manner described, even though we have given our lives to Christ and are sure of our salvation. This is because our new natures are residing in our old fleshly bodies, and these two are at war with one another. The old nature is dead, but the new nature still has to battle the old “tent” in which it dwells. Evil and sin are still present, but the believer now sees them in a new perspective and they no longer control him as they once did.
In Christ, we can now choose to resist sin, whereas the old nature could not. Now we have the choice to either feed the new nature through the Word, prayer, and obedience, or to feed the flesh by neglecting those things. When we are in Christ, “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37) and can rejoice in our Savior, who makes all things possible (Phil. 4:13). In Christ we are LOVED, forgiven, and secure. In Christ we are adopted, justified, redeemed, reconciled, and chosen. In Christ we are victorious, filled with joy and peace, and granted true meaning in life. What a wonderful Savior is Christ!’
And isn’t all that the gospel truth my fellow saints! In Christ Jesus we have EVERYTHING we can ever need! In other words, the abundant life. Like he said. ‘The thief cometh not, but (except) for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10)
Yes friends, that was Christ’s stated purpose; to save us from eternal death and damnation, to give us a better quality of life both here and in the hereafter. So please, let’s not make His sacrifice a waste of time by not enjoying the life He died for us to have. Therefore, let’s turn sincerely to Him, cling tenaciously to him, and live victoriously for Him, for that is the wisdom of the ages!
And one of the things that come with such absolute devotion is prayer, both in good and bad times. So, in these rough times we are currently experiencing, let’s turn to our Saviour, our Creator for badly needed divine help, through our Friday Chant. As one strong, confident, but humble voice: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… what with all the anxiety, the confusion and havoc that the Covid-19 virus and our many other problems are causing. We can’t seem to fix it on our own Lord, that means we desperately need your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat both the virus and the unrest in our streets. So Lord, we sincerely ask you today to give the governments and those involved in the forefront of this serious and unexpected storm, the wise guidance to handle the situation properly, with the least amount of loss to life and property as possible. And please help those of us who must go out to work amidst all the confusion, to be responsible and to stay safe, and avoid any more serious setbacks.
And Lord, we fervently pray that You’ll use this situation to bring a lot of backsliders back to your fold, show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a whole new flock, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. Yes Lord, please use this pandemic and the unrest in the streets as a means of restoring faith in You, so that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Let’s remember though, that we don’t just pray for help, but we also keep the promises we made in our prayer. Much LOVE!
…only in Christ…can one discover many of the answers…to the mysteries of life…
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