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Are you living to give God glory and enjoying the life Jesus died to give you? This is an important question in that Jesus stated that,”… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (see John 10:10) Why would Jesus say this if it were not true? As always let’s look at the context of the scripture. In this dialogue with the crowd, Jesus was explaining his whole purpose for coming to earth. He spoke about how all the ones that came before him were robbers and thieves and that they didn’t have the best interest of the people at mind. He used the analogy of a shepherd and his sheep. A shepherd that loves his flock will risk his life to save just one little lamb. This is what Jesus did for us all, so why have we not accepted what he has done to give us life to the full? From my own personal experience I have a couple of reasons why this may be the case.

Misunderstanding His Love for the Word

For many years (and even to this day) I did not fully understand Jesus’ love for the Word. It is important to note that it started early in his life as a child. Luke 2:41-52 records details of this that you should review. Jesus while visiting Jerusalem with his parents during the Passover was left behind on the return journey to Nazareth because he was in the Temple learning and discussing the scriptures. Proverbs 22:6 tells parents to “train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it”. Although it is not a promise given by God, it is principle that if employed mostly works. Jesus is an example and there are many other “students” of the Word that have led full lives throughout history. I think the point I’m trying to establish is that studying the word of God allows us to know what he says about us. This is very important. Many believers today live lives beneath the standard God has ordained for them through his word. What do I mean? In order to realize the full authority of being a believer, we have to understand what the Bible says about the children of the Most High. It would be like if you were made an heir to billions of dollars from some oil tycoon through his last will and testament. You would have the right to that money no matter what anyone said about you. The document that gives you that authority is already in place and acknowledged as truth. But what if you didn’t know that you were in the will? You’d continue to live your life without knowledge of this fact until it was brought to your attention. This is how I used to act. I didn’t know that the Word of God was his last will and testament for me. I didn’t know well enough to claim the promises of God as truth and stand on them “under opposition”. My faith would always waiver and I would inevitably continue to fail and struggle in various areas of my life. But Jesus came and died that we might have LIFE, and have it to the FULL. Some translations substitute the word “full” for “abundantly”. Jesus died to give us over and above what we may ever need, ask or think (see Ephesians 3:20). But the only way we can realize this gift he has given is to accept his teachings. Accept the way he told us to treat and love mankind. Accept the way he told us to give unto others and to forgive others that have wronged us. Accept the way that he told us to love God with all our heart (the source of our spiritual and physical life), mind (the source of our understanding), soul (the source of our feelings and desires) and strength (the source of our ability).

(To be continued…)

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

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