AbuNdAnt LifE

What is ABUNDANT LIFE? Abundant life is a life in all its fullness. It is living the life of the son of God. Only God can offer us this life.Jesus Christ came to give it to us. Jesus said:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal and kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10

Let us look closely at this bible verse. Jesus Christ, our Lord is telling us that there is a thieft. Who is this thieft? SATAN. Why he has come? He has come to steal, kill and destroy. He tries to steal from us our joy, peace, relationship, finances and even our very lives. He tries to kill us through sickness, disease, famine, acts of terrorism and wars. He also seeks to destroy out health, our marriages and our families. He is real menace.

Look at what Satan did to Job. As soon as he obtained permission from God, he wiped out everything Job had, including his children. Notice that he could not actually touch Job untill God Himself removed His hedge of protection around Job (Job 1:10 , 12; 2:6). However, once Satan had the green light from God and the opportunity, he lashed out with ruthless delight. He was so cruel, so terrible, wicked and evil that he hastened to ruin Job all in one day. He was merciless. Satan is opposite to God's nature. God is Love; Satan is Hatred. God brings life;Satan causes death. He is opposite of everything that God is.

What does the word of God say actually happened to Job?

And there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house;And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, the oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
And the Sabean fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servent with the edge of the sword; and only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another; and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another; and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have the edge of the sword; and I only an escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house; And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. (Job 1: 13-19)

What devastation!!! In one day, Job lost everything. Raiders stole his oxen and donkeys, and killes his servants. Only one escaped to bring him the bad news. Before the man could complete his report, a second servant came with news that was more terrible. Fire had fallen from heaven and consumed all of Job's sheep and other servants.
Right away, another one staggered in to inform him that three bands of Chaldeans had seized the camels and killed more servants. While this third servant was still speaking, yet another rushed in to tell him that a mighty wind had swept in from the desert, causing the house to collapse and rush all his sons and daughters.

Tell me, who can bear such news??? What tragedy. The dreadfull news came so furiously one after another, Job barely had time to breathe. What was the cause of all this? None of the servants who brought the news knew what had happened in Satan's conversation with God. They did not blame Satan. Instead they blame the Sabeans, the fire from heaven, the Chaldeans and the strong wind from the desert. They even blamed God, claiming that He sent the fire from heaven to burn the sheep and the servants.

Who was the real culprit? Was it in actual fact the Sabeans? The Chaldeans? The fire from God? The wind? The real culprit was Satan. He was the one who orchestrated all these evil plans againts Job. Why did he do it? Because he is a thief who comes only to steal, kill and to destroy. That was and is his purpose.

Because he is a spirit, Satan is an unseen enemy. He is a deceiver, he is the liar and does not want people to know that he is the culprit all behind this trouble. He works undecover. Satan gets away with many of the things that he does and others get the blame.

As it was in Job's time, so it is even untill today. Satan is still doing what he has always been doing. We see broken families, and people dying of sickness and disease even though Jesus has already come 2000 years ago. Instead of believing what Jesus so plainly told us about there being a thief who works deceitfully to aviod detection, people still tend to look for "natural causes". For example, when the spirit of death and hell strikes a person, people may call it canser or some other terminal disease.

Why did Jesus come? To give us life and life abundantly. To God, all sickness and disease are curable. He never said He could not heal. The only reason why Jesus could not do any great miracle was unbelief.

And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching. (mark 6:5-6)
And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. ( Matt 13:58)

Now you may be wondering why God allowed such terrible things to happen to Job. He was a good man and did had lived with the blessing of God upon him and his family. God was very proud of Job. This was his testimony of Job :

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him,and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But out forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. ( Job 1:8-11)

God was so pleased and so proud of Job that He actually boasted about Job to Satan. God said there was none like Job on the earth. What a compliment to Job. It was not when men said of him but it was what the Almighty God said. Job was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil. Satan, however, tried to put Job down, insinuating that Job feared God only because God protected and prospered him.

How did God bless Job?
1. God made a hedge of protection around him.
2. God made a hedge of protection around his household.
3. God made a hedge of protection around all that he had on every side.
4. God blessed the work of his hands, and
5. God increased his possessions.

I believe that God had confidence in Job and wanted Satan to know that Job loved and feared Him because He is God, not because of all the benefits he receive. I believe that God who is all-knowing and all-powerful had foreseen that Job could overcome all the trials and temptations hurled at him by Satan. As such, God removed His hedge of protection and gave Satan permission to touch Job. How did Job react when Satan dealt him blow after blow in quick succession?

Then Job arose, and rent mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, "Naked came i out of my mother's womb, and naked shall i return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:20-21)

Even when Satan struck Job with painful boils all over his body, even when Job's wife pushed him to curse God and die, Job did not sin against God (Job 2:1-10). Job knew his God and continued to speak rightly about Him ( Job 42:7). Thus, God gave back to Job what he had lost. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ( Job 42:10)

I believe that from the beginning, God had intended to bless Job twice over. It is not how we start but more importantly, it is how we finish. Many many start well, on fire for God, but end up far away from him. After Job came out of his fiery trial victorious, said: I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee (Job 42:5)

It was only through his trials that Job began to see God in depth. Satan wanted to bring the worst out of Job but God brought the best out of him through the trials. Many people never experience the fullness of God because they never let God bring them through. Instead, they try to make a way out for themselves.

God has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. It is He who will work it out for us. In everything we go through, He will never leave us of forsake us (Heb 13:5) Through the trials, God knew Job loved Him not because of the blessing he had received but because of who God is. Many people want to love God because they think they can get something from God. They only want material blessing. Even christians can think that having abundant blessing means having abundant life. That is a real deception from the enemy. You can have abundant blessing without having abundant life.

Abundant life is the fullness of life that only Jesus gives. It is the life of the Son of God. It is living as a Son of God.


AMEN!!