Living the abundant life

John 10:10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.



Have you ever felt "stuck"?  I told my husband just last night that I feel stuck.  He knew what I meant.  I think he's been feeling it too.  "Stuck" to me means eat, sleep, work - and that's about it.  Too tired to enjoy anything, we stumble out of bed when the alarm goes off, eat breakfast with our coffee IV drip so that our eyes slowly open and then, we head off to work.  We get home, stumble through supper, and then drop into bed the minute that we can justify it - like probably when the babies get to bed. 

For me, it's a bit different.  Just change the part where it says "head off to work" and insert, "start work at home".  No, I do not sit around with my feet up.  You may see my name on Facebook all day, but not because I'm sitting there waiting for someone to write something brilliant. Usually on any given day, I'm:

• trying to follow FLYlady's plan - which is working super well by the way,
• keeping track of who's doing what subject and what items they are missing yet for a finished day of school,
• teaching babies that throwing metal cars is not a good idea especially when a littler baby is sitting on the floor minding her own business
• continuously putting the slip covers back on the couches (if anyone has an idea of how to keep them on, please let me know)
• paying bills and keeping track of the budget
• making sure rooms are clean and piano is done
• making supper and making sure there is enough leftovers to send something decent with hubby and school kids for lunch the next day (no, DD, Ramen is not a sufficient lunch)

So, how do we go through life, abundantly?  I think the place to start is understanding who we are in Christ.  Obviously, some may need to start farther back. See my post on Making the Lord a priority in your life.

http://keepinguphomeinabusyworld.blogspot.com/2012_02_01_archive.html 

So who are we?  If we are believers, then we have a home in heaven guaranteed.  No, ifs, ands, or buts.  We don't have to do anything to make sure we get it, just believe.  I think that should be the main thing that brings us abundant life.  Hey, most people think that you have to keep doing stuff to get it. 

• Make sure you check church on your list every Sunday or more for extra brownie points. 
• Don't say any swear words.
• Stay true to your spouse
• Basically, the ten commandments in general.

So, I'm wondering,  Are you doing these things so you can attain heaven, because if you are then it's by your works that you're going to heaven and Titus 3:5 tells us that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done.  

It's not that we don't need to do stuff and can sit around, we should be doing these things because we want to live righteously in this world, as it says in Titus.
 Titus 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
also in Philippians.

Philippians2:14-15  "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,"

As my husband shared with me last night, beyond these things, living the abundant life does NOT mean going out and buying things.  We would be broke all too quickly and then no more abundant life.  No, I think it means being content, as we see in Hebrews

Hebrews 13:5 "Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU,"

He'll never leave us nor forsake us, that should mean everything to us.  Got any more ideas of how to live the abundant life.  I'm still thinking on it, and want to come up with more ideas.  Another thing a pastor I listen to on-line said (btw, it's his fault I'm writing about this) is "Making the most of it."  Are you making the most of your life, where you are, whether it's where you wanted to be or not?  Cause dh and I would be on the other side of the world in a heartbeat if we could be where we want to be, but we're not and now we need to see what God has for us HERE, for now.  We can still hope, but we need to LIVE now, and not wait until we are where we want to be.

Making the most of it,

Steph