IfYouGiveAMindensenABlog

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10b) Jesus is saying that through HIM there is life to be lived; a life that is FULL and good. In Jeremiah 29:11 God promises to have a plan for OUR lives; one that is not harmful but prosperous and hopeful. But how do we get this FULL life?

Well, first off, you HAVE to have Jesus. Jesus is the one who is speaking in John 10, but also later in John he says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”(J14.6) Jesus is saying He is the ONLY way to life, there is NO OTHER option. However, once you have accepted Jesus as Lord that is NOT the end. Christianity isn’t a just another ‘religion’ it is a LIFESTYLE. In Matthew, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (M16:24) However, this also, in and of itself, is not the key to having a FULL life. If one just focused on ‘living’ the ‘good Christian life’, they could easily become legalistic, and lose out on the JOY of living in the FREEDOM that comes from living with God. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM” (2 Corinthians 3:17). That’s where I’m at…kind of.

I know I’m not perfect…in fact I lived in almost perpetual regret and fear of people finding out the faults I KNOW I have. So, I tried to set boundaries, make standards, live ‘inside the lines’ so to speak, in order to insure as few mistakes, failures, and embarrassments as possible. However, living that way, keeps me from really being able to live. A part of life is taking those RISKS, making MISTAKES, that’s how we learn and discover new things. God didn’t save us in order for us to live in a box for the rest of our ‘redeemed’ life. He came to FREE us, and give us an ABUNDANT life.

Also, as I’ve been thinking about it, I realized that my placing myself ‘in a box’ is actually rather arrogant of me, and ultimately shows a lack of trust in God, and His ability to guide and protect me. By limiting myself to some basic “dos and don’ts”, I miss out on the variety of opportunities God wants to open up to me. As I was telling someone the other day, life isn’t all Black and White. Good things don’t all come in singular packages. Some of you have already heard my ‘Garden of Eden’ Theory: Some things God specifically labels as bad, but God generally gives us choices and simply takes pleasure in us making good choices. For the most part, I have been working off that theory…for ‘bigger’ decisions. However, for the day-to-day living, I have not. I’ve been living like God is some big overlord just waiting for me to screw-up so He can punish me. Often times I feel ‘trapped’ into obedience and completely drained of energy and enthusiasm, facing two dismal options: displeasing God or misery. Well, I was miserable, but I was determined to be a ‘good little soldier’. So I’d put my smile on, and did what I thought needed to be done. Needless to say, that’s not the abundant life Jesus was talking about, and despite what I thought, my misery wasn’t really glorifying to God either. “…the Fruit of Spirit is…JOY” (Galatians5:22a). Going back to John, Jesus says in Chapter 15 “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (J15:8). Yes, He does also say a chapter earlier “if you love me, you will obey what I command” (J14:15), but Jesus isn’t looking for mindless following, He’s looking for people who LOVE; love God, love others, and LOVE THEMSELVES. Yes, there is the famous passage about the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40), and the multiple passages about putting others first (“The first shall be last” Matthew 19:30) and dying to self (ex: Galatians 2:20). However, I think we as Christians lose sight of the fact that our ‘joy’ isn’t all about heaven. Yes, our hope is in what Jesus did for us and there being a perfect place to go when we die, but that’s not all there is…if so, KILL ME NOW!

Fortunately, that’s not how it’s supposed to be, I agree with the Psalmist when he says, “I am still confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (P27:13). Yes, the world is corrupted, and has been since The Fall back in Genesis chapter 3. However, in the two preceding chapters, readers will find a whole description of the way life was supposed to be, and in a sense, can still be WITH CHRIST. When Christ comes into a person’s life, He doesn’t ‘just’ save them, He makes them NEW. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation. The old has gone, the NEW has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We’re made NEW, and no longer have to live under the bondage of the law. For centuries the Jewish nation lived under a strict set of laws, and rules that are all found in the Old Testament. When Jesus came, He fulfilled the law, paid the penalty, and opened the door to us being able to live FREE; free from the power of sin, death, and the devil. Call me a radical, but free to follow our hearts because they’re no longer deceitful and wicked, free to dream bigger than we EVER thought possible and then STILL have God blow our minds because He is able to “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”(Ephesians 3:20)…which is one of my FAVORITE verses by the way. We have a God for whom “nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37), who’s fruits are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”(Galatians 5:22-23), who made the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1&2). Why live a life that doesn’t reflect God’s great and AWESOMENESS (Nehemiah 4:14a.5ish ) ? We don’t need rules, we need JESUS!

To close, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (2Peter 5:8), and the devil likes to play us into the extremes; in this case: legalistic versus recklessness. Don’t let “freedom” be your excuse for doing something foolish, but don’t let legalism stop you from doing something GREAT! Ecclesiastes states, “The man who fears God will avoid all extremes” (E7:18b), so relax, trust God, and if you have any doubts ASK. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God which transcends ALL understand will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 6&7). I want to be a woman of PEACE, and who’s filled with JOY. I’d like my epitaph to read, ‘A woman filled with the Holy Spirit, and whose life was characterized by Its FRUIT’. What do you want yours to say? Does your life now reflect it?


God is GOOD! ♥