An Abundant Life

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King James Bible StudyAnd when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Saturday, February 06, 2021
Chapters: 22-24
Message: An Abundant Life

Hello My Friend,

My goodness, there is so much in these chapters that is calling out, and as I have said before, and so does the Bible, God’s commands are not grievous. While we are not under the Law, through our faith in Christ, many of the things that God commands us not to do does make a lot of sense, and we would be wise to listen to God. God has not changed His stance on what sin is, lying, cheating, stealing, fornication, it is all still sin to Him, and all unrepentant sin leads to death, regardless if we are saved. Our salvation may save our soul, but it does not save us from suffering from sin, especially if we do it willingly, knowing that our soul is untouched. The first thing that came to my mind when I started reading the chapters for today, is what Jesus said about thieves. [John 10:10  The thief cometh not, but 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.]

Are you struggling to find purpose, begging for God to turn things around, and not seeing any change? Do you want an abundant life while you are here? Perhaps it is time to change your disposition, God wants you to have an abundant life. The key to an abundant life is Jesus. Let me tell you, life can certainly change our disposition, especially all the mandates and restrictions we are under due to Covid and a bunch of power hungry people who are trying to play God themselves. We do not have to let all this change our disposition in our faith in Christ. He is our Restitution. What exactly is restitution? Restitution; The act of restoring to a person some thing or right that they have been unjustly deprived of. God may have given Moses many commands to write down, but each one of them served a purpose, including commands on restoring ones property.

[Exodus 22:1-4,7-9  If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.  2  If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.  3  If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.  4  If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep; he shall restore double.]

[there shall no blood be shed for him.] Jesus said that a thief’s only purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. Well, did it ever occur to you that Satan is behind all this? Satan is the thief, and he wants to kill every amount of faith that we have in Jesus. Satan will die one day, and there will not be one drop of blood shed for him. On the other hand, if you are saved, the blood that Jesus shed for you has restored your soul. [Hebrews 10:38-39  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.  39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.]

Now, while some of the commands God gave the Israelites do not apply to us, they were even changed as God had changed their dispensation. The majority of them, as I said, served a purpose. Remember, God saw a lot happen with them from Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, that he felt the need to make it a law of what not to do. As God continues giving these commands, and He will go into more detail of these later on, He reminds them that they were strangers in Egypt, therefore they are not to oppress strangers as they were oppressed, and a few more laws as well.

[Exodus 22:16,20-22,28-30  And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. 20  He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.  21  Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  22  Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.  23  If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; 28  Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.  29  Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.  30  Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.]

[And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed,] Of course, this goes back to when Jacob, and that fiasco with his daughter, and sons who killed the man she had gotten with. The reason why fornication is given the command that they are to marry is because it is the act of intercourse that makes a man and woman become one flesh. [II Corinthians 6:15-17  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.  16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.  17  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.]

For a long time I would be afraid to do anything because of the Holy Spirit living inside of me, the thought of me doing something and God being forced to be a part of it still terrifies me. I guess we should all have that type of fear. And I will be honest with you, I long for that same fear because I allowed some things in my life when my disposition was not so great that am struggling with now. It is not necessarily that I lost my fear, rather, got myself into a situation that I had a temporary lapse of judgment, and of course, there are always repercussions to sin of any kind, even repentant. An abundant life is more than trusting Jesus as our Saviour, and treating our neighbors as ourselves, it is also keeping ourselves from walking into situations to begin with. God now gives commands on keeping ourselves from walking into those compromising situations.

[Exodus 23:1-2,7-8  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.  2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.  8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.]

[Keep thee far from a false matter;] I had an uncle, in fact, he was the only one, except for my dad, that did not get himself into trouble. He happened to walk in on a drug deal that went sour that another uncle was involved in, they went after the innocent one and shot him to death. I remember this so vividly because the police came to our house, my dad had to go down to the morgue and identify his body. He was only eighteen. While we cannot avoid every evil that comes our way, we can save ourselves from a lot of suffering, and even premature death by avoiding those who get us into them in the first place. [Romans 16:17-18  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.  18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.]

They certainly do only serve their own belly, and can care less what happens to us. Thank God that His mercy endures, and should we walk into the fire, he will put it out for us, and even give us a new disposition and purpose from it. As I said at the beginning, the key to living an abundant life, is Jesus. If we are trusting Jesus to save our soul, we can trust that He knows what we need to live an abundant life. That is why we need to follow Him, not lead Him, but let Him lead us. God tells the Israelites the very same thing.

[Exodus 23:20-21,24-25,29-30  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.  23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.  24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.  25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. 29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.  30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.]

[and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.] Do we want this Covid thing to go away? It is time to listen to Jesus, and stop provoking Him. Living an abundant life with Christ is having the sense to know that while we are not bound to the Law, it ought to be observed as God instructs us. And here is the thing, we must understand that each one of us has a different walk with Christ. There are some things, and I am not talking about sin, He never condones sin, that God allows some that He tells others no way. Why? Well, it all has to do with what we are able to handle. [Romans 14:20-23  For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.  21  It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.  22  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.  23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.]

Jesus Christ Magnified: [Exodus 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.]

Today’s Prayer: God, As much as I try to live right I know that I am going to mess up from time to time. Thank You for sending Your Son to pardon me of the judgment I faced, and thank You Jesus for the sacrifice You made. Lord, help me to be obedient to Your law, to love everyone as Christ loves me, and to keep serving You, even when I do not see You with the promise that You are preparing me for something amazing. In You name Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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