Abundance or Scarcity: How are you living?

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
John 10:10 AMP

I find myself returning to this verse time and again because it reminds me of a vital truth for believers — God has called us to a life of abundance not scarcity!

From the very beginning our enemy has wanted us to believe that God is not telling us the truth, that He doesn’t really love us, that He doesn’t really want us to experience all life has to offer. Think about the garden (Genesis 3), Satan directed Eve’s attention to the one tree God told her to stay away from. What happened in that moment? She lost sight of all the other trees around her. All her focus was on what she didn’t have and it caused her to lose all she did have.

Sound familiar?

Our enemy doesn’t have any new tactics, friends. He’s still trying to distract us from what God has already given us, attempting to convince us we are missing out.

He is a thief who only wants to steal our joy, kill our hope, and destroy our faith. He’s a liar who desires to convince us God doesn’t have our best interests at heart. He wants us to be distracted, dissatisfied, and dismayed. His tools include comparison and competition. It’s his desire to have us focus on everything and everyone except God.

BUT …

God is always faithful to give us what we can’t give ourselves. He’s always making a way for us to know Him, to abide with Him, to live in Him. So He gave us Himself.

JESUS CAME TO OFFER US LIFE!

Not just a satisfactory life but a satisfying life.

Not just a little bit of life but life to the full.

WE SERVE A GOD OF ABUNDANCE NOT SCARCITY!

There is abundance in Christ — over the top, more than we can imagine, unending abundance.

So how can we live this out, in our very busy but very mundane lives? How do we intentionally choose to focus on the abundant life we have in Christ?

It’s simple, but it requires intentionality — be grateful.

Make a list on your phone, in your journal, wherever but take time every day to record those gifts God has given you. This is no small thing, y’all. Keeping count of all the ways God has provided for, protected, and blessed us is an act of meaningful worship and it gives us a tangible place to go when we feel those tugs toward scarcity.