You have Abundant Life in Christ!

It is the “Season” where “Jesus” is the reason. We trust and hope that each of you are experiencing the joy, love and Presence of Jesus in your lives this month. Friends, one of the most basic yet life-changing verses in the Bible of life IN CHRIST has to be John 10:10. For sure, the whole Bible has the power to transform our lives, but today I want to dig deeper into this one particular verse. Sometimes we can learn the richness of a specific verse when we marinate our hearts in it…let’s do that today by looking at John 10:10 in several translations.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (NKJV).

“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)” (AMPC).

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (NLT).

“A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (MSG).

“A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!” (TPT).

Wow! I just love this verse — in fact, I like to call this verse the Bible’s “litmus test.” It’s a verse we can use to sift things that happen in our life, to determine who’s behind it. If the situation or issue is in any way stealing, killing or destroying things in your life…that may be your health, relationships, prosperity, any number of things…it’s authored by our enemy in life (the devil). That is not life IN CHRIST.

Now, to be clear, it may not always be that the devil is personally attacking you — we live in a fallen world, so some things that steal or destroy the good in your life are due to the overall fall led by the enemy long ago. But ultimately, anything that steals, kills and destroys in your life is rooted in the enemy’s strategies against you.

>>On the other hand, if something in your life is full of abundance, joy, peace, health, wisdom, satisfaction, fulfillment, contentment and so on, that’s from the Lord!

One other caveat, Jesus told us we would experience tribulations (literally, pressure and stress!) and persecutions in this life because of our faith. He also promised us we could have His joy right in the midst of these things. Even with tribulations and persecutions — and dealing with the enemy’s plans to steal, kill and destroy — Jesus’ John 10:10 promise still stands! Remember that Ephesians 1:3 tells that we are “…blessed with every spiritual blessing IN CHRIST.” And, Philemon 6 conveys to us that “…the sharing of our faith is effective when we acknowledge every good thing in us that belongs to Christ.”

Just look at all the ways the translations of John 10:10 phrase this…real life, abundance, enjoying life, better than we dreamed of…sign me up for that!! Jesus paid the ultimate price on the Cross for us…so that we can have real, abundant and eternal life.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so I pray that as you read John 10:10 multiple times above, your faith was increased! You now have John 10:10 as a powerful tool in your life…it is the ultimate litmus test to be sure you know how to rightly divide situations to know who’s behind it. God has an incredible life in store for you…walk each day with Him and He’ll lead the way! Remember, you look and experience life a whole lot better, abundantly better IN Christ that OUTSIDE of Christ.

Pray This and Say This Out Loud: “Father, thank You for Your Word — it’s my guidebook for life. Thank You for John 10:10, which shows me the kind of life that Jesus paid the price for me to have. Help me to follow Your lead every day because I know the life You have in store for me is one of abundance, peace, joy, prosperity, wisdom and so much more! And help me Lord to live every day IN Christ and not OUTSIDE of Christ. I thank You Father that every day is a brand new day IN Christ. I thank You Lord for the privilege of living the abundant life IN Christ. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”