When I first think of this word, I think of having a lot. This word comes from this verse: in John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
Last year I lost my father, my best friend and I was lost. I could only see what I did not have and it was hard
to see the many things I was blessed with. I know I was grieving, but I was also rocked to my spiritual core.
A part of me lost hope in living though I had so much to live for. I clung to God to knowing He was in control no
matter how out of control I felt.
The Bible says the thief, Satan and the evil things of the world rob us of joy. Then instead of seeing the positive, we look at things in a negative way.
But God the Father through his son Jesus wants to fill us with Joy. When we focus on Him, we see the many blessings
that we are filled with. We don't see what we don't have, we see how much we are blessed with.
It is easy to be discouraged by the things of the world and our own negative thoughts. When these negative thoughts
and circumstances get the best of us, we are blinded and can't see the good. We live in a real world and bad things do
happen. We let emotions get the best of us and rob us of the good things. It does not make us bad, because by nature
we are weak and sinful. But we do have a to decide to make a choice on how we deal with things. Much of it is based on
our own temperament and our circumstance. As a Christian, we should look to the Father for all things. It is exactly what
He wants for us to do. He gave us His Son to be our light and show us the way.
The spiritual enemy in always around and trying to take us down, and many times by our own selfishness and weakness, we fall prey.
Then we get discouraged and angry or just sad. These emotions are a part of our human nature and even Jesus experienced them. But
He did not sin as a result of it. I think it is so easy to blame others for things when in reality, we only have ourselves because
we don't keep our eyes on the positive, the Father.
It took me a long time to realize how messed up I was. I was fearful and did not trust. I believed in God but did not have enough
faith to believe He could help me. I believed in Jesus, but felt I was not deserving of his grace and mercy when over and over
He had showed it to me. To be truthful, I still struggle and my emotions get the best of me. Thankfully, each day is a new day to try
to get up when I fall and keep looking up to the Father.
I am blessed to have a lot yet many times I am not satisfied or I feel like something is missing. I have many material things that give me
temporary please. I believe that there is a spiritual need I am lacking and I get in the way of providing myself with what I need because of my own
selfish emotions. I know I can be a giving person, but many times I don't ask for what I need.
This being said, I am asking God to fill me with more of Him and less of me.
So these are the two verses I am focusing on: John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
