It is with great consternation and much self-examination that asked the opening question. On several occasions as of late, I have said encouraging words to people who are struggling, who would have normally responded to my comment with great joy. I am afraid however, that it simply rolled off their back like water off a duck. They were all from varying positions in life some very wealthy whose businesses were struggling, some who were struggling with family problems and others who almost argued with me over their right to be sick.
When I first became a Christian, I had very little of this worlds good. I took my first job as a painter’s helper and made only six dollars an hour and I didn’t know anything about what I was doing but I loved God and his word with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. It is my true conviction that abundant life should not be based on money, status, or an absence of problems unfortunately most people are more controlled by what is going on around them than they are by the word and the spirit.
I was reading John chapter 10: 10 and I couldn’t help but notice the difference between what the devil wanted to do to me and what Jesus would do for me. The first few days that I was saved I was overwhelmed by the peace that flooded my soul. I found out according to the word I could walk in perfect peace that didn’t make sense and was past all understanding. The joy that exuded out of my life was contagious, I couldn’t stop smiling, I had a spring in my step and sparkle in my eye all the time. The first Scripture I learned was Matthew 6:33 and I began to practice it voraciously, no one had to tell me to pray, study the word or to be faithful it overflowed out of the abundant life Jesus had granted me.
For 33 years I have observed and am convinced that in many ways the enemy of our soul would much rather have you sad, neurotic, sick and worried about money rather than to go ahead and finish you off if he could. This very week I have conferred with those in the Lord over me and with those who have been with me the longest and I’ve simply asked them one question am I living abundantly? They all have answered me in the affirmative. I asked those closest to me because they are some of the only people that have known what an intense trial we have been going through. My health has deteriorated to the point that it will either take eight major surgeries or one touch from God to restore me, I still believe for the latter.
I have found so many people that were once people of great faith and great expectancy that have now fallen prey to doing little more than hoping they can hold on till either death or Jesus comes, this is not abundant life. My mother-in-law once told me that I can make an adventure out of going to the grocery store. I thought that was quite a compliment at the time. I don’t ever want to lose that childlike expectancy peace, exuberance and feeling of safety that I have known all these years when I’m in the presence of my heavenly father. My health has led me to the verge of financial ruin making it almost impossible for me to go out and preach the last few years. I’m telling you this not to whine and complain but to say as the apostle Paul I have abased, and I have abounded, and I have learned to be content. It’s not always easy to live the abundant life some days I come up short, but I am determined not to accept anything less than God’s best. The first thing I do every morning when I am awakened is wiggle my toes and fingers to see if I’ve been healed in the night. I don’t ever want to lose that expectancy. Every time the phone rings or the mail runs, or I check my emails I am expecting divine intervention. I am so sad and concerned to see so many of my brothers and sisters in the Lord content to simply survive rather than thrive. When Jesus spoke of abundant life the life he spoke of was one filled with vitality, exuberance, gusto and zest. The word abundance simply means superior in quality and superabundant in quantity. Is this the life you are leading or striving to lead? My grandmother taught me very early on to accept no defeats from the devil. The devil wants you sick, struggling, depressed, miserable and questioning God all the days of your life. Jesus, however wants to give you a life that is unparalleled in comparison and overflowing with life to the maximum. Please join with me in making a conscious decision to get out of the doldrums and stop being a poor testimony for Jesus and began to allow him to give you that true abundant life. My attitude may seem childish to some of you but, my father simply finds it childlike and he loves me to look to him for overflowing abundance.
Robert Pilgrim
