Abundance In Life

“Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God. ‘Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. ‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,  I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.  Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.  ‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.  You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.  Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.  You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.   I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.  I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high. (Leviticus 26: 1 – 13).
Nigerians work exceptionally hard because apart from the present needs, they want to cater for themselves and their children’s future needs as well. However, would we say this is peculiar to this nation alone or is it endemic to this generation that hard work seems to go unrewarded and diligence unrecognised?
As of today, the quality of life we live is questionable, therefore, everyone dreams of a better tomorrow, a better life, a better future which we call – “The Life”, and presently we seem to just go through the motions of “existing”.
From the moment God breathed the breath of life into Adam as recorded in the book of Genesis, man became a living being with life.   “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being”. (Gen 2: 7)
The word Abundance comes from the mid 14th century French, via the latin abundantia meaning “fullness, plenty”. Having something in excess, having more than you need. A position God constantly wants us to be in physically and spiritually.  (Gen 1: 27 – 30,   Psalm 23, 34,   Prov. 10: 25,  3 John v. 2)
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so”.   (Gen 1:27-30 )
God gave us everything, His purpose for us is abundance in the life he has placed in us, the psalmist understood this when he wrote  in Psalm 23: 1 and Psalm 34: 10.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (Psalms 23:1).
However, abundance in life as it were is a great possibility even in this generation, if only we follow Godly principles, which are:
1. God never intended us to be independent of Him (Lev 26: 1, John 15: –  7).
2.  Having a single focus is a prerequisite for success, God should be our only focus.  (Lev 26: 1)
3. Rest, to replenish, re-asses, refocus, restrategize, rebuild. (Lev. 26: 2).
All start with rest, even God rested on the 7th day  (Gen. 2: 2)
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh dayhe rested from all his work”.      (Gen 2:2 )
4.  Guidiance and Counselling (Lev 26 : 2 – 3) “Observe my Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary. I am the Lord. “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,  I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit”.   (Lev 26:2-4)
For abundance to occur ,resources must be well utilised to meet needs and wants.  Knowledge is essential for this and a Guardian is needed for this purpose, to lead to direct and to advice.
5.  Obedience   (Lev 26: 4 – 13)
The reward for obedience is abundance in every sphere of life, in health, finance and any aspect of life you can think of.
Abundance, therefore is the reward that comes from a fruitful life in God, which as of today is only possible through Christ Jesus. Job was a man of great wealth, so also Abraham but they lived by faith, absolute faith in God. God gives wealth in abundance (Prov 10: 25) health in abundance (3 John v. 2), food in abundance (John 6: 35) and life in abundance (John 10: 10).
God wants you to prosper, but not independently of him, so to have this abundance in life you MUST obediently live in Him and then all things are yours (Phil. 4: 19).
Have a week of abundance as you faithfully allign your life and ways with His will and directions.

Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
S. Igein Isemede