The Basics for Abundance
This specific blog has no pretense of being profound, no in-depth study to affirm its claims. This is purely extemporaneous.
I have found that, as I study and seek to intelligibly explain my life, that there is little profound in the conclusions I draw. Or, perhaps I should say, the conclusions at which I arrive appear far simpler than preconceived notions would lead me to believe. College education teaches me to have a critical mindset and to approach situations with intelligence and logic. This is not a mistruth in the field of Speech Communication, in which I currently study. Rhetoricians and those who study Speech Communication seek to explain rhetoric intrinsically, based on things of or relating to a speech or text, and extrinsically, based on things that are external to the speech but contextual and historically relevant.
As greater than three years of such schooling has trained me, I now adapt those methods of study to my examination of Scripture. The results are astounding. What follows is my discovery to living an abundant life.
To live in abundance one must pray, read Scripture, and fellowship with believers.
Is this intellectual and profound? Maybe not. But why would God make the answers to everyday life and to life abundant, which he promises to give, recondite and mysterious? The answer is, he wouldn't.
John 10:10 says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (NASB). Reading on verse 14 says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father" (NIV). In verse 10, Jesus uses the word "they" to refer to his "sheep," as used later in verse 14. Connecting the two, abundant life comes from knowing Christ and being known by him.
Therefore, we need to know what it takes to know Christ. I feel no need to explain deeply why prayer, study of Scripture, and fellowship with believers is essential to abundance. So I will be brief.
Prayer is our communication with God. It leads to self-realization and heightened understanding of God. George Whitfield, one of the most widely recognized faces in Colonial America, who traveled to nearly every town and city spreading the word of God--a man who led Benjamin Franklin, one regarded as a paradigm of intellect and not a believer in Christ, to empty his pockets of money into Whitfield's coffer-- says this of prayer: "...and [prayer] is so essential to Christianity, that you might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true Christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication." Prayer is fundamental to abundant life. It enables us to know Christ.
Scripture is God's Word to us. Knowing it and studying it reveals to the consumer the character of the triune God--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. It is a revelation of the one who creates, the one who saves, and the one who sustains. John 1:1 reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the Word, the logos, of God, a deity and communication of who God is and what he is like. We know him through reading from Genesis to Revelation. It is him, Jesus. From start to finish, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Old Testament points to his coming, the gospels point to his presence, and the rest points to his return. Knowing Scripture enables us to know Christ.
Fellowship with believers is part of continuing Christ's work in the world. In fact, it is vital to continuing Christ's work. Acts 4 discusses how the believers share their possesions with each other, how they meet each other's needs, how they pray for each other, and how they fellowship. All of these actions mimic those done by Christ to the people he encountered. Followers of Christ show his love, extend his grace, and are like him. Christ reveals himself through believers. Fellowshipping with believers enables us to know Christ.
The trend is that prayer, reading Scripture, and fellowship with believers all lead to knowing Christ. And knowing Christ leads to abundance. The funny thing is, as Christians, these are the first things we learn, the fundamentals, the basics, of our faith. Why then do so many of us struggle to find abundance? My problem is often this: I seek things profound, and I strive to for the intellectual answers. So, perhaps you can align your mind with the frustration I have felt when finding that the answers to life's most difficult questions are always the same--pray, read your Bible, and go to church.
Herein lies the most intriguing aspect of my analysis: it works. Thus, I won't attempt to complicate it anymore.
Pray, study Scripture, and fellowship with Christ-followers, and you will know Christ, and in turn, know abundance.
These are the basics for abundance.
I have found that, as I study and seek to intelligibly explain my life, that there is little profound in the conclusions I draw. Or, perhaps I should say, the conclusions at which I arrive appear far simpler than preconceived notions would lead me to believe. College education teaches me to have a critical mindset and to approach situations with intelligence and logic. This is not a mistruth in the field of Speech Communication, in which I currently study. Rhetoricians and those who study Speech Communication seek to explain rhetoric intrinsically, based on things of or relating to a speech or text, and extrinsically, based on things that are external to the speech but contextual and historically relevant.
As greater than three years of such schooling has trained me, I now adapt those methods of study to my examination of Scripture. The results are astounding. What follows is my discovery to living an abundant life.
To live in abundance one must pray, read Scripture, and fellowship with believers.
Is this intellectual and profound? Maybe not. But why would God make the answers to everyday life and to life abundant, which he promises to give, recondite and mysterious? The answer is, he wouldn't.
John 10:10 says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (NASB). Reading on verse 14 says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father" (NIV). In verse 10, Jesus uses the word "they" to refer to his "sheep," as used later in verse 14. Connecting the two, abundant life comes from knowing Christ and being known by him.
Therefore, we need to know what it takes to know Christ. I feel no need to explain deeply why prayer, study of Scripture, and fellowship with believers is essential to abundance. So I will be brief.
Prayer is our communication with God. It leads to self-realization and heightened understanding of God. George Whitfield, one of the most widely recognized faces in Colonial America, who traveled to nearly every town and city spreading the word of God--a man who led Benjamin Franklin, one regarded as a paradigm of intellect and not a believer in Christ, to empty his pockets of money into Whitfield's coffer-- says this of prayer: "...and [prayer] is so essential to Christianity, that you might as reasonably expect to find a living man without breath, as a true Christian without the spirit of prayer and supplication." Prayer is fundamental to abundant life. It enables us to know Christ.
Scripture is God's Word to us. Knowing it and studying it reveals to the consumer the character of the triune God--God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. It is a revelation of the one who creates, the one who saves, and the one who sustains. John 1:1 reads, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the Word, the logos, of God, a deity and communication of who God is and what he is like. We know him through reading from Genesis to Revelation. It is him, Jesus. From start to finish, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The Old Testament points to his coming, the gospels point to his presence, and the rest points to his return. Knowing Scripture enables us to know Christ.
Fellowship with believers is part of continuing Christ's work in the world. In fact, it is vital to continuing Christ's work. Acts 4 discusses how the believers share their possesions with each other, how they meet each other's needs, how they pray for each other, and how they fellowship. All of these actions mimic those done by Christ to the people he encountered. Followers of Christ show his love, extend his grace, and are like him. Christ reveals himself through believers. Fellowshipping with believers enables us to know Christ.
The trend is that prayer, reading Scripture, and fellowship with believers all lead to knowing Christ. And knowing Christ leads to abundance. The funny thing is, as Christians, these are the first things we learn, the fundamentals, the basics, of our faith. Why then do so many of us struggle to find abundance? My problem is often this: I seek things profound, and I strive to for the intellectual answers. So, perhaps you can align your mind with the frustration I have felt when finding that the answers to life's most difficult questions are always the same--pray, read your Bible, and go to church.
Herein lies the most intriguing aspect of my analysis: it works. Thus, I won't attempt to complicate it anymore.
Pray, study Scripture, and fellowship with Christ-followers, and you will know Christ, and in turn, know abundance.
These are the basics for abundance.
posted by mcm at 21:35
3 Comments:
so, amber and i were bummed to not see you at cindy and steven's saturday night...
hope things are going good!
hey, by the way...did you call the other night?!
sorry i missed your call again. i was visiting w/ a friend who just had surgery! hopefully we can catch up sometime this weekend...
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