Do we allow him to satisfy us in all times?
Do we truly believe He is enough to anchor our souls in the valley of the shadow of death?
That if we never got another thing, saw another dream come true, or achieved our next goal, we could still live a fully satisfied life.
Successful Christian living isn’t simply about living in the Promised Land.
A successful follower of Christ is able to find the Abundance even in the dessert.
The contrast our world offers today is so stark. We have Facebook pages filled with the highlights of the American Dream, and then articles of children being murdered in the Middle East. We need a theology that works in both.
I’ve found that often theologies either over-glorify trials and pain or ignore them.
We have a Jesus who offers to satisfy our desires with good things, and gave His life that we may have abundance.
As I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians today, I am struck by the reminder that He is our abundance.
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:7-11
Paul wasn’t anti-blessing. He wasn’t over glorifying the hard days. He did have his priorities right. He had a revelation of the value of knowing Christ more than anything else. He experienced Christ in a way that confirmed that knowing Him trumps all that this world has to offer.
Paul recognized that he possessed a citizenship beyond this world.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
Philippians 3:20-21
I am a dreamer and a radical believer in the goodness of God. I believe that He withholds no good thing from His children. (Psalm 84:11) I would never encourage that to stop, but do want to encourage you today as you wait for dreams to unfold. As you walk through the desert, even there, He has treasures for you. He wants to anchor you soul just as He did for Abraham while he awaited His promise. (Hebrews 6:19-20)
He is our delight, no matter the season we are in.
In His presence is the fullness of joy, and there is no where we can go that He is not.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [f]Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will [g]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
Even the darkness is not dark [h]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
Psalm 139:7-12
Praying that you encounter Him today!
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