Mission Venture Ministries

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” (John 10:10-11) 

Jesus came so that we may have new and abundant life. These are two of the wonderful benefits of being born again; old things pass away making it possible for all things to become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). When this happens the born again Christians not only has a new eternal destiny, but also a new life on this earth. The Greek word translated as “abundantly” actually means “superabundance.” 

That means when we need strength, we will have it. When we need hope, it will be supplied abundantly. When we need to quench the fiery darts of the enemy, we can thru the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). And thru the leadership of the Holy Spirit we can do all things because He gives us strength (Philippians 4:3). 

We need to remember that when we were promised eternal life through faith and trust in Christ, we don’t have to wait for it to begin. It begins in this life and is already ours when we become new creations in Christ. James 4:10 tells us to “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” 

Many are hesitant to humble themselves before the Lord. For some, this comes from their deep seated pride. For others, it is simply an unawareness of the loving majesty of God, when His love is unquestionably demonstrated and proven that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:8). 

His power is seen in His authority over all creation. He measures the universe with the span of His hand (Isaiah 40:12), He names and numbers the billions of stars, and He speaks of the future with absolute clarity. This majestic God has also numbered the hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30) and keeps our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). There is none like Him, there is nothing too hard for Him, and no one can match His power (Isaiah 40:12-31). 

Humbling ourselves before God should be easy, once we understand who He is. Yet, in His typical loving and gracious manner, He lifts up those who humble themselves before Him. We would also do well to remember that He has done more for us then we know, since He is always watching over us. He keeps the enemy from destroying us and protects us when se don’t even realize it. He averts more heartbreak that Satan has planned against us than we can even imagine. 

Humbling ourselves before such love and power should be easy, but the truth is that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). 

This is another reason why we “must” be born again and why so many have a hard time recognizing how wonderful and loving our great and awesome God truly is. When you begin to see how amazing God is, surrendering to Him and being obedient to His word becomes easy, for no one loves us like He does. No one has a better plan for our lives than He does. He is perfect in all His ways. 

Unless you are born from above, meaning born again spiritually, the first birth means nothing. Everybody that is on this earth is born; however, it is the second birth that is so valuable, it means spending eternity with Him. 

The first death, sooner or later will happen to all of us, it is the second death that we want to stay away from. So we need a second birth so we can escape the second death. And in order to do that, we need to respond, to obey, to believe, and to follow God. If you really think about it, it’s not that hard. All it takes is humility and to soften our heart so we can hear His Spirit touching our soul. 

Revelation 20:11-15 says: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” 

The way to avoid the lake of fire and the second death is to be born again. This puts our name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and, as Jesus told the Christians at Smyrna in Revelation 2:11, the second death has no power over us. This is a glorious truth we should rejoice in every day! It should also remind us that knowing Jesus not only gives us eternal life, but it also gives us power and purpose in this life. 

Let us therefore share these truths from God’s Word with everyone that we have an opportunity to do, so “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:15). 

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