First things first. I’m super pumped for Abundance. I’d wanted to start this post poetically, something moving and lofty, but this is the brilliance I’ve come up with: Pumped. So I hope you’re making plans to join us in one of the many cities Abundance will be landing. The bible teachers, storytellers, worship leaders, downright funny personalities, and most importantly, the celebration of our Creator God: these will assemble a meaningful weekend that will make it worth piling friends and family into a car or plane. So I’m not sure what you’re waiting for—open up another screen, secure your tickets (I hear early bird is happening), and then come back to me because I have a few thoughts on what the Abundant Life means in real life.
Awesome. I feel much better now that you have your tickets.
I’ve chosen to dwell on three facets of the abundant life in Christ partly because they’re three of my favorites from the Christian cornucopia, and also because they’re the ones that have most eluded me at certain seasons of my life. You should know that despite being a believer in Jesus I did not always believe Him when He said in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”. I thought this was a promise for super spiritual, nearly non-human, holy uptight people who had some measure of fullness I couldn’t quite locate and didn’t really want. What I’m more convinced of than ever before is that when Jesus said He came to bring the abundant life, He meant it in all the ways we deeply desire it. For actual people who grocery shop, get colds, have difficult relationships and too many bills hitting the mailbox. Real life for real people.
Abundance of Peace
The first of my three is peace. We cannot experience abundance if peace is not part of our bounty. We can have a bunch of stuff, even a great job or new boyfriend, but without peace we are a tremoring clamor of uneasiness hyper about what we could lose, while straining for more, because you always need more if your peace rests on achieving or accumulating—or, for goodness sakes, on people. In stark contrast to fickle peace come the words of Jesus in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Jesus doesn’t give peace the way the world gives it. To begin with, He brings it to the heart. We think peace rests in a secure retirement account, a clean bill of health, or the relationship that will finally complete us, but none of this quells the anxieties and restlessness that’s knocking around our hearts. What we’re all desperate for, just really dying for, is to have peace with God. We want to know that all that stuff we’re ashamed of, those awful things we don’t want anyone to know about—that guilt—has been accounted for. So when Jesus says He’s here to offer peace it’s because He took all that on Himself, died for it, and now presents us to God as clean and beautiful. And this brings irrevocable peace to our hearts, which then finds its way into our relationships, jobs, even the quality of our sleep.
Abundance of Joy
I have often thought joy as something that ebbed and flowed based on my circumstances. In some ways I thought it the religious version of happiness, which didn’t feel too exciting—you might as well just shoot for regular happiness at that point. When I look at Scripture, though, I discover joy to be relational not so much circumstantial. Jesus speaks of our joy being full when we remain in His love—that’s relational. And Paul is forever writing to his friends in the church expressing how much joy they bring him. Again, relational. The gift of joy is one of the richest qualities of knowing Christ, precisely because knowing Him is what gives us joy. And that joy is multiplied when we’re in community with other believers. This is why we can experience joy in the midst of pain and hardship and weakness, because Jesus remains with us in relationship. And the Christian community is called to do the same. Speaking of being in community…
Abundance of Fellowship
I have written before that perhaps my single greatest fear behind all other fears is being left alone. This past year while studying 1 John I realized something fundamental to the gospel I’d never seen before in quite this way. John writes, “We proclaim to you [Jesus], so that you also may have fellowship with us.” (1 John 1:3). One of the primary effects of the gospel is being in community with other believers. It means one of the core elements of knowing Jesus is that we’re not meant to be alone. This fellowship is especially deep because it entails us sharing in the life of Christ with others.
I was at a birthday dinner celebrating a good friend and we had the usual stuff you can find most anywhere—great Indian food, snappy conversation, squinty-eyed laughter—but our mutual love for Jesus coursing through the night is what took the whole thing from friendship to fellowship. It didn’t matter what area of life we touched on, the shared life of Jesus was present. I knew I wasn’t alone. Even greater, in Christ we’re not meant to be.
So gather up your friends—all are welcome—and make plans to be with us at Abundance. We’re sincerely praying we’ll all find more of the abundant life in real life. ‘Cause that’s where Jesus meant for it show up.
Kelly Minter is an author, speaker, songwriter, and singer. She is passionate about women discovering Jesus Christ through the pages of Scripture. So whether it’s through a song, study, or spoken word, Kelly’s desire is to authentically express Christ to the women of this generation. In a culture where so many are hurting and broken, she loves to share about the healing and strength of Christ through the Bible’s truth. Kelly writes extensively and speaks and leads worship at women’s conferences, retreats, and events.