4 Abundant Life

Introduction

What took us nearly 40 years to learn about the abundant life promise we would like to share with you in less than 4 hours. Yes, it should only take you about an hour to read each of the 4 sections in this book.

First, we hope that you picked up this book because you want to experience a life of abundance. Simply stated, you would like MORE in your life than you currently have. If this desire resonates with you, relax. We are all born with this desire and it is what our God wants for us too!

One of the first words we learn to say is more. Think back to your earliest childhood memories of a favorite food or drink. Did you want more of it? Of course you did. Did your parents give you more of it? Of course they did…to the point of not harming you. This is the same analogy that applies to the parent/child relationship between our heavenly Father and us (His children). After all, how much more does He care about us than the birds of the field and yet He provides for them too?

The Gift of Abundance He cared so much that He gave His only Son to cancel the debt of our sin and allow us to live eternally in heaven! The greatest gift our Father could ever give, He gave us. We did not earn it and we certainly do not deserve it. Hence, the definition of a gift! And those who accept the truth receive the gift of salvation. However, the gift is more than just eternal peace. In fact, the Lords’ prayer includes “….on Earth as it is in heaven…” verbiage that is directly related to the promise of abundance declared by Jesus in John 10:10 “…I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Heaven on Earth sounds pretty abundant to us. In fact, there have been dozens of self-help books written over the years on the topic of abundance. An equal number of seminars and programs have also been promoted to help individuals experience MORE in their life. Millions have read the books, attended the seminars, spent money on the programs, and yet failed to experience a life of abundance. Why? The short answer starts with the fact that we all have scotomas (blind spots) that prevent us from seeing the scope and magnitude of the abundance gift. If we cannot see it, we cannot know what we are entitled to ask for and receive. Consequently, most who fail to live in abundance have a scotoma that limits the gift to the eternal hereafter. In other words, we do not see the gift of abundance (our birthright inheritance through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior) here on Earth. That said, we must first accept and believe that everything written in the Bible is true (2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God-breathed…”). Alternatively, nothing in the Bible is true and we can simply close the book now. In short, we cannot pick and choose what we like or believe from Biblical scripture. It is an all or nothing proposition! We assume you have chosen to believe that everything in the Bible is true or you would not have kept reading. The great news for those who believe the Bible is true and accept Jesus as the Son of God who took on the sin of the world for us entitles us to the gift. We have become a child of God (Galatians 3:26 “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God…”). As a child, we are given an inheritance from our Father. Obviously God thought we should know something about an inheritance. In fact, there are more than 200 Bible verses that discuss inheritance. As we all know, an inheritance is a gift not dependent on works (Galatians 3:18 “For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise”). Think about it in earthly terms. An inheritance is gifted to us while we are alive by a family member who loved us and passed through the pearly gates. That inheritance is designed to help us during our remaining time on Earth. In other words, an inheritance is something we can use right now in order to experience a more abundant life. Our inheritance is most definitely intended for good use while we are on this side of the grass (Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek/humble, for they will inherit the Earth”). Inheriting the Earth implies a pretty big blessing. The promise did not say “you will inherit SOME of the Earth”. The promise included the WHOLE Earth and everything in it. In fact, the Law of Abundance is one of the principals that govern the universe (like the Law of Gravity) based on the fact that there is an unlimited Source of everything we need or could ever want. That Source of course is our Father in heaven, and we are the beneficiaries of the inheritance of abundance (Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”). It is unfortunate that our English translation has lost some of the richness of the original Greek, Latin, and Hebrew scriptures. Meek/humble does not mean the person is quiet as a church-mouse or a push-over. A meek/humble person is one who follows instructions without question. In other words, they are faithful and obedient to God’s word according to Fox1. It is also important here not to apply a legalistic standard of performance perfection regarding the conditional terms faithful and obedient (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short…”). In other words, we cannot always be faithful and obedient and the good news is that God already knows this, but accepts us anyway. Religious rules and performance standards have made a relationship with Christ more difficult than it was ever intended to be. When we live by rules and performance, we make our scotomas bigger and limit our inheritance of abundance. When you feel like you do not deserve a blessing because of your failures, just remember that your failures are never final. Know that you are in good company as we all fall short. Believe that God’s grace (getting a gift we do not deserve) is bigger than any sin!

Recap Do you understand what the abundant life promise is? I think so… As a faithful and obedient child of God (believer in Christ Jesus), I am entitled to an inheritance that may be anything God chooses to give me (possibly as big as the entire Earth) that I can use right now in order to help me live an abundant life because this is a promise in the Bible and I believe all of it to be true. YES! So when will He turn the inheritance faucet of abundant blessings on? Good question. We are glad you asked. The 4 Abundant Life experience is grounded in 4 Biblical truths: 1. We (children of God, Christ followers) are Anointed to Prosper, 2. At an Appointed Time and Place, 3. When we Use Our Talents and Gifts, 4. For the Glory of Him! Experiencing a life of abundance is as easy, and as challenging as that! The rest of the book is organized according to each of the 4 truths that include Scriptures, supporting stories, personal experiences, word pictures, and reflective questions for application. We hope you find this book to be as much a blessing to read as it was for us to write and share with the world, Drs. Eric and Joanna Oestmann.