My family and I have moved five times in the last twelve years to follow God\u2019s calling in ministry. Every move felt like a death because it\u2019s easy to see what you let go of\u2014friendships, your favorite ice cream shop, your comfy corner next to the fireplace\u2014and you can\u2019t see the abundant blessings that await. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our last move felt like the worst. We went from living close to family and moved states away. But after a couple of years, I paused to look around at the abundant life God provided: authentic friendships, a home we love, new cultural experiences, and a great school for our kids. Our family would have missed out on all of this if we played it safe and resisted the Spirit\u2019s prodding to move into town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is what I think about when I ponder the abundant life we have in Christ. Honestly, we cannot even fathom the glory to be revealed when Jesus returns and all are raised to life (John 5:28\u201329). We read about our beautiful inheritance in Scripture (Ephesians 1:14, Psalm 16:6), but it\u2019s like a parent telling a child about a new move, \u201cTrust me. It will be great. You will see.\u201d Sometimes all we can see is the hard right in front of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is hard in your life this Advent? Maybe it\u2019s a hurting relationship, challenging finances, or other kinds of suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The joy of our abundant life in Christ is not just for the future when all is panned out. The joy of our abundant life in Christ is for the right now, when life is unsure, when the tunnel is dark, when you can\u2019t see to the other side. The joy comes from knowing that the babe in the manger was our Savior who came to lay down His life (John 10:15), He is our Good Shepherd who takes care of His sheep (v.14), and no matter what we face\u2014eternal life is ours in Christ (John 5:24). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Advent season, maybe our joy comes from the gifts we already have, no matter what remains aching and undone. We have God\u2019s divine power that has granted us all things pertaining to life and godliness (2Peter 1:3\u20134). We have the hope that as we listen to God\u2019s voice, we will follow his path (John 10:27, Psalm 16:11). And we have the confidence that Jesus came, not so we could have it safe\u2014but so we could have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
C. S. Lewis wrote about Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em>, \u201c\u2018Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.\u201d I think the same is true of trusting and following Jesus. It is not safe following Jesus. We aren\u2019t promised health, wealth, and prosperity. But we are promised life abundant\u2014and God is good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n May this truth bring you joy this Advent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My family and I have moved five times in the last twelve years to follow God\u2019s calling in ministry. Every move felt like a death because it\u2019s easy to see what you let go of\u2014friendships, your favorite ice cream shop, your comfy corner next to the fireplace\u2014and you can\u2019t see the abundant blessings that await. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":71562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent2024"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71574],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"JOY THROUGH ABUNDANT LIFE<\/b> My family and I have moved five times in the last twelve years to follow God\u2019s calling in ministry. Every move felt like a death because it\u2019s easy to see what you let go of\u2014friendships, your favorite ice cream shop, your comfy corner next to the fireplace\u2014and you can\u2019t see the abundant blessings that await.<\/p> Our last move felt like the worst. We went from living close to family and moved states away. But after a couple of years, I paused to look around at the abundant life God provided: authentic friendships, a home we love, new cultural experiences, and a great school for our kids. Our family would have missed out on all of this if we played it safe and resisted the Spirit\u2019s prodding to move into town.<\/p> This is what I think about when I ponder the abundant life we have in Christ. Honestly, we cannot even fathom the glory to be revealed when Jesus returns and all are raised to life (John 5:28\u201329). We read about our beautiful inheritance in Scripture (Ephesians 1:14, Psalm 16:6), but it\u2019s like a parent telling a child about a new move, \u201cTrust me. It will be great. You will see.\u201d Sometimes all we can see is the hard right in front of us.<\/p> What is hard in your life this Advent? Maybe it\u2019s a hurting relationship, challenging finances, or other kinds of suffering.<\/p> The joy of our abundant life in Christ is not just for the future when all is panned out. The joy of our abundant life in Christ is for the right now, when life is unsure, when the tunnel is dark, when you can\u2019t see to the other side. The joy comes from knowing that the babe in the manger was our Savior who came to lay down His life (John 10:15), He is our Good Shepherd who takes care of His sheep (v.14), and no matter what we face\u2014eternal life is ours in Christ (John 5:24).<\/p> This Advent season, maybe our joy comes from the gifts we already have, no matter what remains aching and undone. We have God\u2019s divine power that has granted us all things pertaining to life and godliness (2Peter 1:3\u20134). We have the hope that as we listen to God\u2019s voice, we will follow his path (John 10:27, Psalm 16:11). And we have the confidence that Jesus came, not so we could have it safe\u2014but so we could have life and have it in abundance (John 10:10).<\/p> C. S. Lewis wrote about Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/i>, \u201c\u2018Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.\u201d I think the same is true of trusting and following Jesus. It is not safe following Jesus. We aren\u2019t promised health, wealth, and prosperity. But we are promised life abundant\u2014and God is good.<\/p> May this truth bring you joy this Advent.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"18","scripture":"John 5:24-29, John 10:7-18, John 10:27-30, Psalm 16:5-11, 2 Peter 1:3-4","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\r\nby Seana Scott<\/i>
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n