#011 Defining Abundant Life - 86 Seconds Video Devotional - Gary Wilkerson

Have you ever felt cheated when you hear the promise of abundant life and you go, "I'm a Christian. I know the promise of God but I don't seem to have that abundant life?"

Well, I've had to learn to redefine abundant life where it no longer means a big house and a car and perfect health and straight teeth and kids who are 4.0 grade point average in school. Those are external things. God cares about those and he wants us to have them but abundant life is much more than just the externals. It's something that comes from inside the heart. No matter what's happening around you, no matter what kind of circumstances are taking place in your life, the abundance is coming from the inside of your heart. Out of that comes the issues of life. You're finding life even in the midst of the worst storms, even in the midst of a bad diagnosis, even in the midst of kids who are in trouble. You're finding that there is abundant life.

If you define it based on the American Dream, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to say, "Hey, wait a minute God! I thought you promised me the house and the car and the wife and the kids and I'm alone and missing out on life." If that's how you're defining life, you're defining it based on the American Dream. In that case, even Jesus himself wasn't living in abundant because his friends rejected him when he was troubled in many different ways or had external trouble in his life but inside, he was full of peace and life and joy. You and I can do that as well when we find the true definition of the abundance, the grace, the life that Jesus has for us.