Life Abundantly

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again, radio friends. How in the world are you? You doing alright? Yeah, I always wait to see how you’re answering. I’m interested in you and I like to see how things go. Tell me, has the Lord done anything special for you? Has there been any special answer to prayer, or any special deliverance from temptation, or any special enablement when you were under pressure? These are the things we ought to thank God for. Oftentimes we just drag along through life and we pray when we get in a jam, or if we’re hurting physically or emotionally. But if we just stop to praise the Lord for what He’s doing, it opens up doors of faith that we never knew were there. “Who so offereth praise glorifieth me.” Stop to praise God for something just now, will you? What are you thankful for? What has God done in your life?

Now, the obverse side of that question is, has He done anything in your life that is evidently the Lord’s working? Many a person is a dear believer, but nothing’s going on but the rent. And so if nothing has been happening in your life, no answers to prayer, maybe it’s ’cause you’re not praying. No deliverance from temptation, maybe it’s because you don’t want to be delivered, who knows.

No miracle provision under stress, because you’d rather complain. That’s true of many folk, isn’t it? [chuckle] Not you and I. All right. [laughter] Listen, if nothing’s going on, maybe you and I ought to seek God so it will happen. He said, “Behold, I will do a new thing, shall ye not know it.” God is the God of new vision and new victory and new ventures. So ask Him to work in your life. Well, I threw that in free. It isn’t in the text. [chuckle] I’m glad to be back with you once again. Oh, how precious it is to have this fellowship, and to know that God is working in our lives. I’m grateful for that.

Now, we’re just finishing a look at John 10:10. “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come,” Jesus said, “That they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” There’s a verb, perissuel, that is the second cousin of the noun perisson, that we saw in John 10:10. “To be over and above. The grace of God hath abounded onto you. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Abound in grace, abound in hope, abound in the work of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58. “Always abounding in the work of Lord. For as much as you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Abound in comfort, the consolation of Christ abounds in us. And then abounding in giving. “Therefore as you’ve abounded in everything, see that you abound in this grace.” That is the grace of giving.

God is able to make all grace abound, have more than enough running over toward you. “That ye may abound to every good work.” That your love may abound more and more. What about this overflowing life? You can’t fake it, can you? You can’t fake it. Think with me once again about Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the spirit,” that’s the result of the Holy Spirit working in your life, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The Holy Spirit of God working in your life will give you the blessed spillover of abounding. Abounding in grace, abounding in hope, abounding in His work, abounding in His comfort, abounding in His love.” Oh, yes, He’s able to make all grace abound to you. And to make you abound in love, one to another. Abound in His truth. “The truth of God has abounded.” Roman 3:7.

Well, how do you get at this? I can hear somebody saying, “Okay, Brother Cook, that’s all very good, but my heart is still cold and I don’t know what to do about it.” Well, anything I tell you, I’ve been there. And I have to tell you that there have been times when my own heart has been cold and dry and dead and unresponsive. You know what I did? I just told Jesus about it the way it was. I got down on my knees and said, “Lord, I’m dry and I’m dead, and I’m cold, and I’m selfish, and I’m unresponsive, and I don’t have any blessing, and there’s nothing overflowing out my life this day.” And as I talked with Him, and as I confessed my need to Him, in grace and in mercy He met my soul and the blessed Spirit of God began to make my heart tender, and reminded me of some of the things that I needed to straighten out with the Lord. Before I got through praying, there was a good deal of spillover, believe me. It came out of my eyes in the form of tears, and it came out of my heart in the form of praise.

God does answer prayer. Jesus said, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” He never made a mistake, our Lord didn’t. And so when He said that, I know it’s true. If you’re hungry for God today, if you’re hungry for God’s blessing, if you want a life that just overflows, get down before Him and seek His face. The old holiness preachers used to talk about digging the well deeper. “Get down on your knees and begin to dig the well deeper, you’ll strike clear water before you’re through,” and you can be abounding, that’s one thing, pray. Another thing is to fill your mind with the Word of God, “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Wherewithal shall a young man change his way?” And modify his behavior, that means. “By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word. Thy Words were found,” said Jeremiah, “And I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” If you want to start overflowing, get the Word of God in your heart and mind, put it into the computer so the Holy Spirit of God can crank it out when it’s needed.

Under stress. We say and do those things which have already been programmed in the computer of our minds. You know that. A simple illustration, you remember when you learned to drive a car? Every separate action was a separate crisis. You had to think about it. Today, you’re out driving your car, suddenly a vehicle darts in your path, and what do you do? You don’t stop and think, “Now, I must apply the brake. I must take my foot off the accelerator pedal and I must put on the brake, I wonder where it is?” You don’t do that. No. [chuckle] Automatically your foot lifts off from the accelerator pedal and it depresses the brake, and you bring your vehicle to a stop so that you don’t crash into the offending interloper here on the highway. And you did it all without thinking. Why? Because it was programmed that way in your mind. Under stress, you say and do those things that are already programmed in your mind, the computer, the unconscious mind takes over. Why not put the Word of God into the computer? Every day, get some portion of the Word of God in your heart and mind and memory and meditate on it and chew over it and think about it, so that when you are under stress, the faithful Holy Spirit can crank it out, as we say. And you will be able then to overflow with God’s blessing because of the Word of God in your life.

Now, an overflowing life is not only because of prayer and of the Word, but also comes about through simple obedience. Simple obedience. Disobedience shuts off the flow of God’s power from your life. “If I regard iniquity in my heart,” regard means “defend” and “coddle.” “If I regard defend and coddle iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Disobedience shuts off the flow of God’s power. You, beloved, are in charge of that valve. If you want to open the valve that lets the power of God flow through your life, try obeying God on some things that He’s speaking to you about right now. Deliberate obedience opens the door to miracle. Peter said, “We are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him.” God said through Samuel to the erring King Saul, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams.” Obedience, try obeying God on something and you’ll find that there is a spillover of blessing out of your life as a result. You try that. It’s prayer, it’s the Word in the computer of your mind, and it’s obedience to God’s will; whatever He is whispering to your heart, you obey.

And I’m not talking about some wild hysterical action or speech. God is a responsible God, and He will never lead you to do that which is either contrary to His Word or contrary to good sense. He’s a responsible God. He said, “I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of good, not of evil, to give you a desired end.” God wants you to succeed and He wants you have the desires of your heart fulfilled. “Delight thyself also in the Lord,” said the Psalmist, “And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” So you put God first and He’ll put you first. Dr. McCarrell of blessed memory, for many years pastor of Cicero Bible Church, used to have a favorite phrase that he used again and again, “You get definite with God, He’ll get definite with you.” You remember that, any of you Chicago old timers? [chuckle] Yes, it’s true. God loves to pour out His blessing upon those who will obey Him. We’re talking about abundant life, life more abundantly. How do you get this overflowing, artesian well kind of life? You get it from prayer that’s honest, you get it from Scripture that’s embedded, you get it from obedience that’s immediate and sincere. That makes sense to you?

Now, where do you start? Well, you better start on your knees. And then you better get a passage of Scripture each day and put it in the computer of your memory, and then you better listen, listen so carefully to the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God who indwells the believer. I’m glad for the overflow. I’m glad for the artesian well truth, aren’t you? Life can be so drab and it can be so dull, and it can be so discouraging and it can be so forever. Nothing new happening except that you got to grind on. People say life isn’t fair. Well, who ever said it was? Troubles come to people who don’t seem to deserve them and people who ought to have troubles don’t seem to have them. Do you ever notice that? [chuckle] Well, listen. With an overflowing kind of blessing, you don’t have to be bothered with those concepts, because you keep right on overflowing with the blessing and grace and peace and joy of God, abounding in love and comfort and hope and joy and peace. Everything spilling out of your life because the Spirit of God is doing it.

Father God, today, by Thy Spirit and by Thy Word, may we overflow with blessing and hope and comfort and peace and joy. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!