“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT)
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6 BSB)
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” (John 10:10 AMP)
It is ridiculous how many times I have settled for less than God’s best in my life. When I read what the Bible says, and don’t try to rewrite it to fit my life experience, it is very clear that from the first day that God created Adam and Eve, He has desired only life and blessing for His children.
Anything less than abundance in every area of my life is not my Heavenly Father’s desire or design for me. He breathed His life into Adam, placed him in a Garden patterned after Heaven, gave him dominion, and told him to enjoy all of creation. When I jump to the end of the Bible I find a New Earth in which this Heaven – like environment exists once again. It is obvious to me that the Lord’s will for me is to experience “days of Heaven on Earth” even in the midst of a fallen world led by the outlaw Satan. I may be “in” the world, but I am not “of” the world. I have been translated out of Satan’s Kingdom into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. My expectation is to experience all that Heaven has to offer today.
I do not need to wait until I die to begin experiencing eternal life. Eternal Life began at the moment of spiritual conception (when I made Jesus the Lord of my life), and is the quality of life that is only found in the Creator. If I want to know what the eternal life that I possess in my salvation is supposed to look like all I have to do is look at the dwelling place of my Heavenly Father (Heaven), the original dwelling place of Adam and Eve prior to sin (the Garden of Eden), and the dwelling place of the Father living among His children after the Earth has been made new (the New Jerusalem). The quality of life that I will experience on the other side of the grave is the same quality of life that Jesus came to this Earth, lived, and died to give me. The only difference is that currently, since I live in overlapping Kingdoms (darkness and light), I need to do battle to fully experience what belongs to me.
I have learned that when anything that is not present in Heaven comes into my life it is my responsibility to fight the good fight of faith and reject it. I have also learned that if my life is lacking any of what Heaven has to offer I am to act in accordance with the Word of God when it says that, ” the Kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.” Just like the Nation of Israel, I have been given my “Promised Land,” however there are giants, enemies, and walled cities to be overcome. The battle belongs to the Lord, and the victory is mine.
It is time to stop accepting anything in my life that falls short of abundant life with overflowing blessing! No more waiting for the sweet bye and bye to enjoy God’s Heavenly Apple Pie!
I challenge you to join me in living…
… Eric’s Life Lesson # 83: “I choose life and blessing!”