Christian Crier
Here are seven Bible verses that speak about having abundance.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
When we think about having an abundance in life, it’s not wrong to think of possessions but the real abundance is that which Jesus came to bring and it is an abundance of life. Yes, God can bless us materially, but all of this will burn up someday. Only what you send ahead to the kingdom will be there waiting for you…all else will melt in the fervent heat that’s coming, or as the Apostle Peter wrote, “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn” (2nd Pet 3:11-12).
Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”
If we give God the first portions of our life, He will bless us in ways that we can’t even imagine. Solomon wrote that our “barns will be filled with plenty” and our “vats will be bursting with wine” so when we give God the first portion of our day in prayer and in the study of His Word and then give back to Him the first portion of our income, God will make what we have even more than we had to begin with. I’m not sure exactly how it works; I only know it does.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
When Jesus was teaching about giving, he was telling His listeners that God will pour back more than we give and it will be in such measure that it will be “running over” into our lap because by the same measure that we give, it will be given back to us, but apparently more than what we gave in the first place. It’s a matter of trusting God and being obedient to Him because He gave the most (John 3:16).
Deuteronomy 28:12 “The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.”
God blesses both the just and the unjust, just as Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:44-45). If we give to those in need, we are more like the sons of our Father than those who are acting religious or self-righteous. By loving our enemies and praying for them, we are more like God than at any time since He died for us while still enemies of His (Rom 5:10).
Matthew 13:12 “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
In an ironic way, at least to the world, when we give, we receive back from God but when we give nothing, even that which we have can be taken away by God as Job declared, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21b). Pretty simple, isn’t it?
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.”
The Apostle Paul was so confident that he stated that God is able to a lot more than we think He will and in fact, He can do “far more abundantly than all we ask or think,” meaning He will bless us in ways that we don’t expect. It might not be money but He can bless us with other things and it’s all “according to the power at work within us” and that gives God all the glory, for which He is most certainly worthy.
Psalm 65:11-12 “You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy.”
What a vivid agricultural image the psalmist wrote where it was said that God will crown our year with bounty, our wagons will overflow with abundance, and our pastures will overflow with blessings….this is all from God. When we obey God, He can choose to bless us, but there is danger in having possession where one owns many possessions but their possessions end up owning them, which is why the psalmist prayed, “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Prov 30:8-9).
Conclusion
The key to having joy is not found in an abundance of possessions but in being content in whatever state you find yourself in, just as the Apostle Paul wrote, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:11-12). We can choose two different tents to live in in life; the tent of discontent or the tent of contentment. You can probably guess which tent dweller slept better.
Article by Jack Wellman
Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.
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