Dr. Ed Young - Abundant Living

TOPICS: Abundance

We’ve been talking about having a life coach for a long time. Then we moved from having a life coach to discussing how we can proceed and progress in our Christian walk. I looked at some verses and reviewed them again. In John 10:10, Jesus said, «I have come that you might have life and might have it abundantly.» I looked again at that word «abundant» or «abundantly,» and it’s such a pregnant word. It means that we are surrounded by beauty, by excellence, by an overwhelming presence. We are surrounded with overflowing ministry to our lives and our needs-that’s the abundant life. I thought, «Am I experiencing that abundant life? Are you experiencing that abundant life?»

Then I looked again at John chapter 15. Remember, Jesus says, «I’m the vine, you’re the branches.» If we just abide in the vine, which is Him, He will hang fruit on our lives. I looked up that fruit, and we need to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I asked myself, «Is some of that beginning to come out in my life? Is it beginning to come out in your life?» Then I remembered that little verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 5: «If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. Old things have passed away; everything has become new.» I asked myself, «Have old things passed away? Is everything becoming new?»

Then I looked at the end of John 15. As we talked about, we will bear fruit, then there’s much fruit, and then there’s more fruit. Jesus says that as He has been obedient to the commandment of the Father, the Father has bathed Him in His love. He says that you and I, if we are obedient to Him and walk with Him, He bathes us in His love. I stopped and said, «Am I being bathed in the love of Jesus Christ? Are you being bathed in the love of Jesus Christ?»

Then, in the latter part of John 15, there is that tremendous Christian word, «joy.» That’s it, isn’t it? So we look at all the benefits of being in Christ, and we back up and ask, «What does it mean to be in Christ?» To be in a relationship doesn’t mean to talk about a relationship; it means to be in a relationship. So when we say we are in Christ, it means that we believe in Jesus and have entered into a relationship with Jesus the Christ.

I can stand and say I believe in that zipline; it will take me across this valley. But I have to clip on and get in that little seat, and then I am on the zipline, right? I believed in it, and now I am on it as I go across the valley. When we’re in Christ, it means that we have been invited and have entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Have you experienced that? Are you experiencing that? Am I experiencing that kind of personal relationship with Christ? I’m in Christ, and you’re in Christ because we’ve entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

You see, everything in the world has a place to belong. Everything. A tree belongs in the ground where it is surrounded and nourished so it can grow. A tree has a place to belong, right? A fish has a place to belong in water, surrounded where it grows, with no danger of being caught by this crowd. But anyway, a fish has a place to belong. A tree has a place to belong. Anything you name in the created order has a place to belong. Human beings, you and I, have a place to belong. Augustine said it best, and to paraphrase, he said, «You will be restless; your life, your heart will be restless until you rest — get this phrase-in Him.» That’s where we find rest. We have a place to belong, but we are restless until we rest in Him and enter into a relationship with Him when He invites us, and we receive Him, and we are in Christ because we’ve entered into Christ.

Therefore, why are we not growing up? Why are we not growing up? So many of us are static in our Christian life. Just something has happened to us; we haven’t matured. We’re not progressing toward the moment of transformation. The scripture passage in Hebrews, in your bulletin, and the passage in 1 Corinthians 13-the love chapter-has a little verse nestled there against all the definitions of love. The verse says, «When I was a child, I spoke as a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things.» No, it goes on and talks about why we are still children. Why are we still immature in Christ? Why are you and I? That doesn’t always have to do with age. Some people who are 70 are very immature, while some people who are 19 are very mature in Christ. What happened to us? We’re still babies.

What’s the characteristic of a baby? Four things: a baby does only four things-sleeps, cries, eats, and poops. That’s it! A baby doesn’t know what’s going on. Babies eat, sleep, cry, and poop. That’s a baby. And the scripture says in Hebrews and the scripture says in Corinthians that some of us who are in Christ, we’ve entered into Christ, but we’re still children. We’re still immature, and we’ve been talking about growing up in Christ. So how do we know that we are in that process of being mature in the Lord? How do we know? What are some signs?

First of all, we have to have a transformed mind. If our minds are being transformed, that’s a clue that we’re growing up. We looked at Romans 12:1 and 2: «How many times be not conformed to this world, but be transformed.» How? By the renewing of your mind. Garbage in, garbage out-computer talk. We renew our mind by what we put in our minds, and we renew it in Christ. The Holy Spirit renews our minds and our thinking because we’re surrounded by the wisdom of the world, natural wisdom, worldly wisdom. We have little clichés, little sayings that describe worldly wisdom. You hear them all the time. We say that’s not true, but yet we are part of that environment. A statement like «the one who has the most toys at the end wins.» Ever heard that one? Or «if you don’t toot your own horn, who will?» Ever heard that one? That’s worldly wisdom.

We’re surrounded by people who operate on that basis-get more, have more, enjoy more. «You only live once; have all the gusto you can.» Worldly wisdom. But also, when we are in Christ, we receive a different kind of mindset. Therefore, we begin to have supernatural wisdom. What does supernatural wisdom do? It works in a different dimension, a different area. We begin to understand phrases like, «He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.» That is supernatural wisdom. «One life to live will soon be passed; only what you’ve done for God will last.» Supernatural wisdom. «I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold.» Supernatural wisdom. «Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.» Supernatural wisdom-not just church talk.

And you see, with this wisdom, this supernatural wisdom, the potential of the mind of Christ is being created in you and me. We have a whole different worldview. So, a mark that we are maturing is that we are developing a transformed mind. Also, another mark that we’re maturing is we’re developing a transformed heart. What makes your heart beat fast? That’s a good question. Think about that. What makes your heart beat fast? Some who follow sports- five years ago when the Aggies were playing Texas, I’m telling you, I was so excited about that game. Who won? You don’t even know, Keith. I mean, what makes our heart beat fast? You know, to determine what makes my heart beat fast gives insight into what our heart is set on. «Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,» as a man thinketh, so is he. If we think one way and develop the mind of Christ, then our heart speaks to us, giving us a passion to follow through on that transformed heart- that’s a sign we’re maturing.

Also, transformed eyes-what do you see? Oh, here we go. Some of us look out, and we have rose- colored glasses. We see everybody as beautiful; everyone’s wonderful; we’re all going to be healthy, rich, and wise, and have fun. Oh, rose-colored glasses! Some just can’t see anything but marvelous stuff. Is that developing mature spiritual eyes? The eyes that Christ would have? Rose-colored glasses-I want to give these away. Who would like some rose-colored glasses? Come right here! Good, good, good! Try them on; I think they’ll fit.

Then we’ve got other kinds. We’ve got this group where everything is bad; they can’t see any good in anybody. There can be 99 great things listed about someone, and this person only focuses on the negatives.

The mind, the heart, the eyes, and the feet-if we’re growing, our feet are being transformed. A lot of us are childlike with our feet in the sense of directions we take. We go where we’re pushed; we go where there’s motivation. We go where we think we’ll look good or where we’ll have pleasure. You see, when we have transformed feet, we have more of a sense of how we’ll spend our time. We talk about tithing-giving 10% of our income or more than that if we’re especially blessed. Nobody tithes their time. Somebody says, «Well, I tithe my time.» Okay, get your calendar out to see how you’re doing? No, you’re not. So, time discipline-transformed feet-a sense of direction in life, a will, a purpose in life-that’s a part of growing up and being matured.

Then finally, we’ll have transformed hands. Oh yeah! If we’re growing in Christ, we’ll have transformed hands. You say, «What are you talking about?» We’ll have hands with what I call kingdom calluses. Tolstoy, in one of his novels, wrote about the ideal czar having a palace in which anyone in his realm could come and be fed and sit at his table. The only qualification was that when they came to the gate, they would say, «Show me your hands.» If your hands were slick, like mine, it meant you didn’t work, and you would not eat with the czar. But if your hands were calloused, they would welcome you in, and you would sit and banquet with the king.

In Matthew 25, at the Judgment, Jesus is on the Judgment seat, remember? A lot of people are there, excited because they think, «Boy, I’m in the Kingdom. I made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, I was baptized in the church, I professed to be a Christian, I’m okay.» And Jesus is going to say, «Let me see your hands.» You may not be okay, because let me see your hands. What do you mean? Because there was a group who thought they were okay, and Jesus said, «No, you’re a bunch of goats. You’re not sheep; you’re goats.» They said, «We thought we were okay.» Jesus said, «I was hungry; you didn’t give me anything to eat. I was thirsty; you didn’t give me anything to drink.» He said to those who thought they were okay because they had professed faith, «I was in prison; you didn’t visit me when I was sick; you didn’t come to see me.» And they said, «Lord, we didn’t know you were hungry or sick; we didn’t know you needed clothes; we didn’t know you were in prison.»

Jesus said, «If you’ve done it unto one of the nobodies, the least of these, you didn’t do it to them; therefore, you didn’t do it to me because that’s who I was.» And they didn’t have calloused hands, and they were condemned. Why? Our profession leads to a life. It leads to maturity. It leads to as we begin to develop a transformed mind, a transformed heart, transformed feet. We develop until we develop transformed hands.

«Show me your hands.» Let me tell you something: The nail-scarred hand of Jesus, when we graduate in this earth, will reach down and be thrilled to take hold of a kingdom-calloused hand that has served in His name. A hand that is scarred by the blood of Jesus loves to hold a hand like that. «Show me your hands.»

Now let’s look at three things-three biblical principles. We will begin in heaven where we left off on earth. Does that worry you? If you’re not developing, it should worry you. Where we leave off here, we’ll begin in heaven. Next point: each will be enjoying God with the capacity we bring with us. Uh-oh! I take it to a basketball game; I love basketball, and I would look at it with one level. Some of you look at it with what you know.

Take me to a symphony with a fabulous orchestra. You who are musicians would enjoy it at one level; I would enjoy it at a lesser level. I’m the loser because I didn’t enjoy it at the level I should have. My ear, my mind, has not been trained like it should. Just like you would enjoy basketball because you haven’t been trained, perhaps, like you should.

So what I’m saying is each of us will be enjoying God with the capacity we bring with us. You say, «Well, there’s going to be ranks in heaven.» Yes, but we don’t know it. That’s the third point: everybody’s cup will be full, but some cups will be larger. That’s heaven! In other words, I’ll have my little teacup there; it’ll be full; I’ll feel okay, but I’ll miss so much. There you’ll have a cup that may be larger, filled to capacity. Mine will be filled to capacity, but it will be deeper because we bring there what we’ve been growing and developing in the Kingdom with our calluses.

So this is the impetus for you and for me to grow up in Christ. To ask the Holy Spirit, «Lord, look at my mind; do some work of transformation there,» and spell it out. Be exact, be specific. Don’t just pray, «Lord, forgive me of all my many sins.» That is silly; name them. That’s serious. Transform my mind, transform my heart, transform my feet. Oh yeah, transform my eyes, transform my hands.

«Let me see your hands.» They’re still hands of a child in Christ. Child, my dad, when I was about 15, had a cerebral hemorrhage right here. My dad was, you’ve heard me say, the hardest-working man that anyone who knew him had ever seen. He held two jobs most of my years at home-two jobs! He would shave at night around 8:30 or 9:00 PM so he wouldn’t be slowed down when going to work the next morning at 4:30. He didn’t want to be slowed down by having to shave. That was my dad! He’d work eight hours, then take a first job, and work another eight hours. That’s how he operated! The hardest-working man you’ve ever seen in your life.

But he had never been sick, really. Out of the blue, he had this cerebral hemorrhage. He had been a Christian for maybe two or three years; he was a babe in Christ. They diagnosed his problem in our little town, but they had nothing to do about it. We didn’t have any funding to go anywhere else, but one of the sisters of my mother had married a man who’d been successful in Malin, Arkansas. They came, and out of his generosity, he arranged for my dad to go to Touro Infirmary in New Orleans to see what they could do about this cerebral hemorrhage. They diagnosed it. They had two ways to approach it: they could cut open the skull and prepare it like an inner tube, or something, but that was high risk in those days. So, they didn' t choose that option. Instead, they went in and blocked off the arteries on one side of the neck.

You’ve got arteries that can function when this artery is clogged up. They blocked the artery to take the pressure off this side. You block here, pressure off here, and that’s what they did. So, they went into the operating room. One of my mother’s sisters was a nurse, and she was allowed to go in there. When they rerouted your blood-that’s literally what happens-your blood is rerouted.

When that happened, my dad died on the operating table. But he was brought back to life and began to recover. When he began to function again, my aunt, who had been there with him when he medically died, asked, «Homer, do you know you died on the operating table?» He said, «Yes, I know that. I went to heaven.» He said, «I was in heaven, and everything was golden.»

Now let me tell you something: a lot of people have all these spooky visions and stuff, and I just look at them twice. Do I have to tell you that was nothing like my dad? He was a redneck among rednecks, a blue-collar guy-no nonsense, period! So when my dad said he went to heaven and that all of heaven was gold, you didn’t have to wonder if he really went; you knew. But he said, «What troubled me was I wanted to stay, but I couldn’t quite understand it. I was a little baby.» He lived another 16 years. I wish I could tell you he became a biblical scholar or a giant, but he did not have that capacity. I can tell you he began to change when he got into the scripture for the first time in his life, and little subtle things began to shift because I’m sure in his trip to heaven he did not want to be a baby.

Grow up in Christ! Grow up in Christ! That’s what He’s calling upon you and me to do: to let the Lord Jesus Christ continue to transform us.