10th Post - The Good Shepherd Con't

Jesus says that if you follow Him you will have life and have it more abundantly. What does Jesus mean here? The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If you follow the teachings of Jesus you will have life free from sin. Does Jesus say if you follow Me you will become rich? What does the Bible say? Jesus praised the widow giving her two mites in the Temple and Jesus was friends with Lazarus from Bethany. Both of these examples show people living the abundant life, one was rich and the other very poor. Being rich, means you may have an abundance of things, but are you really happy and living or are you merely existing? Those of us who are not rich, might look on the rich with envy; we need to follow the teachings of Paul and be content with what ever our situation is at the present (Philippians 4:11 - 13). Clearly Paul understood the teaching of Jesus concerning living life more abundantly. This requires an understanding of God, known only after much time spent walking with God. This is a goal we are to set up for ourselves. James 1:2 is another one of these passages that require an understanding of God. The James passage says to count all trials as joy. I don't know about you, but I still have trouble with thanking God when difficulties come into my life. When you walk with God, your road does not become easier, but the way you react to it changes making the road easier to bear. It is our ability to deal with adversity that makes people stop and watch us. When you walk with God your outlook changes, and you can handle more before you lose it. This is what is meant by long suffering. When we walk with Jesus, we start to shed the attributes of this life and start to put on His attributes, this is a life long commitment. When we die we are the most like Christ we will ever be until Jesus completes us when He comes back. I have run out of space again, to be continued...