Devotional: Abundance

The God that the Christian knows and serves is a God of abundance. There is absolutely no lack in Him. Jesus exemplifies this when His disciples come to Him in John 4, asking him if he has had anything to eat. His reply is that his sustenance comes not just from food but from doing his Father’s will (John 4:34). He goes on to show us first, that His resources are abundant. Second, that the harvest of His work is abundant. And third, that the number of partners that His followers have in his work is abundant. He’s a God of abundance. And therefore the primary shift that we need to make is one of perspective. When we see God’s abundance we will then begin to reap in abundance.

Questions for Meditation

1. God’s transformation comes by the renewing of our minds (Ephesians 4:23). And a major component of our new thinking is going from a mind settled in a natural perspective to a mind established in a supernatural perspective. What needs to change in your perspective to bring you to a consistently supernatural perspective?
2. It’s important to have a supernatural perspective on your personal calling—all Christ-followers are in full-time ministry. What’s the ministry that God has given you for this phase of your life? And what steps can you take to grow that ministry?
3. In other places Jesus tells us his harvest is plentiful—in other words, the effective fruit of Christian ministry is ready to be experienced (Matthew 9:37). The Holy Spirit is softening people’s hearts to begin a relationship with Himself. What’s keeping you from being a reaper in this amazing harvest?
4. We need to resist the thought that this sowing and reaping is something we do in isolation. Jesus’ words stand in stark contrast to that individualistic idea. Are you prone to a very individual view of your calling? Who are the people that God has sovereignly placed around you as partners in ministry?
5. The work of ministry that Jesus has given us is one that we are supposed to “rejoice in together” (John 4:36). There’s a joy in the work that only comes from a soul that is at rest in Christ. What does it mean to minister and live from a place of joyful rest?
6. How does the fact that we reap the harvest that we didn’t sow bring us  to a consistent place of humility?
7. What are you believing God will do by His supernatural might this week?