So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
(Mark 10:29-30 NKJ)
What a powerful scripture this is. Jesus had just finished telling a wealthy young man to sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him. It’s too bad that this young man didn’t stick around to hear, “the rest of the story!” Instead he walked away from the abundance of God sad.
There is a powerful truth contained within the Word of God and that is the Law of Abundance. No where in the Bible can you find that God wants you broke, beaten down, depressed, or experiencing lack. God wants you to live in abundance! In fact, these are the exact words that Jesus spoke in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
I want you to look at the three areas that I have underlined in the scripture above. All three of these areas give us an idea of God’s plan for abundance. The first section states, “Now in this time”. God’s plan for abundance is not reserved for heaven, His plan includes “now in this time!” In fact, look at the last section that I underline it states, “and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Here we see that Jesus also spoke of our eternity. In other words Jesus was talking about the abundance of God that is to be in our lives here on earth and the abundance that we will experience with Him in eternity. This is a powerful truth in the Word of God because if we think, say, or live our lives in a way that does not expect abundance now in this time we are walking away from the Word of God just as the rich man did.
Many will justify their lives as living in the abundance of the Word of God because they are able to pay their bills plus have a little left over for a few “extras” in life. However, that is not what Jesus said. If you look at the second section that I underlined you will see that Jesus said you will receive so much that you will be persecuted for it.
Ask yourself the question, “Have I ever had so much abundance that people gave me a bad time for having so much?” If the answer is no then you have not experienced all that God has for you.
Jesus Himself said that if we put Him first before everything that we have, that whatever we walk away from will come back to us in such a great proportion that it will cause people to say things like, “You’re suppose to be a Christian why do you have so much?”
The abundance of God is very real and even though Jesus was dealing directly with financial abundance in this passage, God’s abundance is not limited to the area of finances. Remember Jesus’ words in John 10:10. He said that He had come so that we could have life more abundantly!
All areas of our life should be defined by abundance. This would include our health, our wealth, our family, our friendships. Anything that is part of your life should experience the abundance of God.
Don’t walk away from the Word as this young man did. Embrace the Word of God no matter how hard it may appear because as James tells us, “only good gifts come from the Father.” We serve an awesome God that loves us so much that He gave His only Son so that we could walk in the power of abundant life!
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Pastor David Shipman is one of the founding pastors of Fellowship of Hope and presently serves as the Senior Pastor. He employs a very aggressive and responsive attitude toward the Word of God. Believing whole heartedly Jesus’ Words found in Mark 9:23, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
Through a positive focus on the Word to edify and build up believers, Pastor David’s ministry focuses on the power of God in an individual’s life through a personal relationship grounded in faith and obedience with Him.
Pastor David has been raised in church since the age of four. During his life he has been active in many aspects of ministry within the church. Although knowing he was called to a public ministry by the age of 12, the realization of his calling was not manifested until the birth of Valley Worship Center. Until the age of 35 Pastor David was very successful in the financial sector while serving in another church. In 1996, the Lord started moving him towards the fulfillment of his calling.
Pastor David’s public ministry was given birth with the formation of Fellowship of Hope in August 1997. Since that time God has opened many doors extending his ministry beyond the local church. Pastor David has been part of the Board of Directors of Love INC (In the Name of Christ) of Tulare County since January 1999 and on the Western District Board of Directors of the I.M.A. (International Ministerial Association) since 1999 and presently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer.