Maneuvers - No. 84
For a Life
Full of Goodness
“There’s not enough!”
Have you ever invited guests over for dinner—only to realize you didn’t buy enough food? Or gone to pay a bill and realized your bank account was several hundred dollars short? Or given a presentation—only to have your boss point out a glaring flaw?
It’s easy to panic at moments like those. We may feel the intense pressure to provide, reach a certain goal, or prove we’re smart or beautiful or talented or moral enough… only to fall short.
And sometimes we can feel that way about our lives in general, too, can’t we? After all, our enemy loves to make us feel as though God hasn’t given us enough or that he made a horrible mistake in how he created us.
But is that true?
In today’s FLAG message, Holy Spirit is exposing some deep-rooted lies we may be believing about him. And about ourselves, too.
Will you join us as we go deeper into the truth—so we can learn to live in a way that is full? Full of joy. Full of peace. Full of love.
Let’s listen…
01.
The Message
“There is much I want to tell you about yourself, beginning with the questions you have about your identity and about whether or not you will feel at peace. You want to feel settled and content with the moment you are in. You grow tired of longing for what you don’t have. You want to see what is here—this life filled with the goodness you struggle to see. The truth is that you are not lacking. You have everything—I have given you everything—you need.
“To abandon the mindset of lack, you first need to acknowledge that this mindset exists—that you are trying to measure up to a standard you feel deep within you. A standard you chase down with a purpose and intention that exhausts you. It keeps you focused on yourself—what you feel you don’t have rather than what you do. Reject this small-minded life. You are not letting me love you here.
“It is holy ground where you are standing, with me. You are welcome here, my true child. You are not an imposter, a problem that needs fixing, a mistake I wish would disappear. I have made you, my delight and perfect one, to stay close to me and participate in living with the security of being loved.
“Be loved by me—receive it deep within you now—and you are free to inhabit your true home of identity and love. You can take risks—stretch your arms and legs, free your mind and heart from fear by loving me and following right now where I lead. Be filled with my love for you. Settle into this true home where you are wanted, chosen, and delighted. I am here for you to fall into now. Let me hold you and heal the places in you that are struggling, in many ways, to believe.”
02.
Listen
Which of the words or sentences above stood out to you most? Could you picture Jesus speaking to you as you read them? How did that feel?
Let’s set a timer for three minutes and write out a prayer in response to this week’s message.
03.
Think
“And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17b-19, MSG).
1. Where do you feel you don’t have enough in life? Or where do you feel you aren’t enough?
2. Where do you struggle with a mindset of lack? What past experiences or relationships may have contributed to that mindset?
3. List three specific ways Jesus demonstrated his love for you this week. What did that look like? How did he love you in a personal way?
04.
Trust
Let’s return to this week’s FLAG message:
“You grow tired of longing for what you don’t have. You want to see what is here—this life filled with the goodness you struggle to see. The truth is that you are not lacking. You have everything—I have given you everything—you need.”
This world can be stingy toward us in many ways, but that’s not how God is. Instead, our Jesus is a King who loves to give—and give abundantly.
To better understand this idea, let’s take a look at several Scriptures that have the word “abundant” in them. Let’s take our time as we read through these passages so we can soak up their rich meaning. (The passages below are all in ESV, but feel free to look up other translations as well.)
Psalm 36:8 — “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.”
Psalm 37:11 — “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.”
Isaiah 55:7 — “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Ezekiel 36:29 — “And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.”
John 10:10 — “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Luke 12:15 — “And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”
2 Corinthians 1:5 — “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort, too.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 — “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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Now, let’s pull out our journals and write down a few observations or insights that we can pull from these verses. Here are a few questions to help us as we think:
What themes or similarities do you notice among these passages?
What different kinds of “abundance” do you see here?
What does God’s abundance look like in our lives according to these verses?
What promises can you identify? Let’s write each one down in a personalized way. (For example, we could write, “Jesus promises to give me life so I can have it abundantly.”)
Now, let’s take a step back and look at what we’ve written… Did Holy Spirit show us anything new or personal? How did our perspective of God or his heart toward us change by studying these verses? How can we bring these truths with us into our week?
Let’s close in prayer…
05.
Pray
Father, I confess where I’ve struggled with feeling like I’m not enough—or that you aren’t enough for me.
Open my eyes to see how abundantly you love me and forgive me. Show me how you delight in me and made me exactly the way you wanted so I could love this world like you do.
I surrender this mentality of lack and scarcity. And I receive your abundance. Fill me with your light so that it overflows and blesses others around me, too.
I love you, Lord—with all my heart.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Waving the banner with you,
