"Extraordinary Life"

 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10 KJV)

  "When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died - from the time of Adam to the time of Moses - even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of the one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:12-17 NLT)

 Oh my, where do I start! I might as well start with this title, "Extraordinary Life," as it sums up the mess we might make of this, so called, 'Safety-Net,' when in reality, we should enjoy the freedom that we have been so graciously given. Twice Jesus references, "that they might have," as if there might be a catch; most likely, that is exactly what is being said! 

 Point taken: You can have life, if you believe! You can have life abundantly, if you live out what you believe! It clicked inside of my head, as if there was a light turned on, and everything made sense. In a really strange sort of way, that is what Solomon is trying to put forth, in that very strange book, called, Ecclesiastes. 

 To put it in terms that we can somehow wrap our head around, it really comes down to where our heart is, whether it is stuck in this present world, or whether it has been placed in heaven. Long-story-short, it is already placed in heaven! When we are living as though our heart is stuck here, we become way too far out of sorts; constantly being torn between two worlds and completely frustrated with life.

 The extraordinary life has a whole different reality, because the things of this world become strangely dim, thereby giving us more focus upon the things of heaven, which in turn, gives us more peace and joy: which then, results in the right opportunity to actually love people, because we can actually live as though we are loved by God!  

 I really hope that makes some sort of sense, because without the help from the Holy Spirit, everything I said is pretty much impossible to pull off, and is called something other than successful...

"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. In view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are short-sighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins." (2 Peter 1:3-9 NLT)