“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of site to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke 4:18
When Jesus read the above scripture in the temple to describe His ministry, it not only described what He would do, but what we as Christians are empowered to do as well. The power to bring the good news of the gospel, to heal, to deliver and much more is already on the inside of us through Christ. Christ in us, the hope of glory! We are carriers of this power, and we can use it not only to transform our own lives, but the lives of those around us.
We are called to bring light and life to the world. Jesus declared in John 10:10: “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.” The challenges and trials we face in life do not come from God. They come because we live in a fallen world that is laced with sin. However, when we tap into the power of God within us, we bring light and life to our situations.
The Lord’s will for us is to live an abundant life. He doesn’t want us just to get by and barely make ends meet. He wants us to thrive. As Phillippians 4:19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The Lord has abundantly provided for us. All that we need to do is use our faith to receive what He has already provided. In Psalm 35:27 we can clearly see that God’s will for us is abundance. “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” If the Lord wants His servants to prosper, how much more does He desire us to prosper now that we are His very own children! Just as a Father wants to provide lavishly for His children, the Lord desires to provide for us! In Mathew 7: 7-11 Jesus shows us that even though earthly parents are imperfect, they still desire to give their children good things when they ask. How much more then will our Heavenly Father who is perfect, desire to give us good things when we ask.
When we are prospering and in health, it gives us the ability to bless others and improve their lives. How hard is it for someone to help another person if they are in desperate need themselves. The devil would like nothing more than to keep Christians in poor health and with poor finances. The devil wants to limit our ability to impact others on this planet. However, when we are thriving and in charge, we can impact so many others in a way that lifts their lives and helps them. Let us therefore use our faith to access those abundant life blessings that the Lord desires for us and then let’s pour out those blessings on others! Let us be the salt and the light in the earth that draws others to Christ!
Further reading: Mathew 5:13-16, Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 4:17-2, Psalm 112, Isaiah 60
