“Jesus hasn’t brought us into the family of God just to make our dreams come true.
Our dreams are always too small.
We are here to fulfill God’s dream:
That we will bring Him glory through a remarkably abundant life.
That’s how we find our greatest personal fulfillment, now and for eternity.”
–Bruce Wilkinson
(Secrets of the Vine, Multnomah, 2001)
No wonder some folks have been dissatisfied. They thought the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10 meant an abundance of enjoyment – free from problems and pain, and a life of plenty – free from want.
God just wasn’t big enough, not big-hearted enough, to make it happen – or so they thought.
Turns out their dreams of personal satisfaction or success are not too big for God to fulfill. They’re too small. He has grander plans for each one of us.
In fact, God has one over-arching vision statement that applies to all his children. Paul explained it like this:
“We who had already fixed our hope on the Messiah might live for his praise and glory” (Ephesians 1:12, ISV).
God wants us to live for the praise and glory of himself. That’s God’s bottom line.
Now someone is going to say, “That sounds rather self-serving to me!”
Truth is, when God created us, he put a craving for himself within us. To know him and be known by him, to experience him is a God-given pleasure that nothing else can satisfy. That’s the gateway to the abundant life–the God-enhanced life.
“OK,” someone else may say. “But spending all day praising God and giving him credit for everything isn’t my idea of abundant living. Where’s the satisfaction, the adventure, the fun in that?”
I’d ask, “Have you tried it?”
Gratitude would be a good place to begin. Gratitude for what God has already done satiates the soul. We start to realize how much we already have.
Gratitude becomes an adventure. How many things can I identify today for which I’m grateful?
Gratitude becomes fun because it fills the heart with joy, which naturally leads to praising him and giving him the credit for everything positive.
His blessings do provide an abundant life:
- Eternity in heaven (John 14:2-3)
- Access to God at any time, through prayer (Hebrews 14:6)
- His loving care through life’s ups and downs (1 Peter 5:7)
- Wisdom to determine right action from wrong (James 1:5)
- Joy that is independent of circumstances and defies logic (Psalm 16:11)
- Freedom from worry and fear (John 14:27)
Of course, that’s only the beginning of a long list. Each one is a wondrous and precious gift. Our Heavenly Father most certainly deserves continual praise for all he has done.
In addition to gratitude, each of us–no matter who we are, where we live, or what we do–can display the excellencies of our God – his loving kindness, grace, mercy, wisdom and more – to those around us. Each of us can be obedient to his Word, helpful and generous to others.
And all the while we are giving God the glory–the credit–for who we are becoming and for what we’re able to do. We’re expressing gratitude for all his benefits and praise for all his attributes, which he pours into our lives.
This is how we fulfill God’s dream and, as a natural, God-engineered consequence, we also find great personal fulfillment.
* * * * * * * * * *
Heavenly Father, I do not want my attention side-tracked by small dreams. I want to fulfill your grand dream for me: that I might bring you glory through an abundant life of enthusiastic worship and service. You are majestic, holy, all-powerful, completely trustworthy, good and loving to your people. You are more than worthy of every word of praise and every kind deed accomplished in your name—period. But you grant us deep, satisfying, personal fulfillment as we bring you glory. We stand in awe of your magnificence and grace!
(Photo credit: http://www.fromhispresence.com.)
From the Inside Out 
Amen! Our dreams are too small. Something the Lord has opened my eyes to see is how small my vision is and how much greater His plans are for me. He is a big God and His dreams are big. Love the quote from Bruce Wilkinson. I just started reading that book. I think it goes along with a quote from John Piper that goes something like, “Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Many of us get that we are meant to worship and glorify God, but don’t realize we get to enjoy Him too!
You are so right–enjoying God IS a big part of the abundant life. Thank you for your insightful observations, and the quote from John Piper.
Amen!
Oh, yes. So be it–every day–to live out God’s grand dream! Thank you, Janet.
I love your sentence about gratitude being fun. Yes lots of joy when we focus on all we have been given and all the blessings yet to come. God is good!
All the time–God is good! Thank you, Jean, for being such a loyal follower.
Perfect! If anything explains and clarifies that my will should be molded after God’s Will for my life…this is it! My personal dreams for my life didn’t happen; God had BIGGER dreams and plans for me, plans that are still unfolding every day. And I am confident that I have the JOY in my life that He wished me to have. Sure, there are times of discontent, uncertainty, unhappiness, grief, and fear (curves certainly put forth by the devil to throw me off track); but as you as you stated above, living the abundant life by focusing upon the many blessings He has and is bestowing upon me is much more fulfilling than whining about my own requests not being granted. Not only does the Lord provide eternal life…he sticks with us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as we navigate our way through our earthly journey…which without His help would be impossible! He is accessible 24/7, and reassures me again and again in His Word not to be fearful or worry. Since this post…I am looking at the abundant life in a new way. Thanks, Nancy!
Cheri, I love your sweet spirit and humble heart. Thank you for your faith-filled comments and encouragement. May the joy you already know be multiplied!
I laughed when I read “Sounds rather self-serving to me”. I’ve actually heard people say this about God. Something about wanting to do things ‘My way’. It’s hard to make them understand that they were created to worship Jesus Christ, and that’s what’s going to make them happy. Thanks for some pointers on how to make this clear to them.
The enemy is adept at playing up people’s dissatisfactions and playing down the truth of the Bible. He cleverly leads folks to believe that they know better than God what will make them happy. Our greatest influence is to exemplify a life of positivity, gratitude, and praise, to demonstrate real joy. ( “Lord, help me be that kind of person!”) And thank you, Ruth, for your encouragement.
Thanks. Loved all comments. mine disappeared! You are so good with words.
Oh, thank you, Tedi. It warms my heart to know this post ministered to your heart. Praise God for his inspiration and his prodding!
Amen! I know my own focus at times is on “me” and that’s when I find myself the most dissatisfied. But when my eyes are on God and what he wants I find greater joy!
In just a few word you deftly summarized the way to joy-filled living: Keep your eyes on God and what he wants. Thank you, Tresa!