As we come into this New Year and perhaps even set new goals for ourselves, I thought, what would I most desire for my life this year? What word comes to my mind and heart as an expression of who I want to be? This is the word that I believe God gave me: Thrive. I believe God wants me to thrive, and indeed He desires that we all thrive as His children. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us, “The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God is our good shepherd. He protects us from the thief who often wreaks havoc in our lives. But when we meditate on who God is and how He saves and helps us, we grow stronger in the fight for faith. In this verse, Jesus shows us that He not only brings life, but He brings abundant life! To me, to thrive is to embrace God’s abundant life for us. In this lesson, I want to explore in what ways God provides us with an abundant life so that we can face this new year with the strength of His Word and promises over us. God has provided blessings and promises for all the dimensions of our life: Mind, Heart, Body, Spirit, Soul, Work and Purpose, Relationships, Faith and Prayer, and Hope. Let’s look more closely at each of these dimensions and see how God blesses us with Abundant Life!
Mind
God has provided us with Wisdom and Truth to guide us in our lives for our welfare. Proverbs chapter 2 shows us that when we search for wisdom as for hidden treasures and cry out for it, we will find the knowledge of God, saying in verses 6-12:
For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of His faithful ones. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; prudence will watch over you; and understanding will guard you; It will save you from the way of evil, from those who speak perversely, who forsake paths of uprightness…
The Lord provides us so many precious promises through the wisdom and truth He gives us if we just seek for it with all our hearts. We must but seek the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2 exhorts us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. What is one way we can do this? Philippians 4:8 also exhorts us, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” This new year, let’s pursue this wisdom through a faithful study of His Word and through prayer. Let’s renew our minds that He may guide us in the way of right and protect us from evil. In these promised blessings, we will be able to thrive!
Heart
Psalm 73:6 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” So God gives our heart strength when we may grow discouraged and afraid. He gives us confidence. Jesus told us in John 16:33, “In this world you face persecution, but take heart, I have conquered the world.” For all the ways the devil and those who might be serving him persecute us and challenge us daily, our Jesus has already overcome on our behalf! We must but trust in Him, rest in Him, and take heart and have courage that He will protect and deliver us in faith. He is faithful and just and we can have faith truthfully. Praise God Almighty!
When we are down, or heartbroken, we can also rest in the comfort God provides us in our hearts. Psalm 34:18 shows us, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” When we are faced with such times, we can know that He is with us ready to comfort and save us. When we sin and feel heartbroken, we can trust in God’s forgiveness. King David could attest to this, showing us God’s promise to receive and comfort us in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.” Finally, we can trust that God will not let our suffering go to waste because Paul shows us in 2 Cor 1:3-4 saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolations, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we are consoled by God.”
God fills our hearts with love and calls us likewise to love Him as a bride loves her bridegroom. The love with which our Savior loves us as John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life”—this love is a passionate love beyond our understanding and God puts it to burn within our hearts and keep us in the awareness of His presence in us. Song of Solomon 8:6 describes this saying, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave.” The Lord Jesus is the seal upon our heart and His love was strong as His death and His passion for us laid Him in a grave for three days. This love God has promised us is a secure vow. Isaiah 54:10 shows us His promise and covenant with us, stating, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” For all the love God loves us with, we too are called to love Him with all our hearts in Deuteronomy 6:5 which states, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” So let us, remember to thank God in our hearts each day for His great love for us and to adore and worship Him from the heart each and every day.
Body
With countless healing miracles in the New Testament, Jesus shows us that He is indeed, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer. He healed the blind, the sick, the lame, the deaf, the demonized, delivering them from the sickness of this fallen world by the power of God within His Spirit. Jesus not only healed the body from sickness, but even when it was too late to heal, He raised many from the dead, giving life to the body of Lazarus for example, whose body had already begun to smell from being dead for four days! Jesus is able to breathe life into the dust from which He molded Adam and made Eve from his rib to give the first human beings a living body in this world.
In the book of Acts, Peter addressed the crowd with a word form king David, saying in verse 2:25-28, “’I saw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; moreover my flesh will live in hope. For You will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.” When we hold the Lord always before us, we are firm in our faith and our flesh and body lives in the hope of being raised from the dead one day, just like God did not let Jesus’ body see “corruption” so too will He do the same for us, His children.
Spirit
When God blew the breath of life into Adam, the “breath” that animated his body was his spirit—an extension of God’s own Holy Spirit animating his body with life. (Interestingly, in Hebrew the word for spirit is “nefesh” and in Farsi, my mother tongue, the word for breath is “nafas.”) This spirit can experience many unique expressions described in the Bible and we need God to provide us with His Holy Spirit in our spirit to experience His nature within us. In Psalm 51:10-12, David pleads with the Lord after his sin of adultery and murder, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me to the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” A new and right and willing spirit comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. In this new year, we need to ask God to grant us His Holy Spirit just like He poured out His Holy Spirit on the new believers in the book of Acts in chapter 2. The New Testament describes several gifts of the Spirit God provides such as the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy or the gifts of teaching and evangelism. Part of thriving is to walk in the particular gifts that God provides each one of us. So this year, ask God to reveal to you your particular spiritual gifts and ask Him to show you how He wants to use them to serve His kingdom.
In Isaiah 11:1-3, we see that God gave Jesus several spirits from His Holy Spirit and these spirits we can seek. It states, “The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.” So too can we pray to find our delight in the fear of the Lord. This is a key aspect of thriving—to worship God with reverence and awe and pursue His will in willing obedience, faithful to the guiding of His Holy Spirit within us.
The last way God blesses our spirit to thrive is a big one—He gives us the fruits of His Spirit! Paul describes these fruits in Galatians 5:22, listing them, “the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Psalm 16:11 says, “You show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Isaiah described some of this joy in chapter 61 verses 10-11 of his book, stating, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Jesus has married us in His saving grace, decking us in the wedding garment of His own pure robe of righteousness and in this we can exult and rejoice!
Indeed, Peter further describes in 1 Peter 1:8, “Although you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” This joy in our spirit may just be one of the many fruits, but it is a very important part of thriving in God’s abundant life. When we carry the joy of God with us, it is infectious and reveals God’s Spirit to those around us, drawing them to faith in Christ, to their own salvation too. So, let us pursue the gifts and fruits of God’s Spirit this year even as we worship Him in holy fear.
Soul
Throughout this teaching so far, we have seen through scripture that God saves our soul from the Pit, from corruption, and strengthens our souls when we feel weary and discouraged. We just saw that we rejoice over the salvation of our souls. Psalm 19:7 states, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;” So God’s Word and laws revive us in our souls and this is another way God blesses our souls—with His Word. Psalm 23:1-3 states, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for His name’s sake.” Jesus called Himself the “good shepherd,” probably referencing this psalm of David in part, showing us that He cares for us as for His precious flock, each sheep known by name and unique. He takes us into broad and lush spaces in our lives and helps us to abide in peace by the still waters of His Spirit. In these ways He restores our world weary souls to the health, wholeness, and well-being of the state of being called “shalom.”
Sometimes we long for something so deeply that we yearn for it with our very souls. Psalm 107:9 states, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” Isaiah 26:8 says, “In the path of Your judgments, O LORD, we wait for You; Your name and remembrance are the desire of our souls.” Psalm 42:1 states, “As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God.” Our souls desire and yearn for God. We need to be faithful to our desire for Him and kindle and fan that flame daily in pursuit of Him through worship and prayer. This yearning is a part of thriving in our lives because God is faithful to satisfy this longing with the “good things” of His Presence and peace. Jeremiah 6:16 says, “Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” So too, must we look for God’s will and way in our days. In this way we will walk with His peace resting in our souls. This is one powerful way we can thrive in our new year.
Work and Purpose
An important part of our lives in God is serving Him with our work and purpose. Indeed, we ourselves are the work of His hands. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” So, we know a part of our purpose in life is to complete the good works that God has prepared for us not only for us to complete, but to be our way of life. A part of thriving is to be about the business of these good works. How can you serve your community this year? Do you feel God calling you to a particular need in your community or in your church or circle of friends and family? Is there some way you can help others with your gifts? How can we bear fruit for God’s kingdom?
These are important questions for us to ask and try to answer so that we may thrive in the life God has given us. And we can pray to Him to do this even as we trust in His faithfulness to do so. Psalm 138:8 says, “The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.” Also, Philippians 1:4-6 says, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” So we have a purpose in God which He himself has begun to work in us that we partner in the gospel with joy. An important part of thriving is to embrace this purpose and work willingly with God to bring it to completion—seeking His will and Spirit, seeking out the lost to minister His love and truth to the world around us.
One final prayer with regard to purpose is found in Psalm 20:4 which says, “May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.” This is our prayer for this year! That God will give us the desire of our hearts and make all the plans that He Himself places within our hearts to succeed, even as we lift up the banner of His love over our lives and shout for joy over our victory!
Relationships
Matthew 19:29 says, “And everyone who ahs left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.” When we choose to follow Jesus, we may end up losing those in our life who do not come with us, even our own close family members; but, what we gain is tremendous and invaluable: the family of God. 1 John 3:1-2 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” Similarly, Ephesians 2:19 says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…” Being redeemed into His family as His children is not just the change of an official standing in life, but also a cry of our hearts. Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Indeed, God has redeemed us from the fear inspired by sin, death, and the devil into the comfort of being one of His own beloved children. We can thrive in the courage that this brings into our lives. We can take risks and love with all our hearts those around us, whether our friends, family, brothers and sisters in the faith, or even the strangers in our community.
Not only are we all brothers and sisters as children of God in His household, but indeed we are also brothers of Jesus Himself, who sanctifies us, as Hebrews 2:11 states, “For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers…” Also, Romans 8:29 states, “For those whom He foreknew He also destined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.” However, Jesus expects our obedience as His family member. In Matthew 12:46-50, His mother and brothers came to speak to him but He was preaching, and so someone in the crowd told him they wanted to speak to Him, but He said to them, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” So we must pursue the will of God and be obedient to it in order to truly thrive in our lives and be in the household of God as His children and Jesus’ brothers and sisters.
Indeed, Jesus even calls us “friends” if we show Him we love Him by obeying His will. And what is His will? That we love one another. In John 15:12-17, He leaves parting words with His disciples just before His death, saying, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. You did not choose Me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask Him in My name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” Thus, as Jesus’ friends, we thrive by bearing eternal fruit for Him by loving each other with His love and bringing Him glory with our lives. So let us do this with all our hearts in this new year and live God’s law of love in this family He has given us!
Prayer and Faith
Finally, just as Jesus told us we can have whatever we ask in His name in the passage of John we just read, so too God has given us the gift of prayer to show us He is listening to our needs and indeed knows them and seeks to answer them even before we ask! Psalm 139:4 states, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.” Psalm 55:16 says, “But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I utter my complaint and moan, and He hears my voice.” Even when we don’t know what to pray, God prays for us. Romans 8:26 states, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Finally, when we learn to pray God’s will, we can have sound faith that He hears us and will answer us for 1 John 1:14-15 says, “And this is the confidence that we have towards Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked of Him.” So a great part of thriving is that we are blessed to get to pray to a God who hears us and answers our call. We can reach out to Him daily this upcoming year and pray in strong faith for anything we need to do His will.
So what is this faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Jesus once told His disciples (in Mark 11:22-24), “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Indeed, it is Jesus’ very presence in our heart that founds our faith with such conviction. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul prays a powerful prayer over the church, stating in verse 3:16-19, “I pray that, according to the riches of His glory, He may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through His Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
This is our prayer as we seek to thrive in this upcoming year: to be filled with the Spirit of our Lord in our hearts and our beings—to be filled with all the fullness of God!
Hope
Prayer and faith secures us the promise of Hope in God’s saving grace. In this we thrive. There is nothing worse than the despair of hopelessness. This often leads people to suicide. Victor Frankl noticed in his time at a Nazi concentration camp that those who didn’t have hope in a purpose died while those who had hope survived even when faced with starvation, torture, and despair. Hope is deeply important to thriving in life and it is one grace that God has secured for us in Jesus and His sacrifice for us. While the Bible has much to say about Hope, I want to just focus on one key scripture that shows us how this hope in God’s promise of salvation functions in our lives: as the very anchor of our souls. Hebrews 6:17-20 states, “In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Jesus is our high priest interceding on our half before the throne of God, having entered the holy of holies to apply His own blood to the mercy seat of God’s heavenly temple, even the temple of our hearts, the inner shrine, where His Spirit rests in us. The hope of His intercession is so sure, so steadfast, so secure that it is an anchor for our souls. In this security of God’s faithfulness to save us can we rejoice and walk in strength and confidence, thriving in our lives—fearlessly facing all that comes our way with courage and love.
By embracing all these amazing blessings and graces that God provides for us in all the facets of our lives we can truly Thrive and live for His glory! So let us live with gratitude and praise day by day as we walk in our purpose in His love. Let us cry out as David did in Psalm 103:1-3 saying, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits—who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”
Indeed! Let us praise His Holy Name and thrive in this New Year! Amen!