From our text, Jesus said the reason why the thief came is to steal, kill and destroy. The
devil’s greatest joy and ministry is to make life miserable for us; thus the devil goes mad
when we are happy. Jesus on the other hand said he came that we might have life and have
it more abundantly.
The Living Bible puts it this way: ‘’The thief’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose
is to give life in all its fullness.’’ I am speaking today essentially on how to maximize your life,
rise to your fullest potential and experience the fullness of God. In John 14: 6 Jesus said, “I
am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of
me.’’ [TLB]
Jesus is saying I am not just the giver of life – ‘’I AM LIFE.’’ Again in John 3: 14 – 16; 36: ‘’And
as Moses in the wilderness lifted up the bronze image of a serpent on a pole, even so I must be
lifted up upon a pole,   so that anyone who believes in me will have eternal life.   For God loved
the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life… ” [TLB].
So if you want to have and enjoy this life, you have to repent of your sins and receive Jesus
into your life as Lord and personal Saviour. So the beginning of enjoying abundant life is to
have Jesus in you. The Bible says, “… all [of us] have sinned and come short of the glory of
God” [Romans 3: 23]; this happened when Adam and Eve sinned and put humanity in
jeopardy, disconnecting man from the life of God and as a result man died spiritually. But
Jesus came to restore us to that life of God; that is why the Bible says, ‘’But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name’’ John 1: 12 [KJV].
If you live a life that is separated from God, you are as good as dead while still living but the
moment you repent and receive Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour, you enter into
life and have life in abundance.
HOW DO WE ENTER INTO THIS LIFE OF ABUNDANCE
When I became born again some 52 years ago, I decided to go to God in prayers to know
the key to maximizing life. The Lord took me to this scripture: ‘’But this I say, He which
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully’’ [2 Corinthians 9:6 KJV]. I kept praying to understand the meaning of this
scripture and the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying ‘’IT IS WHAT YOU PUT INTO LIFE THAT YOU
WILL GET OUT OF IT.’’ If you put much into life you will get much out of life and vice versa.
After the encounter, I determined to give my best and my all to life and people thought I
was crazy and called me all sort of names. Soon after, I went into full time ministry and
moved to the North when it became clear that God wants me to go up north and start His
work there. When I arrived, I started preaching the Gospel everywhere and in the course of
time All Christian Fellowship Mission was birthed.

To experience this life in abundance, we have to do what Paul did in Philippians 3: 11 – 16:
“ So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive
from the dead.   I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I
keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me
to be… but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and
looking forward to what lies ahead… the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven
because of what Christ Jesus did for us…” [TLB] Paul already had the life of Christ in him but
how would he have this life of abundance? The more he knows Him; the more he lives in
the newness of life. How far we are willing to go with God, will determine our enjoyment of
this abundance of life; the greater the sacrifice the greater the blessing.
‘’Later on, God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience” [Genesis 22: 1 – 12]. After what
Abraham went through before having a son, God still required Abraham to sacrifice his son
to Him. Many of us would have said this is not God; it is the handy work of the devil and
would do everything to resist it. Abraham, when he got to the place of sacrifice, bound Isaac
and lifted up his sword to sacrifice him. At that moment God spoke from heaven
acknowledging Abraham’s love and blessed him: “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven…and as the sand which is upon
the sea shore… And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice.”
When we talk about experiencing life in all its fullness we are referring to the example of
Solomon. 1kings 3: 3 – 13, it started with the words ‘’Solomon loved the Lord…’’ It was out of
the love that Solomon had for the Lord that he made an unequalled sacrifice – a thousand
burnt offerings that shook heaven and God said to Solomon what do you want me to do for
you? From Solomon’s request, you will know that his motive was not for material blessings
but out of genuine love for God and deep appreciation for His mercies on him and his
family. In Solomon’s place, some of us would have asked for the whole Africa not just
Nigeria! But Solomon only requested for wisdom to govern his people aright. In return God
granted him his request and went on to give him what he did not ask for. If we would only
act like Solomon, the Lord would do same for us. We have to be willing to pay any price to
put smiles on the face of God in order to experience life in all its fullness.
Again, II Corinthians 8: 1 – 7 say, ‘’Now I want to tell you what God in his grace has done for
the churches in Macedonia.   Though they have been going through much trouble and hard
times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an
overflow of giving to others. They gave not only what they could afford but far more… They
begged us to take the money so they could share in the joy of helping the Christians in
Jerusalem. Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to
dedicate themselves to the Lord’’ [TLB].
This is a church that was going through very hard and difficult times but decided to be the
first church to send relief when they heard that there was famine in Jerusalem. The
Apostles said to them you have nothing why disturb yourselves, but they begged them to
allow them support the church in Jerusalem. The Bible records that they gave much more
than they had and so Paul commended them and use them as an example of what other
Christians should be doing.

Other examples of how to live the abundant life are found in John 12: 1 – 8, where “… Mary
took a jar of costly perfume made from essence of nard, and anointed Jesus’ feet with it and
wiped them with her hair…” [TLB]. Jesus said this thing Mary did will be told of her
anywhere this Gospel is preached. She did it in appreciation for what Jesus had done by
raising Lazarus from the dead. Judas Iscariot called it a waste of resources; but Jesus had to
shut him up. There is nothing we do for the kingdom of God that is a waste; no price is too
great to pay if you consider what He did for us through Christ to bring us salvation.
In conclusion, let us consider one other example in the book of Exodus 35: 4 – 9, 20 – 22;
36: 4 – 7: Then Moses said to all the people, “This is what the Lord has commanded: All of you
who wish to, all those with generous hearts, may bring these offerings to Jehovah… But finally
the workmen all left their task to meet with Moses and told him, “We have more than enough
materials on hand now to complete the job!” So Moses sent a message throughout the camp
announcing that no more donations were needed… the people were restrained from bringing
more! [TLB] Moses gave a command to stop people from further giving towards the
building of the tabernacle of God! In other words they were pressing to give more but had
to be restrained. Why have I cited these examples? It is because we believe God to change
the mentality of All Christians Fellowship Mission members all over the world and to give
us understanding to live life in a way that attracts abundance.
The richest life any man can live is to use whatever they have to make impact, advance the
kingdom of God and help people. We came into this life with nothing and we shall go with
nothing. God wants us to live our lives anchored on the attitude of thanksgiving for His
mercies, salvation and goodness and become generous to a fault! God does not want us to
neglect our responsibilities but in taking care of our obligations we must live a generous
life; that is the key to abundant living. May God help us to embrace this and live life to the
max to the glory of God.
QUOTES:
“It is what you put into life that you will get out of it. If you put much into life you will get
much out of life and vice versa’’
“How far we are willing to go with God, will determine our enjoyment of this abundance of
life; the greater the sacrifice the greater the blessing.”
“God does not want us to neglect our responsibilities but in taking care of our obligations
we must live a generous life; that is the key to abundant living.