Living in Heaven’s Riches

Jesus wants you to know Him – His thoughts, His ways, His glory, and His Word. He longs for every believer to live an abundant and full life, overflowing with God’s goodness. His teachings in the Gospels confirm this:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10 NASB).

Jesus did not come to give us a life filled with lack, poverty, and misery. He not only came to give us life in its abundance, He is abundant life (see John 14:6).

A few years back, a very well-educated Christian leader challenged me on my belief regarding living an abundantly blessed life filled with the treasures of Heaven. He said, “I believe you are blessed when you are poor, and God wants His people to embrace suffering.” He then proceeded to expound on his beliefs with numerous theological confirmations from his academic studies, attempting to persuade me to believe that God even intentionally afflicts people with poverty, sickness, and tragedy, so they can learn to be blessed in their sufferings.

I stood a little shocked and inquired of him, “Do you believe there is poverty, lack, sickness, and suffering in Heaven?” He answered a definite “no.” I confirmed that Jesus taught us to pray to the Father, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus also taught and declared that He came to give us life in its abundance; it is the enemy who steals, kills, and destroys.

At the end of our conversation, we agreed to disagree, but my conviction to preach Christ’s Gospel of abundant life intensified greatly as a result of that dialogue. Jesus came to destroy the works of the evil one, not to empower them (see 1 John 3:8). When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you have His life living in you. His life in you is eternal life, pure life, good life, glorious life, rich life – abundant life! You are walking around with abundant life within. You are a container for His life, and you can have that life spilling out into all that pertains to you and to everyone around you.

Heaven has no lack – only abundance of provision, health, peace, joy, and love. The very atmosphere of Heaven is filled with the abundance of all things, and Jesus is the very source of that abundant life. He is your access into the abundance of heavenly places, so it is important to honor and desire Him above all else. Heavenly riches such as material provision, health, strength, wisdom, power, blessed relationships, righteousness, talents, and gifting are all part of the “love-package” He gives freely to all who believe in Him. Jesus is so extravagantly generous that He gives us every heavenly blessing and every earthly blessing. Everything that one needs to live an abundant and blessed life was already given to you two thousand years ago through Christ’s finished work on the cross.

What great treasures: every blessing in Heaven and every blessing that pertains to life and godliness in the earth! That is mega extravagance! Abundant life includes all those blessings, but again, we must remember that abundant life is a Person. God wants you to have an abundance of His blessings, and He has given you all things through the eternal covenant Christ secured for you on the cross.

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Excerpted from Accessing the Riches of Heaven by Patricia King. Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. ©2019 Used by permission.