10 Things I'Ve Learned As a Believer — E.A. Johnston

The Abundant Life Promised by Jesus

I have been a Christian a long time, and I've learned a few things through the years, friends, and I'd like to share some of these things with you this evening. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it abundantly.

Experiencing God and Embracing the Cross

And I want to share these principles with you that I have learned in the abundant life of Christ, and the first is this, friends, God cannot be explained, but he can be experienced. Number two, if you want more of Jesus, then be prepared to have more of his cross.

Number three, we cannot make God move, but he can move us. Number four, it's not the amount of prayer that counts, but the agony in prayer that gains his ear. Number five, true repentance is a painful process because through it, our darling idols are ripped from us permanently.

Number six, revival is not only possible, it is probable, as long as we are expendable. Number seven, God builds his servants through his divine process of reducing and decreasing. Gold must be reduced to its purity in the furnace of affliction.

Divine Refining and Spiritual Pruning

A branch must be trimmed back and decreased before it can grow more fruit. And if we desire usefulness to God, then we must submit both to the refiner's fire and the divine pruning knife. Number eight, be willing to be reduced to nothing so he can be everything through you.

God's Word and Christ's Worth

Number nine, God's word is true, and he is true to his word. And lastly, number ten, Jesus is not only wonderful, he is worth it. And it is my prayer, friends, that as we ponder on these things before we go to our own time of prayer, that each of us will have a more abundant life in Christ as we go to our knees right now.

Prayer for a More Abundant Life

Let us pray for a richer, more abundant life in him. Let us pray.