Living & Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life – Lesson 4 – Abounding With God’s Gift’s

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Thesis As I receive and enjoy God’s gifts my everyday life becomes the place where I abound — finding purpose, fulfillment, and peace through salvation, work, family, friends, and church as I live my R.E.A.L. life with God.

Series Affirmation My R.E.A.L. life is both spiritual and practical as I receive, enjoy, abound in, and love God and His gifts. R — Receiving God’s gifts E — Enjoying God’s gifts A — Abounding in God’s gifts L — Loving God & His gifts

 

Review and Introduction

 

This is Lesson Four in our six lesson series — Living and Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life.

Series Goal: To free Christians from the false belief that their spiritual life and their real life are divided, and to help them live and enjoy their R.E.A.L life in fellowship with God.

 

In Lessons One through Three we established:

• God designed one life — shared with Him through every ordinary moment and responsibility.
• The very things keeping us busy — work, relationships, and daily life — are gifts from God to be received with thanksgiving.
• Enjoying God’s gifts means being intentional to engage with them and include God in those moments through conversation, thanksgiving, scripture, and prayer.

 

In Lesson Four we focus on the A — Abounding in God’s gifts.

As we learn to receive and enjoy God’s gifts something begins to happen — we start to thrive. We find purpose in our work, fulfillment in our relationships, and peace even in hard seasons. That is what abounding looks like. In this lesson we discover that God designed our everyday life to be the place where we abound in Him.

Abounding Defined

 

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

 

Jesus is not describing a life of mere survival or basic existence. The word abundantly here means exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure — a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate. Jesus came to offer a quality of life that exceeds expectations. God desires us to share in His abundance.

This does not mean God promises material wealth in this life. The abundant life Jesus describes is first and foremost spiritual — forgiveness, purpose, peace, fulfillment, and the presence of God woven through every moment of our lives. But God does provide for our needs in this life and promises the fullness of His material blessing in eternity.

Psalm 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

 

David is describing a life free from anxiety and lack — not because he had everything the world could offer but because he had the Shepherd. When Jesus is our shepherd we live with a confidence and peace that the world cannot produce or take away. We are resting in the care of a God who knows our needs and provides for them. That freedom from anxiety — that settled peace in the middle of an uncertain world — is abounding.

So abounding in God’s gifts means thriving in the life He designed for us — finding purpose, fulfillment, and peace through every gift He gives, in every season of life, as we walk with Him.

The Gift of Salvation

 

Every gift we have discussed in this series is meaningful because of this one foundational gift. Salvation is where abounding begins.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

 

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

 

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”

 

Scripture describes eternal life as a gift from God — the greatest gift that ever came down from the Father of lights. With salvation we receive peace with God — the separation sin produced is replaced with fellowship. We receive joy that is not dependent upon our circumstances. We receive the Holy Spirit dwelling in us — guiding, protecting, and empowering us. We receive provision from a God who freely gives us all things we need. We receive wisdom through His word and His Spirit. We receive purpose — we are no longer just existing, we are sharing in God’s life and abundance.

Salvation is the foundation that makes abounding possible in every other area of life. Every gift God gives us — our work, our family, our friends, our church — is received from, enjoyed with, and enriched by the God we now know through salvation. With it every area of life becomes a place where we thrive with God.

The Gift of Life, Breath, and Daily Provision

 

We covered this gift in detail in Lesson Two. God gives us life, breath, and daily provision — every morning we wake up is a gift from His hand and every meal, every resource, and every provision that meets our needs through the day comes from Him. In Lesson Three we learned to be intentional to enjoy these gifts and include God in those moments.

Abounding in these gifts means acknowledging God in them as they come. Thanking Him for the breath in our lungs when we wake up. Recognizing Him in each meal that nourishes our bodies and often tastes good as well. Acknowledging His provision when a need is met. And as we receive and enjoy these gifts through the day something powerful happens — we are not just living, we are living with God.

And we take that life He gave us and we use it. We become a voice for His word and hands for His work in the world around us. That is abounding — taking the gift of life God gave us and investing it in what He is doing.

By the end of a day lived this way we have thanked God, talked with God, served God, and walked with Him through every ordinary moment. Our spiritual life and our everyday life have been one. That is the abundant life Jesus came to give us.

The Gift of Work and Home

 

We receive work as a gift from God and we learned in Lesson Three to enjoy it with Him. But as we receive and enjoy it something begins to happen — we abound through it.

Colossians 3:23–24 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

 

When we do our work unto the Lord we find something that people who work only for a paycheck rarely experience — purpose. And purpose changes everything. Gallup research found that employees with a strong sense of purpose at work are 5.6 times more likely to be engaged in what they do. They perform better, stay longer, experience less burnout, and find greater satisfaction in their work. The world’s own research confirms what God designed from the beginning — people thrive when their work means something.

When we work unto the Lord our work always means something. We are serving God through the abilities He gave us, contributing to the world He made, providing for those we love, and making a difference in the lives of the people our work touches every day. As we abound through our work we become better at it, we provide more for our families, and we contribute more to the world around us.

The same is true for our home. As we receive and enjoy our home as a gift from God and care for it with Him we are stewarding a place where life is lived, family is nurtured, and God’s provision is on display. A home enjoyed with God becomes a place of peace and welcome that overflows into the lives of everyone who enters it.

And as we receive, enjoy, and abound in our work and home with God woven through every part of it our spiritual life and our everyday life are one. We are working with God, talking to Him through the day, thanking Him for what He provided, and asking Him to establish what our hands are doing.

And people notice. A person who finds genuine purpose and fulfillment in their work stands out in a world full of people who are just getting through the day. A home that is peaceful and welcoming tells a story the world around us is hungry for. When people see a life that is genuinely abounding — not because everything is perfect but because God is in all of it — they want what you have. And that is your opportunity to point them to the God who gave you every gift you are enjoying.

By the end of a day lived this way you have worked with God, cared for your home with God, and put His glory on display through the life He gave you. You have lived your R.E.A.L. life — received, enjoyed, abounding, and shared with God through everything.

The Gift of Family

 

In Lesson Two we received the gift of family. In Lesson Three we learned to enjoy it intentionally with God. Abounding through family means fully engaging with the people God placed in our lives and allowing those relationships to produce what God designed them to produce.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

 

Solomon describes exactly what God designed family to provide — people who lift you when you fall, who stand with you when life is hard, who keep you from facing the cold seasons of life alone. The Institute for Family Studies reports that people in stable committed family relationships experience significantly better physical health, stronger emotional wellbeing, greater financial stability, and longer lives than those who face life alone. God designed family and the results speak for themselves.

Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

 

Joshua made a declaration about the direction of his family — they would be oriented around God. A family that receives God’s gifts together, enjoys them with Him, and serves the Lord together abounds in ways that go beyond what any individual can experience alone. They have a safe place to grow, fail, be corrected, and celebrated. They have a foundation that holds when life gets hard and people who walk with them through every season of it.

As we receive our family as a gift from God, enjoy time with them intentionally, and include God in those moments — talking to Him about them, thanking Him for them, and praying for their specific needs — that family becomes one of the greatest places where we abound in life with God.

And a family that is visibly abounding — loving well, supporting one another, walking through hard seasons with peace and faith — tells a story the world around them is hungry to hear. People are watching. Neighbors, coworkers, and friends see a family that is genuinely thriving and they want to know what makes the difference. That is the moment where we point them to the God who designed family, gave it as a gift, and makes it a place where life is lived abundantly.

The Gift of Church

 

Not everyone has family nearby. Not everyone can work a public job. Not everyone has close friends in their life. But God designed one gift available to every believer regardless of their circumstances — the church. And it may be the greatest community on earth for anyone who wants to abound in life with God.

1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

 

Every person in the church has a place, a purpose, and a contribution to make. God designed the body so that every member belongs and every member matters. A person who cannot work a public job can serve in the church. A person whose family is small or distant has a family in the church. A person who is isolated or grieving has a community called by God to pray for them, bear their burdens, and walk alongside them.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

 

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another.”

 

God designed the church to be a place where we are made better. His word shapes how we think and live. The accountability of a church family encourages us to live godly lives. When we sin or fail the church restores us — lifting us back up, reminding us of God’s grace, and walking us back into fellowship with God and one another. We grow stronger, more Christlike, and more deeply rooted in God through the community He placed us in.

The CDC reports that 1 in 5 American adults experienced anxiety or depression in 2023. A study published in the journal BMC Public Health tracked people over ten years and found that active church members consistently experienced greater happiness, more positive emotions, and lower rates of depression. Active participation — showing up, engaging, and being known — produces measurably better mental and emotional health. God designed community and the results speak for themselves.

When we receive the church as a gift, enjoy it by engaging fully with the people, the worship, and the word, and abound through it by serving, praying, and contributing — something happens that exceeds what we could have expected. Abounding means exceedingly, beyond measure, considerably more than what one would anticipate. That is what happens when we fully engage with the gift of church. We find purpose in God’s work that goes beyond anything a job or paycheck can provide. We contribute to something eternal — every person we pray for, every burden we carry, every life we influence through the church has eternal significance. God promises that those who serve Him faithfully will receive eternal rewards that exceed anything we could imagine.

And when we think about our church family through the week, share its message and mission with the people around us, volunteer our time, and work alongside our church to reach our community — we are living our everyday life and our spiritual life as one. That is our R.E.A.L. life — received, enjoyed, abounding, and lived with God through everything He gave us.

What Is Next?

 

As we receive and enjoy God’s gifts we abound — thriving in purpose, fulfillment, and peace as we live one R.E.A.L. life with God.

Next week we focus on the L — Loving God and His gifts. Because a life that has received, enjoyed, and abounded in God’s gifts naturally overflows into love for God and everything He has given us.

 

As I receive and enjoy God’s gifts my everyday life becomes the place where I abound — finding purpose, fulfillment, and peace through salvation, work, family, friends, and church as I live my R.E.A.L. life with God.