Have you ever been around someone who is never completely and fully satisfied? They complain incessantly and give lack luster responses to everything, even good things. They are never content. Either the food is too hot or too cold. They act as if the world is ending when any hint of adversity hits. Being around them makes you feel stripped instead of energized. Come on, you know exactly the kind of person I’m talking about.

But then there’s the opposite. There is the person that still chooses to see the good, even amidst a mountain of adversity. They are thankful, gracious, and radiant. Their disposition is transcendent and people take notice. There’s just something contagious about them.

This is what is looks like to live with an abundance mindset!

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the foods produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Habakkuk 3:17 NIV

What is your yet? From what well are you drawing your abundance? Circumstances? Relationships? Past hurts? The weather? These things are unstable, ever changing, and fleeting. Here’s the truth dear sister: we get to live in abundance because we have Jesus!

In John, He assures us with the purpose of His coming: 

“A thief has only one thing in mind- he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect- life in its fullness until you overflow. John 10:10 TPT

So how do we reach out and receive this abundance? When Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman at the well, He offered her living water. In response, she asked Him a very practical question.

The woman replied, “But sir, you don’t even have a bucket and this well is very deep. So where do you find this living water?” John 4:11 TPT

In order to receive this living water, it is time we step out of our practical and logical sensibilities and tap into the spiritual realm. There is only one source of abundance and his name is Jesus. Without this source, we will always draw from an empty well. We will draw our buckets deep and come up empty, because Jesus is the source of our abundance.

So how do we live into the abundance mindset Jesus offers?

Start with gratitude. Let thankfulness overflow from your heart. Then reflect and remember by focusing on all God has done. Finally, practice. Make abundance a daily practice and heart posture. Watch your spirit change as abundance flows in and through you. God is still good even when good things are not happening. God’s goodness is not dependent on circumstances. His goodness is stable, fixed, and steadfast. Therefore, we have the choice to live in abundance.

Start full instead of empty. Engage with the Father from the moment you awake till the moment you lie down. Remember this is a choice. We can choose to see an empty well. Or we can see the well, filled, overflowing with abundance.

Every day you have a decision; Am I going to choose abundance today?

- Kierstin Almstrum, ARISE Director of Online Operations and Project Management