abundant life

i have read and/or been told a lot lately that God wants us to have this abundant life and i have been wondering what that means. it seems a lot of people think it means material things. i was surprised when i read a pastor saying he wanted a pool for his family. they prayed about it and God provided, but not after the pastor was ready to buy it on his charge card. whoa! it was second hand but still. a few months ago i wished i had a recliner, i don't know if i even prayed about it and within a week i had a recliner. whoa!

as i consider what i have been reading and what a friend has been telling me i wonder if i am limiting God. i am content should i be asking for more. i had to think about what i would even ask God for.

i am in the process of painting my apartment. it was something i had talked to God about saying it would be nice to have my apartment painted but i couldn't afford it. i didn't think i could do it myself but as i waited for the painter to paint the wall because of a plumbing problem i was impatient and tried it and found i could do it myself. it's almost finished at a cost of a couple hundred compared to the $1200 i was told it might cost.

i don't have a lot of material possessions but that's ok, desire for material possessions diminished after mission trips to costa rica. but i am abundantly blessed with contentment and joy in my relationship with God.

from something i read 'i truly believe that when people are face to face with the bare essentials that they are the happiest, with less to gripe over and less to worry about.'