"My cup runs over." (Psalm 23:5)
Hundreds of people used to gather each week in the small town of Dalton, Georgia, to pray, socialize, and be healed around an overflowing Bible. Believers say the translucent oil has cured skin conditions and cancer. The ministry was named “Flowing Oil”. They say it has generated crystals, changed color, and increased in volume—inching upward in the tupperware container over the course of a few hours. They say small vials of oil refilled themselves overnight. “A Bible flowing with oil—something many are calling a modern miracle—continues to gather huge crowds,” the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported this past November. Some believers moved to Dalton to be closer to the revival; others drove hours every week to see the oil. Leslie’s father and his girlfriend got married in the prayer room. Meanwhile, the book kept oozing. By January 2020, Johnny and Jerry estimated that the Bible had produced more than 400 gallons of oil. The ministry has been shut down because a local newspaper found out that the oil was regularly bought from a tractor supply company.
In our text today, David sings praise to God because he has an overflowing of abundance because the The Lord is his shepherd. T
Overflowing is an experience of abundance. When you are at the table of abundance with the shepherd, the cup will overflow. Jesus has promised an abundance of blessings.
1. Jesus came to this wordl to give a life that overflows. Jesus said, “I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). God sent His son so that we can live in abundance of life. Many people are living lives without any desire whatsoever to push the bar and go higher up, closer to God. Christians are satisfied with two hours of church service and doing nothing during the week for God, giving very little or nothing for God. That’s not abundant life but selfish life. I asked a young hindu convert about his salvation experience, he said that he came to know Jesus through his class teacher, he would start the class with prayer, also give free tuitions for weak students and help poor students financially and tell them about Jesus every day.
A person living an abundant life cannot be ordinary, you would be an extraordinary channel for God everywhere you go.
2. Jesus came to give us Joy that over flows. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! (NLT) John 15:11. Our life will be overflowing with joy when the shepherd is present. Many of us are familiar with the a little song we learned in Sunday School: “I have the joy joy joy, joy in down in my heart” When we have Jesus in our heart, our joy will bubble up to the to overflowing that it may fill others with joy. An old man was asked what robbed him of joy the most in his lifetime. He replied, "Things that never happened." We worry about things that never happened or will never happen. When the Lord is the shepherd, we dont have to worry about the things that happen around us. "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11).
3. God fills us with over flowing grace every day. When the Shepherd fills my cup, I will be overflowing with love and grace. “God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8–11 English Heritage Version). “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see. —John Newton We will have overflowing Love toward the shepherd and grace toward others.
4. We will be have an overflowing of Thanksgiving because of the abundance of God's blessings. Paul wanted the Corinthian church to see the grace of God at work in his life, which could cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God . “15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” (2 Cor 4:15)
We will give thanks for everything in our lives including the bad times. “ 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7)”
In her book, The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her the principle of giving thanks in all things. It was during World War II. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, had been harboring Jewish people in their home, so they were arrested and imprisoned at Ravensbruck Camp. The barracks was extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to rejoice in all things. Betsy said, "Corrie, we’ve got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas." Corrie replied, "No way am I going to thank God for fleas." But Betsy was persuasive, and they did thank God even for the fleas. During the months that followed, they found that their barracks was left relatively free, and they could do Bible study, talk openly, and even pray in the barracks. It was their only place of refuge. Several months later they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas. Count your blessings, name them one by one.
5. The people who trust in God will have an Overflowing of the Holy Spirit. This will be evident in their lives with producing the fruit of the Spirit. In most translations of Galatians 5:22-23, there are nine fruits of the spirit listing. According to the NIV translation, they are: Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and self control. Paul's prayer for the Galatian church is that they will be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:10).
he Bible has stories about overflowing oil, as we read in the story of Elijah When prophet was desperate to find meaning in life, God asked him to go to a widow with a son. She was very poor. (1 Kings 17:7-16 NIV). Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” 15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
In 2 Kings 4 we read about prophet Elisha who helped a widow with two boys. “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” 3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” 5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
We all know about the saying about the cup being half full, or half empty. The optimist says: half full, the pessimist say, half empty. Or to quote, Psalm 23, The optimist says, “My cup runs over, what a blessing!” The pessimist says: “My cup runs over: what a mess!” We need both… And you know, most times the pessimist and the optimist are right. Both of them are right. The difference is that the optimist tries while the pessimist stops trying
When our cup overflows, we will be able to fill someone else's cup, without judgment, without limits.
“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit” 2 Cor 1:21,22. We will learn the great lesson that our lives are not ours and there is a purpose beyond yourself. Giving is better than Receiving The Dead Sea does not have any living things in it. It is because it is a selfish sea and a dead sea. ItThe saltiness of the dead sea allows people to float. The Jordan river feeds the salt-heavy water of the dead sea lying almost 1500 feet below sea level, but there is no outlet. In the intense dry heat of the low valley, roughly 60 inches of water evaporates every year leaving 10 times more salt and minerals than are found in the nearby mediterranean. With nothing flowing out, the dead sea is forever taking, never giving. We too can be become “dead seas” if we do not share our time, resources or ourselves with others.
Jesus said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:37-39)
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