But despite this exaggerated spiritual anomaly, my friend serves as an excellent example for a concept that can be applied to followers of Christ in general: One whose heart is set greatly on God will usher and overflow the heart of God into that environment. It seemed like wherever my friend went, so also was the power of God being transported like a magnetic field around him. The Lord will use greatly the one whose heart is greatly set on Him. As a result, of course, he is a radically new creation.īut hearing him convey the background of God’s salvation in his life-being freed from the captivity and callousness of sin to vivacity of new life in Christ-and seeing his heart now pumping tenaciously with love for His Savior, lit the wick of an idea whose flame burned hotly in the front of my mind: It’s been amazing.The other day, I was incredibly encouraged to hear the testimony-and sheer heart-of a friend that I went to high school with who radically met Jesus while in college. Slowly I started bringing the light-hearted, silly, playful and all the rest of those priceless human experiences into my spiritual practice - and that’s made such a difference. They were better than everything I’d done before - but they just didn’t quite cover everything. ![]() But sometimes - it felt like these weren’t quite enough. In the beginning, I was all memorizing Bible verses, prayer times, Bible studies, growing through a deep commitment to community - and it changed my life. I started following Jesus and pursuing His ways when I was 18. ![]() A different commitment to not running around full to the brim of stressed-out social media stuff, depressing news, frustrating fears from feeling that feeling again. Not that we’re going to be perfect when we are in stressful moments - but rather that we reflect a different spiritual lifestyle, a different spiritual practice, a different habit of coming to Him daily and asking to be filled up. Character, and humility, and dependence upon God to keep filling and filling our cup so full that we’re walking, talking, Jesus-reflecting storehouses of His abundant loving generosity. What if our spiritual hygiene practice can grow so robust that when we find ourselves pressed - what comes out is fragrant olive oil so to speak. What if we can fill our cups - our souls, spirits, minds, hearts, and - really - our whole LIVES with all these gifts so abundantly that when we find ourselves in one of those moments when - as in Matthew 12:34 - from the overflow of our heart our mouth speaks - what spills or sloshes out - is gratitude, graciousness, humor, playfulness - or whatever other good things best reflect God’s wisdom and love at that moment. Humor, gratitude, rest, imagination, creativity, … and so much more. Doesn’t it just mean that God’s gracious abundance means that the shepherd’s cup is filled to overflowing with water?īut what if it’s not just about God filling the shepherd’s cup to overflowing? What if it’s also about the abundance of God’s blessings - especially when we show up with an empty cup.Īll the gifts we’ve opened so far - are gifts that directly reflect God’s incredible gracious loving abundance towards us. ![]() The shepherd in the Psalm has made it through the valley of the shadow of death and now God’s spread a feast table out in front of him. ![]() There’s also that verse in the “Shepherd’s Psalm” that says “my cup overflows” Psalm 23:5c. It also means that the hobby you really love, or song you relish every time it plays - it will show. In that moment when that thing happens at work again, or your kid does that thing - again. Usually, these passages get explained and taught that what we carry in our heart - even in our heart of hearts - will come out. Scripture says, “from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” This verse appears in a couple of gospels Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45.
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