He Replenishes

There is always more. God’s word never fails us. When we read His word with the intent to seek Him, be filled and to receive revelation knowledge we will never come up empty.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes! What was true then, is true now!

If you constantly seek Him.
If you constantly press in.
If you constantly go back for more.
If constantly you sit at His feet to be fed…. Then your barrel will never be empty.

Thursday morning I read this verse:

1 Kings 17:14 – “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!”

God is so awesome. He led me right to an answer that I was seeking. On this particular morning I woke up wondering, praying, “God, am I good enough? Can you use me? I’m giving everything I know to give. What more can I do? How can I give more? I just want to be used for your glory.”

To that verse He led me.

I learned a valuable lesson. But more importantly I walked away with so much love and comfort from the One who sent me here.

The truth:  in my own self and power, I am nothing. I don’t deserve all that He has given me. But neither do you.

What I have is a heart that desires to be purely devoted to God. I have things to work on and room for improvement, but my heart is in the right place.

God honors our giving. He honors our giving of money, time, talents and so much more.

If our giving is with the right motive we will never run dry.

The Message God had for the widow so many years ago is still applicable today. He said, “There will always be flour and oil left in the container.”

If you are giving and you feel empty, keep giving. And as you give, continue to be present with God. In doing so He will honor that. As you give to others He will give to you.

Your reservoir will never run dry.

God is constant and because He is constant, if we continue to pursue Him we will never be empty!

Be blessed!

I Wanna Overflow …

For the last few weeks at church the premise of my Pastor’s message has been Romans 15:13.  I have read the verse prior to his message, in fact it is one that I have recorded on a set of index cards and read daily over myself.  But more than ever, it has been on my heart.

Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

For the last few weeks I have reworded this verse to give it a more personal meaning ….

Stephanie, as you trust in God, He will fill you with ALL joy and peace.  In doing so, you will overflow with hope because of the power of His Spirit that is inside of you.

I have only been a Christian since May 2014.  Discovering His Word, discovering Him and having a personal relationship with Him has been and is life changing.

The above verse is one of my most favorite.

We get so caught up in life and our circumstances.  I get it … because it’s tough out there.  We are hit from every direction at times with negativity and difficult circumstances.

But …. we have Him and His Word.

We need to stand taller.

We need to have more hope, because He who died for us, has given it to us.

We need to have more courage.

We need to increase our faith.

Simply stated …. we need to just walk it out and believe in Him.

He says in His Word that if we trust Him … He will fill us with joy and peace.

Never has He said we wouldn’t have troubles or difficulties. In fact, He told us we would.

But, with God …. despite our storms, despite our difficulties, despite our hard times and our obstacles ….

We are guaranteed joy and peace!

We are guaranteed a hope …. a hope that overflows!

Overflow is defined as “the excess or surplus not able to be accommodated by an available space.”

That means that you could say there is an overspill.

It’s so hard to trust isn’t it?  Because of our experiences that we have on this earth … because of what’s been done to us, and what we have seen …. trust does not come easy.

People have hurt you.  People have left you. People have gone against their word …. People have shown you that there is no reason to trust anyone.

Those people that hurt you ….

Those people that hurt me …

Those people that lied to you, and to me …

Those same people who didn’t stay true to their word ….

They are not God!

God doesn’t hurt us.  God doesn’t leave us.  In fact, His word never returns void.  It always sustains. It always fulfills!  It always upholds true to what He said He would do.

Everyday I learn to trust God more and more.

Trust doesn’t come easy for me.  If I’m honest I struggle with it daily.  I don’t trust many.  I’m learning to trust more …

But … when I first read the above verse I decided that I wanted His joy and His peace.  The condition for us to have that is just that we trust Him.

If I trust Him … If you trust Him … then the verse says He will fill us with all joy and peace.  He will fill us so much so that we will be overflowing with hope.

He gives us so much hope that we can’t contain it.  Our soul can’t keep all the hope He gives us inside …. we go into “overflow status.”  We start to spill hope out of us.

Friend, I don’t know about you, I do know about me.

I want it all.  I want everything He says I can have.

Joy and Peace.  I want it.

Hope?  Yes, I want that too.

So, will I trust Him?  Yes … and I’m learning more and more everyday to put my complete trust in my creator.

At the end of the day we must all admit what this life is about.

For me … life is no longer about living in my depression …. it’s about choosing to rise up, to believe in God, and impact lives.

Please understand, I know that we are faced with hard things.  I have seen my fair share of hard times.  I have committed my fair share of sins.  I have seen sad things happen to me.  I have faced the want and the desire of no longer wanting to live on this earth and came so close to succeeding … And, I know that I will be faced with more hard times.

But, I have also felt the Spirit of my God.  I have felt the love … the compassion …. I have experienced His grace …. 

I owe it to Him, because of what He has done for me.  Specific details aren’t important … but I am a testament of what He has done already.  And you know what, so are you.

For He is good …. and His mercy, it will endure!

He is good …. He has promised us His joy and peace if we just trust in Him.  In Corinthians it says that His promises are a “yes and an amen.”  There is no debate.  He said we can have it.

And that same joy and peace that He fills us with …. it goes into an “overflow.”  Not so that we hide it for a later time … but so that it spills over to others.

His glory shines through us…..

There are people out there hurting.  There are people out there who need strength.  Who need encouragement.  Who need hope.  There are people out there who need you, your story, to help them see just how powerful God is.

For those of us who trust in Him …. He has taken a pitcher … and poured into us all of his joy and peace.

Can you see it?  Imagine going to the faucet and turning it on …. he sets His pitcher there …. He says, “They trust me …. so I’m giving them my joy and peace.”  He fills the pitcher …. He comes to us …. and He pours into our spirit.

His joy and peace is so amazing …. that we can’t contain it.  We are supposed to spread it.

Today will you trust Him?

We have work to do.  Lives to impact.

Will I trust Him?  Yes, you better believe it.

And to Him … everyday when I recite that verse over myself … I literally say out loud, “Father, give me your joy.  Give me your peace.  I trust you and you said I could have it.”

Father …. put me into a hope overflow.  I wanna impact … I wanna be your light … I want to be your representative.