Exceeding Abundantly part 2
There are, in a sense, two "realms." The world... and the Kingdom. And each of these realms has a report. The world deals with the natural senses. What you can see with your natural eyes, and hear with your natural ears. The external. The situations and circumstances we find ourselves in on a day to day basis. Now we can accept this report, and try to do the best we can with what we (think) we've got. We can buy in to the idea of "if the world gives you lemons, make lemonade." OR. We can understand that what the world gives us is just the surface stuff. We can understand that there's something deeper. A power working in us. And this power comes from the heart. Because this power is love. It ALL comes down to love. Every single time. Look at our key verse again, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask of think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20). Something more. Something better. More than just making lemonade out of lemons. More than just doing the best we can with what we think we've got. More than we could ask OR think. If you ever think, "This is as good as it gets," well... you're mistaken. There's always something better. Something higher. And, again, it's love. Not love as we generally understand it though. Not love that is trying to get something. Because love is never about getting. Love is about giving what you've got. Because love IS giving. And that's my thought for today. The only way to experience this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is by loving others. The only way God can do exceeding abundantly FOR us is by doing exceeding abundantly THROUGH us. He fills us up, yes, certainly. But not just so that we can be filled up. That's a side effect, and an amazing one. But God fills us up (and really, already FILLED us up on the cross) so that the love He filled us with can overflow out of us. So that we can receive it and RELEASE it. Receive it BY releasing it. So that others who don't know what they've got can see it when our light shines. Can see it with Spiritual eyes and hear it with Spiritual ears. An abundant life is not about you having more than you can handle. It's about you having more than you need so that you can give it away. Remember what Luke 3:10-11 says? "And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." I don't like this idea that "Christians" are supposed to live in poverty. God promised to make Abraham rich. God also made Solomon rich. And on and on and on. God doesn't mind if you have stuff. He gets a little worried though when stuff has you. He wants you to give out of a generous heart. To give out of your abundance. If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn't have one. Meet a need. And look how "small" this seems. If someone's hungry, feed them. If they're naked, clothe them. These are basic needs. But I'm telling you, it's hard to hear someone's words over the growl of an empty stomach. So it's like this: You're blessed to be a blessing. To receive from the Lord and release what you've been given. To live out of abundance by sharing the wealth you've got. It's not about getting. We already have it all. It's about KNOWING what we've got and DOING something with it. The power (of love) working in us to do more than we could ask or think. Not "get" more but DO more!