God's Shadow Promise Word | November 2020
My cup runneth over
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over (Psalms 23:5)
We know this story well. A professor gets
into a class-room and shows to his students a glass, half-filled with
water. He asks, what they see? Some say it is a glass, half full. Some say, it is half empty. It is generally understood that optimists see
things as half full and pessimists see it as half empty. There is another story that I would like to present.
It is about a cup, not glass. It
is not about how full the cup is? It is
about what fills the cup? Again,
it is not about the cup. It is about a person.
It is about me. It is about you.
In Psalm 23, David asserts that his
cup is overflowing. What was his cup?
My portion
The Hebrew term for Cup is called kos. The
word cup appears five times in the Book of Psalms alone. Kos is a container which could hold
something together. Here it refers to a
cup on which something is being poured.
The pouring continues even after the cup has become full. The cup is overflowing.
In the book
of Psalms, in two places, 'the cup' gets is with 'a portion'. A portion speaks of a share, an allotment in
a wealth. The Bible says, to the wicked,
God has allotted destruction as the portion of their cup (Psalms 11:6). In another place, to the righteous (to the
man who loves God), it is said that the LORD becomes the portion of their inheritance. (Psalms 16:5). What is your inheritance?
Exceeding abundantly
Eph 3:20 and to Him who is able
above all things to do exceeding abundantly what we ask or think, according to
the power that is working in us,
Our God is a God who loves to bless
his children abundantly, in an extraordinary way. An ordinary shepherd
boy becomes a King, a jailbird becomes a Governor, A coward becomes a Judge of the Nation. He is
a God who raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory (1 Sam 2:8). Everything that he does or is capable of
doing in your life is extraordinary. Be
it finance, business, employment or any other area of your life, God can turn
things around in a way that you could never imagine. His blessings are not in arithmetic
progresson, but in geometric progression.
The Lord God of Israel, who hosted a banquet to David in the presence of
his enemies, prepares a grand table with richest of delicacies.
Psalm 23:5 displays God lavishing his
love towards his children.
Seeking HIM Vs Seeking HIS
It is one thing to seek God for
all his blessings, it is quite another
thing to seek him for what he is. Jesus
spoke of people who followed him because of miracles, who followed him because
he gave food. They sought him for what
he could give or do. God loves to give,
God yearns to bless us with all the good things. But Jesus seeks a group which follows him for
who he is, not for what he would give.
David is a perfect example He says his soul, like a deer that panteth for water, longs for
God (Ps. 42.2). Do we have that
experience? If we are thirsty, our
thirst would be quenched when we drink
water. Similarly, our soul is filled, satisfied by God. Filled and overflowing.
God's fullness
Thirsting for God means a longing to
receive, experience and reflect the presence, power, nature of God in all of our
life. Thirsting for God means desiring
his nature, his characteristic, his likeness. The cup of our soul or the cup of
our life should be filled by God. It should overflow. Jesus said, the right response when you have
more than what you need or when your income is overflowing is to share it with
those in need. Just as how God's
overflowing goodness must become a blessing to others, God's attribute, seen
and overflowing in us, would become a source of blessing to others. Like an infection, it would catch and
transform others.
We are going to pray and claim what
David did in Psalm 23. He said, 'my
cup runneth over'. Amen. God will
make your cup, my cup, the cup of each and every person reading this message
overflow with blessings. Not only material
blessings, but he will make our cup overflow with the nature of God.
Trinitarian Blessing
2Co_13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The closing words of Apostle Paul in
the letter written to the Church at Corinth is generally used as a statement of
benediction by the Pastors at the close of every church service. This verse
brings out three distinctive traits of God's triune personality - Love of the
father, Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, Fellowship of the Holy Ghost. In our own life too, these attributes should
be seen. God should fill our cup with
His love, with His grace and with His fellowship. Let us look at them and inherit the portion
of our cup.
(1) Charis - Grace Converts
Tit
2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men
The Bible says that we were saved by
Grace through faith. Not by works or
our own efforts. Salvation is indeed God's free gift to us. Salvation means being delivered from the
penalty of sins. Lord Jesus took the
punishment of death which was to come on us, in order to not only relieve us
from the penalty of sin, but give us a new life ~ life eternal. God's grace makes a sinner saint. Charis, the Greek term for Grace,
means the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life. Grace is showing favour to the one who
deserves the least. We were sinners so
unworthy, but God still died for us. God
saved us not 'just' because we prayed, repented or regretted for our sins. Though they are all part of the process, your
salvation was not earned by any of this actions. God gave the most precious gift to the most
undeserving person like you and me. God
should fill your cup with grace. Your cup should run over. Just as an overflowing vessel would wet the
surrounding with its outpouring, when grace runs over in my life, I will be an
instrument, a source, a channel to wet all those around me with grace. My cup of grace runs over! Show grace, mercy, favour to those who
deserve the least. If you so do, you will be the saving them not only from
hell-fire, but from all calamities in their life.
(2) Agape - Love Covers
1Pe 4:8 And above all things have
fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of
sins.
The Bible speaks of four
kinds of Love. Philia, Eros, Storge and Agape. Philia
is a love between brothers, Eros
is a romantic and sensual love between husband and wife or a man-woman, while Storge is the love between parent and
child. Agape is different from all the above. It is a divine love.
Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. It is the highest of the four types
of love in the Bible. This Greek word, agápē, and variations of it are
frequently found throughout the New Testament. Agape perfectly describes the
kind of love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers. Jesus expects his followers to love others
with this Agape love. Paul devotes a
full chapter to speak about this love (1 Corinthians 13). Only Agape love can forgive, forbear, long
suffer, endure and rejoice in truth. My
cup should overflow with this Agape love - the God kind of love. If we say God
is our portion, then our lives must be filled with the love of God.
2Co 1:3,4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. The Holy Spirit, is also known as The Comforter. Comforter is not someone who consoles people to not cry. He strengthens them to get up and walk. As children of God, we are called to lift, rescue, build each other's lives. The Holy Spirit also signifies fellowship. He helps in creating the right relationship with God the father and Lord Jesus Christ. A Church is a body of believers, related to each other by the blood of Jesus Christ. As different members, we are called to work in unison for the body to function effectively. One supporting the other. One complementing the other. In the same way, our Cup should be so full of Holy Spirit to uphold others through our prayers, our enquiries, through our good deeds. That is the life of Christ. If we are so filled with our own problems, predicament and pressures than our cup is not filled as it ought to be. Jesus, who was full of Holy Ghost, went about doing good deeds wherever he went. A struggling fisherman in the sea, a Samaritan woman at the well, a suffering man at the pool and a short man under tree. When Jesus stepped into their life, they were transformed. When your cup and my cup is so full of God's Spirit, we will be able to share the same amount of fellowship with others which builds them up!
Dear people
of God, When God fill our cup, fills our life with overflowing blessings. It is not just to contain and enjoy the same,
all ourselves, it is to share with others, share with those in need, (E.g., (1)
Leave the gleanings to poor, Lev 23:22. (2) If you have two tunics give one to poor
Luke 3:11). Not just those who are poor
financially. But those who are poor, weak and timid spirit. You may have someone around who is
temperamental, stubborn and unloving - lacking the Spirit of Christ - but your cup, if it is full and
overflowing with God's love, God's grace and fellowship (Romans 5:5), it will
touch and transform the lives of all those around you.
The Psalmist
says, 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want'. He takes God first, irrespective of the
dangers and deficits. As a sheep, he goes behind his shepherd. He is not going behind the goods of the
world. Goodness and mercy follows him.
Jesus said, seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added
unto you. When we seek spiritual things,
the material blessings would follow on its own.
For your
cup, your house, your business, your job to overflow with GOD'S goodness allow
yourself to be filled by God's character. Let God be your portion - Grace, Love
and Communion!
Gracious Lord, we lift the cup of our life before you. Fill it right now with your Love, with your
Grace and with your Communion. Fill it in such a way that it overflows and
changes the life all those around us. In
Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
May you be
blessed!
Your brother
in Christ
Vinod Kumar
God's Shadow
Ministries
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