Overflowing Abundance

“And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work” (II Corinthians 5:8, New English Translation).

Abundant life. We probably all view what that means in various ways. Does it mean when we serve God we will suddenly become financially well off? (Some call this the prosperity gospel.) Or does it mean life will now be completely trouble free and happy? (Ask the apostle Paul about this one.) Yes, we often do have more money because we are making wiser choices. And, yes, God does help us in times of trouble. But the abundant life the Lord promises is much more than this.

When Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” He is promising more than financial blessings and trouble-free living. He means He will bless us with spiritual abundance. That is so much more important than our material circumstances.

God promises to abundantly provide:

• Pardon (Isaiah 55:7)
• Grace (II Corinthians 4:15)
• Mercy (I Peter 1:3)
• Faith and love (I Timothy 1:14)
• Goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6)
• Gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17)
• Blessing of the gospel (Romans 15:29)
• Entrance into the everlasting kingdom (II Peter 1:11)

God promises all this and so much more. First Corinthians 2:9 says, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him” (NET). It’s difficult for us to comprehend the richness He wants to pour into our lives. We will live in the overflow.

As we receive abundantly, God’s Word promises we will then “overflow in every good work.” What a glorious thought. As God pours in grace and mercy, then grace and mercy will flow from us. When God fills us with so much love that we can’t contain it, that love will spill out to others. Whatever we receive from God we can then pass on to others. God gives us abundance not so we can store it up and hide it away but so we can share it with the world.

Our lives will never be the same as we live in the overflow of God’s abundance.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the abundance You have poured into my life. It’s not an abundance of material goods, but it’s a rich spiritual abundance that enables me to bless the work of Your kingdom. As I overflow with Your blessings, I can in turn bless others by the works You empower me to do.