JULY 2009 … MY CUP OVERFLOWS
You honour me as Your guest, and You fill my cup until it overflows (Ps 23:5)


MY CUP OVERFLOWS

These words come from the well known Psalm 23 that starts with: “The Lord is my Shepherd …”. 
From this Psalm we know that our Shepherd Jesus:

-          takes care of us everyday

-          guides us along the right paths

-          was willing to lay down His life for His sheep

-          gives us everything that we need

-          are close beside us – always

-          leads us to a quiet place where we can rest and be refreshed and renewed

-          protects us

-          comforts us

-          heals us

-          pours out His goodness and unfailing love on us, over and over again 

When we follow our Shepherd, we experience that the cup of our lives are overflowing with His blessings. Our cup brims over with wholeness, wellness, contentment, satisfaction and fullness. 

THE CUP OF SORROWS
When Jesus died on the cross, He  emptied the cup of sorrows, the cup of suffering, in our place. In Matt 26:39 He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from Me. Yet, not what I want, but what You want.” He drank the cup of suffering and pain to the end, and died with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
 

THE CUP OF SUFFERING IS TURNED INTO A CUP OF BLESSING
By His grace and through His faithfulness, Christ has turned that cup of suffering into a cup of blessing, which now overflows for each and every one of us.

We know for sure that our grief is turned into wonderful joy; we rejoice and no one can rob us from that joy (John 16:20) … our cup is overflowing with blessings! 

You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; You have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy. (Ps 30:11); Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning. (Ps 30:5)  

We receive from Him:  flowers in place of sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts; a crown of beauty in place of ashes, joyous blessing in place of mourning. (see Isa 61:3) 

THE CUP OF ABUNDANCE
Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). That is a cup running over with God’s grace. 

Jesus gives us Himself (John 14:6). He IS this abundant life for us.  

“My cup overflows,” means it is not just full; it is running over, filled to the brim and overflowing. God’s saving grace is always like that. His grace is always in fullness, abundance and all-sufficiency. We are “drenched” with His goodness and that should satisfy us completely. 

THE EMPTY CUP
Maybe the cup of your life is still filled with anger, resentment, unforgiveness or bitterness. Perhaps there are only  rejection, abuse, feelings of worthlessness or guilt in your cup. 

Come to Jesus today, and empty your cup before Him, pile everything on Him. Take this invitation seriously and turn everything over to Him:

-          "Come to Me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light." (Matt 11:28-30)

-          Putting all your troubles on Him, for He takes care of you. (1Pet 5:7) 

Empty your cup, so that God can fill it with His blessings of love and grace.  

THE CLEAN CUP
 “You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have gotten by violence and selfishness … Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too! … You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.” (Matt 23:25-28) 

If you are in a place in your life where you know that your cup is stained by sin, by bad choices, by wrongdoings and double standards, you must bring your cup to Jesus. He will wash, purify and remove all stains from your life’s cup: 

-          Be merciful to me, O God, because of Your constant love. Because of Your great mercy wipe away my sins! Wash away all my evil and make me clean from my sin! (Ps 51:1-2)

-          Remove my sin, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. (Ps 51:7)

-          Hide Your face from my sins, and wipe out all that I have done wrong. Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a faithful spirit within me. (Ps 51:9-10) 

THE CUP OF BLESSING
Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer. (Eph 1:3) … my cup brims with blessing!  

The spiritual blessings that we receive in Christ are not just temporary things like health and wealth; it is the blessing to be adopted as His child, the blessing to be cleansed from sin, the blessing to receive the gift of eternal life, the blessing to receive the Holy Spirit and the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, the blessing to receive His love and grace abundantly and the knowledge and understanding that nothing will separate you from His love. 

THE CUP THAT WILL NEVER RUN DRY
 If your cup is overflowing, you will want more of the Lord in your life: 

God, you're my God! I can't get enough of you! I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God .. (Ps 63:1) 

The wonderful thing is that your cup will never run dry. All you have to do is come and fill your cup and drink: 

-          To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. (Rev 21:6)

-          The LORD says, "Come, everyone who is thirsty - here is water! Come, you that have no money  … it will cost you nothing!” (Isa 55:1) 

THE USEFUL CUP
May our lives be like a useful cup in God’s hands: 

In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets - some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use .. (2Tim 2:20-21) 

Be prepared and willing to be used by God for His purposes. 

THE OVERFLOWING CUP
We have to live from the overflow of our cups – when we receive blessings from God, we can go out and “soak” those around us with God’s blessings and with His love and grace and forgiveness. God says: “
I will bless you …  so that you will be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2) 

When we experience the goodness of the Lord, we cannot keep it to ourselves. It will flow freely in expressions of praise and worship towards God, and in kindness, compassion and love towards others.

DRINKING FROM MY SAUCER
(*Saira*)

I've never made a fortune
And it's probably too late now,
But I don't worry about that much,
I'm happy anyhow. 

And as I go along life's journey
I'm reaping better than I sowed.
and I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed. 

Don't have a lot of riches,
And sometimes the going's tough.
But I got three kids that love me
And that makes me rich enough. 

I just thank God for his blessings,
And the mercies He's bestowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed. 

Oh, I remember times when things went wrong
And my faith got a little bit thin,
But then all at once the dark clouds broke,
And that old sun peeked through again. 

So Lord, help me not to gripe
About the tough roads that I've hoed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed. 

And if God gives me strength and courage,
When the way grows steep and rough.
I'll not ask for other blessings,
I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy,
To help another bear his load
Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed. 

The richest people on earth are
not the ones with the most money,
but the ones who can give and
receive love.

Money cannot buy good health,
It cannot buy happiness.
If we live a good life, the
best that we know how, and if
we put our faith in God,
we can be richer than we ever
imagined we could be.

Then and only then will we
drink from our saucer, because
"Our Cup Has Overflowed" 

MAY  GOD FILL YOUR  CUP TODAY AND FOREVER …
God is …. Incredibly Incredible. Extravagantly Extravagant. Awesomely Awesome in His Awesomeness.  Outrageously Outrageous. Fantastically Fantastical. Amazingly Amazing. Infinitely Infinite. 

Our God is Indescribably Indescribable. God CAN! God IS! God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think! (see Eph 3:20)  

That would be enough to fill your cup to the brim!
 

Duplisering en verspreiding word toegelaat sonder veranderinge en met verwysing na die webruimte (www.heuning.co.za)