Pastor’s Corner: “Living in the Overflow” Part II
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 (MSG) – 11-13 May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.
When you picture overflow, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of coffee spilling over the edges of a mug, water flowing over a dam, or the space just outside a packed concert venue. God is a God of overflow. He desires for us to have a life overflowing with His character — too much hope to keep inside, peace spilling over the edges, love saturating everything in and around us. But in order to overflow, something must first be filled. We cannot fill ourselves up by working harder, serving more, or by being good enough. Overflow is the opposite of striving — it flows freely from within.
Here are some ways how we can let God’s love flow through us continued from yesterday:
* Make time for worship. Recognize that worship isn’t just about attending a weekly church service; it’s a lifestyle of expressing your love for God all the time. Set aside time on a regular basis to praise God for who He is. Schedule times of prayer and Bible reading every day. Look for creative ways to connect with God each day, such as by hiking in His creation, journaling your thoughts to Him, or using the talents He has given you to serve people in need.
* Share every part of your life with God. Know that your contributions to the world may seem insignificant to you, but from God’s perspective, they make a powerful difference. Understand that small acts done with great love can accomplish just as much as huge, heroic feats for God. Don’t hold anything back that God leads you to give. Ask Him to use everything you have – time, energy, money, talents, lessons learned through suffering, and more – to accomplish His purposes.
* Serve God with love. Decide to serve a cause that’s greater than your own life – God’s kingdom. Realize that you can’t earn God’s love, so don’t try to do so through service. Don’t serve expecting to get something for yourself in return, either. Instead, let your gratitude for all God has done for you motivate you to do what you can to contribute to His work on Earth. Ask God to help you see beyond your own problems to other people’s lives, and to make you aware of opportunities to help them. Make it a habit to set aside time to help others; Expect that service won’t be convenient, but it will always be worthwhile. Recognize that even small acts of service are hugely significant in God’s eyes and can have big results.
* Evangelize wisely. Acknowledge the negative experiences many people have had with evangelization efforts that come across as pushy, rude, arrogant, or disrespectful. Make sure the people you’re trying to reach with the Gospel know that you care about them as people – not just potential converts. Ask God to help you see people as He does. Pray for God’s love to flow through you into the lives of people you encounter. Make time to build genuine relationships with them. Remember that they need to know that you care before they care what you know. Always be prepared to answer spiritual questions people ask, but do so with gentleness and respect. Remember that most people are loved into God’s kingdom rather than argued into it.
* Listen well. Let people know you care about them enough to truly listen to the thoughts and feelings they express. Lay aside your own agenda in conversations and give people a chance to control the direction and pace of the conversation so they can fully express themselves. Know that doing so will tell people that you genuinely care, and will often lead them to share more openly with you about their spirituality. Be slow to speak, but quick to listen. Ask God to help you avoid becoming angry, defensive, or controlling when those you love say something with which you disagree. Pray for Holy Spirit to lead you in the conversation to help limit needless words; to say less and listen more.
* Reach out to your community. Whenever you’re out in public in your local area, ask God to give you His perspective on the people you meet so you can see them as He views them. Ask Him to help you have genuine compassion for acquaintances and strangers in your community. Pour out generous words and kind actions whenever you have opportunities to do so. Make it your goal to have every person you encounter experience some of God’s love through you. Notice people around you who seem to need more peace, and pray for them silently or even approach them to start up conversations with them. Be sure that you’re reaching out to everyone you meet – even people who might make you feel uncomfortable, such as the disabled, terminally ill, or people struggling with addictions or poverty. Let God push you out of your comfort zones. Ask Him to replace your fear with faith, and help you love people unconditionally, as He does. Recognize that God wants to use your efforts to reach out to help not only other people, but also you, by helping you mature through your relationships with them. Ask God to help you learn all He wants you to learn from the people you meet. Pray for God to reveal His vision for your community, and help you understand specific ways you can help fulfill that vision. Be willing to take risks. Remember that the point of reaching out isn’t to get more members for your local church, but to help people reconcile with God, no matter where they end up going to church.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton