Walking in the Overflow

Genesis 1 : 27 - 28, So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." NKJV

When you received the Spirit of Christ into your heart, God blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. It might not have seemed like you were blessed the minute you were saved. Nonetheless, you were because you were reconnected to the Vine. When you received the love of God into your heart, you also received the life of God. The life of God empowers us to grow spiritually so that we can become who God intended us to be. However, although we have the life of God dwelling in our hearts, we still need to make the time to be in God's presence. In God's presence is FULNESS of joy (Joy is the fruit of the Spirit).

In John 15, Jesus tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. He also warns us to abide in Him (the Vine) so that we will bear fruit. If we don't abide, continue, and dwell in Him, we will wither spiritually. It's not enough for us to have the life of God; if we desire to be filled and produce fruit in the spirit, we must also live in the presence of God. 

In Christ, we are indeed blessed, but are we filled? Jesus tells us in Matthew 5: 6 that if we hunger and thirst for His righteousness, we will be filled. After the Lord blessed Adam and Eve, He gave them instructions. He commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. Even so, it's impossible to fill something if we're drawing from an empty vessel. Therefore, if we're going to be blessed enough that we are able to bless others, then we must first be filled. As we abide in the Vine and bask in the presence of the Lord, He begins to fill us with Himself. Consequently, because of the overflow of our communion with the Lord, others can partake of the blessings that are released on us. 

Abraham walked with God; and as a result of his persistent faith, He was greatly blessed with physical things. Because Lot walked with blessed Abraham, he became blessed as well. Do you see how the overflow is supposed to operate? When we continue to walk with the Lord, others become blessed by the overflow of our communion with Him. Nevertheless, we must remain connected to the Vine long-term, if we want our abundant blessings to spill over onto the lives of others. 

There can be times in our walk with God that we may feel as if we have been uprooted. Sometimes it seems as if we have found momentum in our walk, we begin to produce, and suddenly the flow gets disrupted. Consequently, we may find it difficult or impossible to be faithful in our walk with the Lord long-term.  When this happens, the enemy is trying to prevent us from being filled; if we are not filled, how can our overflow bless others? It is certain that Satan does not want us blessed; however, neither does he want us so blessed that we're able to bless others who walk with us. 

Like Abraham, there will be those times in your life where distractions and attractions to "good" things have to be left behind. We must always keep God first in our hearts and in our walk, if we want to be a blessing to others. Your heavenly Father wants you to be so blessed that others become blessed just being around you. It's time for the children of God to be filled and to walk in the overflow of God's presence and blessings.

Abiding in the Overflow,
Pastor Asa Dockery