EVER GIVING

EVER GIVING

James 1:17 The Message – Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle.

One of the shocking things I learned in the outpouring in 1994 was the nature of God in regards to giving. He is always giving. He is a river at flood time, He is a fountain overflowing, He is a bottomless ocean of blessing and resources, all of which are lavishly poured upon us in Christ. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. We are seated together with Him in His house of abundance. We are receivers, He is the giver. We humble ourselves and drink deeply of this overflowing fountain, as we do we are filled with His joy. Through God’s giving and our receiving, he is glorified and we are happified. Charles Spurgeon wrote a powerful devotion on the giving nature of our God. Enjoy this excerpt.

“Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. Who has ever returned from his door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening.”

It is easy to get empty as a Christian, all it takes is for us to gradually shift over to a works mentality and forget how to receive from our gracious Father. That was my story in 1994. I was so busy with “God’s work” that I had stopped receiving from Him. There are so many distractions that can block our ability to receive. For me, it was working rather than receiving. What is it for you? For some its the distractions of worldly pleasures. For others it could be a strange form of pride cloaked in the so called gospel of self esteem. Maybe it’s worry or unforgiveness, the list is endless. At the end of the day only one conclusion can bring us back to a place of enjoying His boundless mercy. We have to come to the place where we see clearly, I am needy, He is filled with abundance. From that place we begin to drink again. The overflowing fountain is bubbling up in us, the river at flood stage is pouring over our heads. Suddenly we find ourselves immersed in His bottomless ocean of love.