Have you ever stopped to consider God’s abundant blessings? He gives us so many blessings each day and they’re overflowing in our lives, but sometimes we don’t stop and pay attention. We need to do as the song says, “Count your blessings, and name them one by one.” The Psalmist was really good at voicing his praise and giving thanks to God. He records in Psalm 23:5, “My cup runneth over.” It’s a beautiful picture, really. I would like to imagine it as a carafe of coffee pouring into a coffee cup, and it overflows the cup and pours out onto the table. That is the picture of God’s abundant blessings overflowing in the life of the psalmist. His cup ran over with the goodness of God.

Using that coffee cup analogy, it is important that we carry our cup upright as it’s overflowing so that it can overflow into the emptier vessels of others. When we receive abundant blessings and we don’t allow God’s goodness to flow through us and into the lives of others, it’s like wasting those blessings. Just like that coffee cup that overflows onto the counter and into the floor. We mop it up and wipe up the excess and throw it away. Nobody benefits from it. But when God pours out His blessings on you, you should allow them to enter the lives of others around you. Take the overflow of your cup and allow it to pour into theirs.

This sharing of abundant blessings can be seen in the life of Ruth. When she went to Boaz in Ruth 3:15-17, he told her “Bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out.” So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her. Then she went into the city. And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, “How did you fare, my daughter?” Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, “These six measures of barley he gave to me, for he said to me, ‘You must not go back empty-handed to your mother-in-law.’” Some commentators say that six measures is equal to 80 pounds. Could you imagine carrying that? Isn’t that crazy? She had to have been so strong! But consider also that 80 pounds of food is more than enough for any one woman – even when we get a little bit “hangry.” She may not have been able to consume 80 pounds of food on her own, but that wasn’t the intention anyway. It was way more than she needed – and purposeful. It was so she could take it home for her mother-in-law and they could both eat for many days, weeks, and months to come. The abundance was for the purpose of being shared. It’s such a beautiful picture.

We are told in Ephesians 3:20 that God gives us abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. In fact, Paul says, “…super abundantly far over and above all that we ask or think.” Isn’t that amazing! This idea of abundance is mentioned earlier in the book of Ephesians as well. Ephesians 2:7 shares how God has demonstrated through Christ the “immeasurable riches” of his free grace. It’s limitless – unable to be counted! Christ’s riches are surpassing, just like a cup that has overflowed its contents. We are limited because of our human minds. All we can do is think of something, or try to imagine, but God does above even that! We can attempt to think of something good or kind to do for another person, but God surpasses that! We may try to fill a cup, but the Lord overflows it! Sometimes we don’t even have the energy to fill our own cup, or maybe we are unable to completely fill it ourselves. It has to come from God. He’s the only One who can provide the joy and the long suffering and the perseverance and the blessings that we need in life.

We are told in Luke 6:38 to give and we will receive, but it’s more than that. We are also told our gift will return to us in full, pressed down, and shaken together to make room for more running over and poured into our lap. The NLT translation of that verse says the amount you give will determine the amount you get back, but the idea is that God is the One pouring into our lap. He gives to us more and more because we have given to others. He helps us to give to others and to do it freely and unafraid. Sometimes we’re afraid to give our time, our resources, and our money because we think it is all we have. We say our time is precious – and it is. Money is precious as well; there’s not an endless supply of it. But in this verse in Luke, we are encouraged to give because God is going to give back to us. He’s going to supply for us. We are never the loser when we give and are generous.

Ruth could testify to this. She gave her whole life. She gave everything. And what did God do? He gave back to her. He supplied for her in amazing ways. He gave her protection. He gave her a redeemer. He pressed down, shaken together and made room for more running over pouring into her lap – all because it began with her humbling herself and surrendering her life to the Lord. By doing that, she was able to extend her time, talent, and resources to her mother-in-law. It’s really a powerful motivation for us to be generous with our love for others and with our goodness toward others. When you expend all of those things for God and the things of God and the people of God, He’s not going to make it go to waste. He will redeem it and it will not be in vain.

Another passage of Scripture that illustrates this idea of abundant blessings from God can be found in Exodus 16, where God pours out the manna for the Israelites. Israel had come out of the land of Egypt and were in the wilderness for two months when God tells Moses, “I’m going to rain down bread from the heavens.” He was going to feed His people, so He tells them to go out and get their day’s portion every day. Don’t miss that. They were to gather their day’s portion, just one day. And on the sixth day, they’re going to get twice as much as they got on the first five days. So there was very clear instruction on what they were supposed to do, and there’s a reason for it. The Lord commanded in verse 16, “Let every man gather of it, of the manna, as much as he will need, an omer for each person, according to the number of your persons. Take it, every man for those in his tent.” What did the people do? They went out and gathered some manna. Some gathered more, some gathered less (v. 17), but “he who gathered much had nothing over. And he who gathered little had no lack” (v. 18). Each person had gathered according to their need.

Consider that with your abundant blessings. Not everybody’s blessings look the same. Sometimes we are blessed in material ways. Sometimes we are blessed emotionally when people reach out and minister to our hearts. Sometimes we are blessed physically with healing from a sickness. The temptation for you may be to see others who have material blessings and start comparing yourself to them. They’re not comparable because each of the blessings that God gives everybody is exactly what He wants for you to have. It’s exactly what you need in whatever season of life you’re in and whatever situation you find yourself. Don’t be tempted to envy the blessings of others. Don’t let it make you think you’re lacking or you’re superior because you receive or don’t receive certain blessings. Remember, Exodus 16:8, “…each gathered according to his need.” God’s going to provide what you need – and what you need, may not be what somebody else needs.

Moses tells the people in Exodus 16:19, “let none of it be left until morning.” The Israelites could not save the manna for tomorrow. That “blessing” for “today” may just be for today. You’ll have a new blessing tomorrow. The Bible says God’s mercies are new every morning. Do we receive that truth? Did the Israelites accept the fact that their blessing of manna was only good for that one day, and that tomorrow they would have the next supply? No, they did receive that truth. They did not listen to Moses. They did not obey the Lord’s commands. Verse 20 says they did not listen to Moses, and some of them saved a portion of their manna for the next day. What happened when they did this? The Bible says in verse 20, it bred worms. It became foul. It stank and Moses was angry. When we keep all of our blessings that God has given us, and we reserve them only for our own use and refuse to share with others, we are stifling God’s blessings. They become wormy, foul, and stinky. When we refuse to let our overflowing cup fill up the cups of others, it is like putting a lid on that cup. It’s not going to bless others; it’s going to sit and rot and not be useful to anybody.

The Israelites gathered the manna every morning, as much as they needed. And on the sixth day, just as they were told, they gathered twice as much. Why? Because the next day was a Sabbath and no work was ever done on the Sabbath. They had to prepare on the sixth day what they would need on the Sabbath. Part of that preparation was baking and boiling and doing the work so the Sabbath meal would be covered. Everyday they had to trust that God gave them enough – enough for today, but on the sixth day (the only time they were allowed to take extra), they had to trust that God would provide when there wasn’t anything to gather. How easy is it to trust that God will provide for you when things are going great? You have a job; you can count on your paycheck hitting your bank account every two weeks. You can pay your bills. Everyone in your house is healthy. But how easy it to trust God when things are not great. You get fired from your job or let go. You don’t know how you are going to pay the bills. You have an emergency come up with your family, car, or health and you don’t know how things will be covered or from where provision will come. We must trust the Lord. He provides all that is needed.

Sadly, some of the Israelites didn’t believe God. They didn’t trust His Word that there would be nothing to gather on the seventh day.  Moses told the people in verse 25 that they would not find manna in the field on the Sabbath. When the Sabbath day came, some of the people went out to gather (v. 27). They went to look for manna and pick it up, but they found none. Isn’t that like us sometimes? We learn our lessons the hard way. Sometimes we have to personally experience those hard lessons before they sink in. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to the people who went out to gather on the Sabbath and found nothing. They were warned. They were told in advance. Oftentimes, we act the same way with the blessings we have been given. Maybe we receive a holiday bonus or a raise, one time during the year – it’s something new, something fresh, and that’s your “day before the Sabbath.” God gives that it may bless you when you needed that extra help. He covered you and provided for you when there was a lack of funds. Perhaps He blessed you so you could turn around and share with others, or save it for something that’s upcoming. The responsibility that comes with that material blessing, or any blessing for that matter, is to be a good steward of it. Use it wisely, because like the manna that was gathered on the sixth day, there’s nothing else coming in behind it. You can’t easily go out and get more.

The Israelites had to trust, they had to have faith that God was going to follow through with what He said He was going to do. Many people today look for provision or fulfillment in their life in places where God tells them they’re not going to find it. Where do we try to look for a quick fix? We turn to drinking, using drugs, relationships, or even a career. We think if we achieve this quick fix, we will have a sense of peace or fulfillment in our life. It’s just like the Israelites going out on the Sabbath to look for something to fill their bellies – something the Lord already told them would not be there. What did those Israelites find when they went looking on the Sabbath? We aren’t told, but I would guess they found rocks and dirt. Anything that you go and try and get on your own is going to be inferior to what God is going to provide for you.

If you keep reading in Exodus 16, at verse 32, Moses tells the people what God has commanded. He said, “take an omer of the manna and keep it throughout your generations so they can see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.” God was telling the people that He wanted the next generation to see how He provided for His people. Think about that! Consider: how has God blessed you? Have you tucked that away and kept that in your heart and in your mind to share with your family? Has God brought you through a cancer diagnosis? Has God delivered you from addiction? Has God miraculously provided for you? How was your life before you received salvation? How did you learn about the Lord and come to receive salvation? These are all abundant blessings that you can go and share with the next generation, so tell them! When you do that, you are laying it up before the Lord and keeping it throughout your generations. That’s stewarding your testimony well!

For those of you who are not familiar with that passage in Exodus 16 and the story of how God fed the Israelites for 40 years with manna, it is such a beautiful picture of Jesus Himself. Jesus said in John 6:32-33, “Truly truly I say to you it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” Jesus is the bread from heaven and we have to receive Him just like Israel received the manna. How do we do that? We have to be aware of our need. We have to come hungry for Jesus – each one of us personally. My parents can’t go for me to the Lord and get salvation for me. You have to answer the call of the Lord on your heart. You place your faith in Him as your Lord and Savior. You confess your sins. You repent. You rely on Christ. You come humbly to Jesus and receive the gift of salvation that He offers you.

If you have never placed your faith in Christ, please reach out to us. Please send us a message and let us share with you the hope that we have in Christ!