Ministering from the Overflow

Dear friends,

Let me encourage you today from Scripture. David said, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." (Ps 23:5). In other words, the Lord His Shepherd had blessed him with more than he needed and more than he could contain, so that he overflowed.

The same is true in our lives, when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He blesses us with more than we need and more than we can contain -- more love, more joy, more peace. more of His presence, etc. -- so that we overflow. His anointing and His blessings are literally overflowing in our lives. And it is out of that overflow that we are able to minister to others, which is especially important for us to understand as ministers of the gospel. 

To illustrate this, picture a teacup in a saucer. You pour tea into it until it reaches the brim and you keep pouring until the tea overflows the cup, collecting in the saucer beneath the cup. The contents of the saucer that overflowed from the cup are what we call the overflow. 

Now consider that overflow to represent the overflow of God's anointing and blessings in your life. It is out of that overflow that you should minister to others. If you try to minister to others from a place of emptiness, you will have nothing to offer and nothing to give. You will be striving. That's why it is important to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be continuously filled on a daily basis (see Baptized with the Holy Spirit). That's why your personal time with the Lord is so important and must be guarded along with your heart, because if you become drained or your heart becomes weighed down with dissipation (i.e.., the scattering, wasting, or gradual disappearance of energy, resources, or substances), you will have nothing to give to others. 

But when you minister from the overflow, you will always have something good to give to others, as long as what fills your heart is good. That could be an exhortation (word of encouragement), a teaching, a prophecy, your time, godly counsel, a listening ear, a gift of some kind -- monetary or non-monetary (eg., clothing, food, other goods), love, kindness, some kind of help, or hospitality. Whatever you give, let it be from the overflow in your own life.

Jesus said that from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." (Lk 6:45). This teaches us that spoken words reveal whether a heart is filled with goodness or evil, as the mouth inevitably overflows with what is stored within.

Living Waters Flowing from Within You

The Lord also said, "'Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified." (Jn 7:38-39). Once again, He promised there would be a flowing of His Spirit through us, indicating the way in which we are to minister through the overflow of the Spirit.

Closing Words

The Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, promised to give us abundant life, and that is the life that is so full that it overflows (John 10:10). Stay close to Him, guard your heart, stay in the Word and in prayer daily, and continually be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that you are always in that place of enjoying the abundant life, and then you will always have overflow to share with others and from which to minister to them.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page, such as A Tale of Two Kings, The Servant of the Lord, The Shepherding Role of Elders, Success in God's Eyes, Accountable, correctable, and teachable, A Personality Profile of the Apostle Paul, Persecuted or Popular?, and Having a Servant's Heart. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.