Overflowing Abundance || Jesus’ Return Policy #3

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – press down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. (Luke 6:38)

I hear this verse a lot during the offering collection at church. It’s made me wonder what my return will be like. This is imagery painted by Jesus. It brought to my mind scooping flour when making cookies or sweets. You might press it down, shake the excess off, or dump the overflowing scoop into your batter or dough when you scoop it. The results of it come back to you in a sweet treat. Jesus is trying to teach us his return policy in a similar way. 

Throughout this series, I will take apart each step in the return policy to see what it means and how the concept is shown in other parts of the Bible. Let’s get into part three of our “Jesus’ Return Policy” series and discuss how our gifts will run over. 

The Greek word used here is huperekchunnó (hoop-er-ek-khoo’-no), which means to pour out or to overflow. While this word is a fun one to use at parties, it’s only used one time in this verse. This is a compound word. Huper (hoop-er’), which means over, beyond, on behalf of, for the sake of, or concerning, and ekchunnó (ek-khoo’-no), which means to pour out or to bestow. Our studies will be focused on the second half of this compound word. 

Ephesians 3:20

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

This is the closing section of Paul’s prayer for spiritual growth. He’s in awe of everything God creates in heaven and on earth and hopes his audience will be empowered with inner strength through the Holy Spirit. He hopes that we understand the vastness of God’s love for us and can experience this. 

Ephesians 1:19-20

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power

20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realm. 

God’s power helps us grow, change, and love others. It continues to grow in us each as day goes by and helps us to overcome our difficulties. This comes from the Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom. He has constantly prayed to God, asking for the Ephesian church to have spiritual wisdom and insight to continue growing in their knowledge of God. He wants their hearts to be filled with light so they can see clearly the confident hope God gave his chosen people. 

After this section, he shares that God made Jesus the head of all things for the church’s benefit. The church can be a powerful community for people who are suffering. Through the church, we should learn about God, his love, grace, and mercy, and how to change our ways to love others like we’re called to. This can be difficult or can feel jaded if the church community isn’t a healthy place to be. I’m not saying the church needs to be full of perfect people all the time because that’s unrealistic, but how the church operates needs to have sound leadership, mind, and body. Does leadership get along with each other? Do they have clarity in who they are? These things are essential for a church to recognize internally because they become heavily focused externally. This isn’t to say they shouldn’t be active in their community. Churches should always be active in helping their community and congregations in one way or another, but they should balance the work that needs to be done internally.

Thankfully, God’s resurrection power continues to work in us daily on a personal level. It helps continue the personal growth we need to make to become more Christ-like, as well as helps us be better servants of the church body.

Colossians 1:28-29

28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 

29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. 

The word “perfect” in this context means “mature” or “complete,” not flawless. How often do we share about the perfection found in our walk with Christ and interpret that as flawless? It’s a common understanding of perfect but not to God. We want to share God with them in a mature way or in a complete mindset. We’re not going to be flawless in our execution. We will share our testimony, full of scary stories, vulnerable moments, and situations where we don’t come across as flawless. I hear Pastor Mike Todd say, we’re progressing, not perfecting. We will always strive to mature through Christ, but we shouldn’t do it alone. We need to grow spiritually like an athlete training for their sport. 

Spiritual maturity is connected with God’s Spirit, meaning that we will grow spiritually when we tap into the wisdom and power of God’s Spirit. If we do this, we will have opportunities to learn and grow daily. We will be motivated by love throughout our day rather than by fear or pride. Why? We’ll know that Christ is the energy source that allows us to do and be who he created us. I’ve often connected the Holy Spirit to that gust of energy you get when exhausted to continue doing what needs to be done. The world can beat us down and exhaust us quickly, but the Holy Spirit supplies energy that helps get us through the day. We must ensure that our energy comes from the Spirit first and not as a last resort. 

The message of Christ is for all people. When Paul and Timothy traveled, they brought the teachings of the Bible to all who wanted to listen. For them, a practical teaching of the Bible included warnings and teachings. This was because Paul believed the end times would occur in his lifetime. He made sure that everyone repented and turned their life over to Christ so they could be saved and live eternally. The warnings were typically that without Christ, they wouldn’t live eternally. The teachings were typically that they could be saved through faith in Christ. When they taught, it circled back to these two main points. It’s what I see as primary teaching through the Gospels and all of the New Testament. 

It’s an overflowing amount of information to take in and apply to our thoughts and actions, but the love, grace, and mercy that Jesus has for us is always overflowing. We must soak in as much as possible to share that overflow with others.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-10

9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.

10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. 

Seeing someone come to faith in Christ and mature is a great reason to celebrate. The angels rejoice when this happens, and we should, too. Paul thanked God for those who came to know Christ and their strong faith. He also prayed for their continued growth. How often do you pray for someone in their faith journey? I’m not talking about praying for someone dealing with illness, family issues, or anything like that. I’m talking about praying for someone’s Christian walk so they can grow in their faith. I don’t see or hear (or do) it much, but it seems like it should be happening mor. 

2 Timothy 1:3

3 Timothy, I thank God for you – the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 

Paul consistently prayed for his friend, fellow traveler, son in the faith, and future church leader, Timothy. Although they were separated, they encouraged and motivated each other through prayer. It’s the exact things we need to do today. Pray for a friend, a coworker, a family member, a stranger you drive by, or anyone. There doesn’t need to be a specific reason to pray over them. Just pray. 

Psalm 23:5

5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. 

This verse struck me during the stay-at-home part of the pandemic. I was coming out of my depressive slump and getting into making video lessons for my youth group. While preparing scripts, I listened to a Holly Furtick sermon on Psalm 23. It reminded me how good it was to share God’s word with others but also fill myself with it. I wasn’t doing that. I was reading lesson plans that included scripture but needed something else. This blog was a way of doing that. The same thing can be said because I do all this studying for you, but I learn so much from it. Plus, I listen to Ten Minute Bible Talk on my walks to work and the BibleProject podcast. I am doing two reading plans on the YouVersion Bible app. I’m attending church and taking notes weekly. There’s a lot more that I’m doing than just this, and it has enriched my life so much. I feel this overflow consistently, sharing it with friends and family. God gave me many blessings that I took for granted, but I’m now making sure to be grateful for them and that my overflow can be helpful to others. 

The overflowing that Jesus gives us is something that he pours out on behalf of us. It allows us to do more through the Spirit than we could ever imagine. We learn to continue growing through the Spirit to become better people and servants through the church. The overflow allows us to soak in so much of God’s love, grace, and mercy that we can share that with others and love as Jesus loved. One of those significant overflows is through the act of prayer. We can also share in the overflow through gratitude for what God blessed us with. On Saturday, we’ll wrap up this series by pouring everything we learned back into our lap. Hope you’re ready for that. Until then, stay blessed.