the overflowing life

I want an overflowing life; I want to be refreshing to those around me.

But where does the overflow come from? That overflow that spills over to revive and refresh…the overflow comes from the fullness within.

 A life full of Christ and empty of me.

As I watch the rain gently fall the Lord shows me the secret to this full and overflowing life.

I set a pitcher out in the rain and watched as it began to fill and then overflow.

I notice how still the pitcher stands gathering in all that water. In it falls drop after drop and I realize it would not be so full and overflowing if it were moving.

In reality pitchers can not move, but people can. We can run around and get soaking wet but never really full. A soaking wet life is not a life that blesses others. You are the only one benefited from that kind of life. 

If we want to live the full life that God intended for His children, we must learn to become still. Even with our outer man busy with daily responsibilities we can find this stillness continually

in our inner man. 

This is the stillness of soul in which the Spirit can minister not only to you, but those around you. 

beauty instead of the brown

Today I went for a walk with my camera and ended up in a field, a field of death, a field of brown.

My camera has set on the shelf for the past few days. I haven’t found much inspiration from the prominent color of brown that greets my eyes every time I walk out the door.

But here I am, surrounded by it.

It is a challenge; can I find beauty in this?

The lens that zooms close uncovers the beauty, and I begin to see life instead of the death, beauty instead of the brown. 

The veil of brown has risen from my eyes… and all the sudden, this field is alive! 

It is the seeds that catch my eye. In these tiny pods are next summers beauties.  

All spring, summer, and fall these plants have grown. Now is the time of their death.

Withered and colorless they may appear, but the life they hold is precious. It is summers promise which  winters cold winds will wring free. 

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.- John 12:24