You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows . Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:5-6
These verses in Psalm 23 show us the heart of our loving Heavenly Father. He is a generous, extravagant loving God who constantly overflows our cups with blessing. Verse 4 says that our cups run over. He is the God of the much more, the overflow, the far above. He doesn’t just give us more, but much more. Not just above, but far above. Not just flowing but overflowing. Not just abundant, but exceedingly abundant. Not just life but an abundant life.
In ancient times if you were invited to a party, the host would make sure that your cup was full to overflowing, with no ‘half tides’. There would be generous fillings that spilled over onto the table. If you had gone past your welcome, your cup would run dry and it would be a sign that it was time for you to leave.
It’s never like this for God’s Children at our Father’s table, for we never outstay our welcome. Our God always has much more for us, and our cup will always overflow. However if you were to leave the table your cup could run dry. Look at the story of the Prodigal Son for instance. When he left his father and wandered off into sin, his cup ran dry and he ended up in poverty, eating pigs’ food. But when he came to his senses and returned to his father, there was a display of extravagance towards him that shows us the Father heart of God.
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:21-24
Notice that the father didn't just give him any old robe but the ‘best’ robe. He didn’t say to one of his servants, “Run down to the Hospice Shop and pick up a bargain.” “We don’t want to waste too much money on him just incase he runs off again.” When it came to the meal he said, “Bring me the ‘fatted’ calf”. That’s the best one there is. He didn’t say to his servant “Go quickly to town and grab a takeaway meal or a Macca’s Cheese Burger.”
This parable is a picture of our loving Heavenly Father. He is a generous, extravagant, over flowing Father who loves to bless us with much more. It’s His nature, so don’t let the Devil lie to you. God loves to give us much more. In my experiences with God I have always found him to be this way. He is not a stingy, mingy God. There may have been times when I have left the table and my cup has run dry, or occasions where He has been teaching me patience, but He has always come through in the end as the God of the much more.
There was an occasion that Elijah the Prophet had come to the end of the season where he was staying and the stream that he had been drinking from dried up. His cup had run dry, but there was something better for him ahead. In the end God came through and showed him His extravagance. He was sent to a widow’s house and all through the drought her barrel of oil and meal never ran dry, it kept overflowing. That all stopped when the rains came and the harvest grew again.
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. 1 Kings 17:14-16
Just look at creation and you can’t help but see the extravagance of our God, especially here in New Zealand. We have the most abundant variety of trees on the planet. When I was In Zimbabwe living in the Bulawayo area it was quite dry so most of the trees were thorn trees and there was no dense bush like we are used to here. But what is lacking in trees was made up for in amazing insects and bird life, and before modern civilization arrived the land was teaming with wild animals. God even displays His exuberance to us in the sky, as there are no two days the same as far as colours and cloud shapes are concerned, along with the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Our Mountain never looks the same either. It changes its mood every day, looking different in its colour and all the variety of clouds that clothe it. The same can be said for the sea. Some days its like a mill pond and others days its roaring. All God’s dealings with man are displays of His generosity. He is indeed the God of the much more. I watched a documentary on ‘Russia from above’ the other night and was amazed to see how beautiful that vast country is. God even blesses the Russians. Lol.
I worked in the out backs of Australia for awhile in my twenties and even there you can see the exuberance of God, especially when it rains, and what can I say about the prolific bird and insect life.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
This is one of my favourite verses in the bible and inspires me to lift my game when in prayer. God is able to do far more, much more, super abundantly more that we can ever dare to ask or think. God gives us peace. But not any old peace.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding ,shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
He gives us peace that passes all understanding. I always remember photos of the celebrations in the streets of Europe at the end of WW2. All the people were rejoicing with banners that said “Peace at Last.” However that peace didn't last very long. But the peace that God gives to us is an everlasting peace that can be with you even when things are going wrong. This is a peace that comes from the God of the much more.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
The same applies to the joy that He gives. It’s not just any old joy but joy unspeakable. A joy that can stay with you even when you are in jail or when you are being persecuted. It’s a joy that is beyond human understanding.
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 1 Peter 1:7-9
The feeding of the 5000 also displays the exuberance of God. After everyone was fed, the disciples were asked to gather up all that was left over and there were 12 baskets full. This table that was set before the multitude by God overflowed. It says that all the people were filled up to the top so that they couldn’t eat anymore. They pushed the extra food away and it came to 12 baskets full. God is a God who blesses far above what we can ask or think. He is a God of much more.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. Matthew 14:15-21
We need to create an attitude of expectancy in our hearts. Gratitude and thankfulness encourage the God of the much more. The more that we notice the blessings of God around us the happier we will be and we will see more opportunities to praise the Lord. Not only that, but God will respond and bless us even more. Don’t you like blessing someone who is appreciative? You love to see their response. There is nothing worse than giving to an ungrateful person. It doesn’t make for doing it for them over and over again.
When I lived in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, I liked going for prayer walks. It wasn’t as easy as it is here as in the summer it’s very hot and there is always the possibility of a thunderstorm. When it rains over there it not like our rain, it’s real industrial strength type rain, and you don’t come out just a little damp. In winter its very dry and the trees lose their leaves. When I went for walks I missed the trees of New Zealand and longed to come home again. God didn’t seem to be in any hurry, but finally I came back and ended up in Taranaki. I am so grateful to be here for I could have been granted my wish to return and ended up in a very flat and boring town, but here I am next to our beloved mountain, with native bush, rivers and sea all around.
Here is an another example of the God of the much more that happened for us recently. My wife and I had an Accor Hotel voucher that allowed us a free night in any Accor hotel in the Asia Pacific area. You could stay in the Ibis budget hotel for a night if you wanted to or a Novotel Hotel here in New Plymouth, or you could stay in a 5 star Sofitel Hotel. I was praying about when and where this could be used and wondered if I should cash it in at the Sofitel Hotel in Auckland when we were up there recently, but felt no. Each year Bernice and I go and see our son and his family in Sydney and the thought came to me of using the voucher there at the brand new Sofitel 5 star Hotel in Darling Harbour, Sydney. It is over 35 stories high. What a treat that would be.
As I prayed about staying there I dared to ask the Lord for a room over-looking the harbour on the 21st floor. I made a booking but wasn’t told what floor we would be on. We arrived there early on our last day in Sydney and booked in. Because we were so early they couldn’t give us a room yet, so we left our bags there and went off to Church. When we came back the lady said she had got us a room on the 28th floor. Wow that is far above what I asked for. God is the God of the far above what we dare to ask or think. I dared to ask for the 21st floor and ended up with the 28th floor.
It was over looking the Darling Harbour with a glass window that went from top to bottom. Another blessing was that it was the time of ‘Vivid’ where Sydney’s prominent buildings are all lit up with laser lights and displays at night. Down below the hotel was a display of a Transformer resembling Maximus Prime made out of scrap metal. It was like a huge Goliath in comparison with the people who gathered around it. We were like grass hoppers at his feet. However when you were on the 28th floor you could barely see him down below and he was now like a grass hopper in our eyes. I could imagine the hotel turning into a gigantic Transformer and squashing him under his feet. I thought of this verse in Ephesians.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:17-23
This reminded me of how we have been placed in Christ far above all principalities and powers, and the Devil is now under our feet. We are not under the Devil’s feet as he would like us to think.
This whole experience in the Sofitel Hotel was a vivid illustration of how the Lord loves to do so much more than we dare to ask. He has not only forgiven our sins but lifted us up far above the enemy. Naturally the Devil does not want us to know this and most Christians still feel intimidated by him. We need to believe what the Lord says about us and what He has done to our arch enemy. We have been lifted up with Christ into heavenly places.
