More? or Less?
A city dweller moved to a farm and bought a milking cow. He looked after the cow and was upset when the cow went dry in just a short time. One day he complained about the cow to his neighbour who was surprised because he knew the cow was a good one and should have produced lots of milk for a long time.
The city man said he was surprised too because he had really looked after the cow. If he only needed a litre of milk, he only took a litre. If he didn’t need milk, he was kind and didn’t bother her. He had been very considerate and treated her well.
The farmer had to explain that the only way to keep the milk flowing was to take as much milk as possible from the cow – not to take as little as possible.
Isn’t that true in the Christian life?
If we only take a LITTLE of the Word into our lives, we will be weak, vulnerable and defeated.
If we take MUCH of the Word and ‘feed’ on it, meditate on it and apply it to our daily living, we will be victorious.
The same applies to prayer. The old saying ‘six days without prayer makes one weak’ is very true. As we pray, we are strengthened and enabled.
Those who only turn to God in times of need are the ones who miss out on the real joy and abundance that flows from a continual infilling of His Spirit and the wonder of His abiding presence. God delights to give. God delights to share fellowship with us, to be our ever-present help. The MORE we receive of Him and His Word and His blessings, the MORE we will find Him to be all we need.
What has God promised to His children?
His abiding presence:
Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Matthew 28:20 I am with you always.
His Word:
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine (what IS right)
for reproof (what is NOT right) for correction (how to GET right)
for instruction in righteousness (how to STAY right)
His victory over temptation [1 Corinthians 10:13] and over satan:
James 4:7 Submit to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you.
His strength and power and victory in Him:
Romans 8:37 We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
The list is endless. God has supplied ALL we need to live victorious Christian lives but we need to keep drawing from His endless supplies.
If we draw LITTLE we will be WEAK
If we draw MUCH we will be STRONG
Among the saddest words in the Bible are these:
Psalm 78:41 They limited the Holy One of Israel
They limited God!? God is omnipotent! He was LIMITED by the people?
Yes – and we read in Mark 6 that Jesus was limited in what He could do for the people, because of their unbelief.
We must ask the questions of ourselves:
Do I limit God in my community?
Do I draw so LITTLE from Him that I make no difference?
Or do I draw MUCH from Him, allowing Him to mould me more and more into the image of Christ [Ephesians 4:13] and allowing Him to reveal Himself through me and draw others to Himself?
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AMEN! so true and much needed. The more we receive of the Word, the more that we bring the Word into our hearts and minds…. which, by His grace, allows us to share it with others verbally and with our actions. Oh how important His Word is for our lives…. Lord Bless.
Rob, I think of Paul’s words when he said “That I may KNOW Him” [Phil 3:10]. We would think he ALREADY knew Him! The fact is that we can never, in this life, fully know Him, or we would be equal to Him, but we can know Him more and more and more.
I want that ‘more’. I want to know Him in such a way that my every thought, attitude, motive, word and action is controlled by Him, so I keep reading His Word and communing with Him and know that He continues His work in me.
What an amazing God!
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You nailed it! Love it! Thanks for writing this.
Thanks for the reply Kurt. I tried to visit your blog, but it seems you have left WordPress.
Thanks for alerting me to this! It was just an incorrect entry in my profile info. It should be fixed. In case you’re interested, and in case it takes some time for the change to take effect, you can get to my blog at http://kurtbennettbooks.com ,
God’s blessings on you!
I definitely need more and realize the fact that I don’t, is my fault not His.
How true. We can never blame God, because He has supplied ALL we ever need. It is not HIS fault if we do not take what He has so bountifully given.
Reblogged this on Inspirational Christian Blogs and commented:
Excellent article on why we need to have “much” of God in our lives. He needs to with us all the time, not just when times are tough. Click this link to ChristianBlessings to finish reading!
Thanks for the reblog Greg.
I need more and more of Him – not that He is never enough – but because I have too much of ‘me’ and as I get more of Him, the ‘me’ becomes less.
I would agree with that, I need lots more of Him and much less of me.
Cloudwatcher, this is great and something we all need to remember!
Thanks Anna. I think most of us tend to want to handle the ‘small’ things ourselves and turn to God when heftier things happen, but the reality is that God is vitally interested in EVERYTHING we do: everything that happens in our lives, and when we turn to Him FIRST, He is delighted (just as we as parents are when our children turn to us). “Whatever we do” should be “as unto the Lord” – drawing from His abundance.
Springs of living water- that is His promise and we limit His supply to us by only sipping of His goodness.
Lord, forgive us for our doubts and taking You for granted and not drawing on Your supply of living water. Forgive us for grumbling and blaming You for short supplies when You have provided and we failed to draw. Help us Lord to accept in faith and with thanksgiving Your abundant supplies, Your goodness to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Amen Evelyn! You put it so well. He has indeed given us never-ending springs of living water – and we are content to merely sip.
We need to accept all He has given us and allow Him to live through us to reach out to others before it is too late.
This message is so true, sister. The more we immerse ourselves totally into God…everything…give Him our all and receive ALL that He gives, the more we will be blessed in our lives. Thank you and God bless you for a well-written, right on target post.
I wonder what He could/would accomplish through us if we truly gave Him our ALL and accepted ALL He offers to us. If ALL His children did the same, we would see the world turned upside-down. I need to yield my ALL to Him!
Amen!
Praise Him from whom ALL blessings flow!
Good object lesson. Thank you.
Thanks for visiting Ben. Welcome. I hope to see more of you.