ASTONISHING ABUNDANCE.

Oftentimes one Bible verse can minister powerfully to us, and hopefully that was the case when for our devotion before the concert in Lubbock tonight we studied 2 Corinthians 9.8....and to aid us in that study we examined the verse from four different Bible translations:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. NIV

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. NLT

God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. Message

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. NRSV

Paul was encouraging the Corinthian church in their giving to the needy church in Jerusalem, but in this verse he was saying that God doesn't just provide our material needs but our spiritual needs to. In fact, he was saying that the two things are linked together- it's no good having the  material capacity to give generously without the spiritual will to want to do so.

We talked about giving of our time, our energy, our creativity, our talent, especially towards the end of a long series of concerts. We reminded ourselves of all the reason we might be afraid to give of ourselves and our resources- can God really meet all our needs?  what are the differences between our needs and our wants? what if we don't have enough left in the tank for ourselves and for our families?

Then we reminded ourselves that scripture is final-  all things, at all times, abounding, every blessing, enough of everything, abundance, astonishing!

We prayed that towards the end of this season of ministry and into 2012 we would increasingly trust God for our provision and know that the Lord replenishes and re-supplies those who give tirelessy into the lives of others for the sake of His Kingdom.