Test of Abundance Day 1

Today I want to start by stating something that may sound like a cliché, especially for us believers. That everything our God does is for a reason. Everything in His design has its own end. His commands, His deeds… everything that has its origin in God has an object and a reason for being how and where it is. It’s supposed to exhibit something; to tend to something with a higher purpose. His deeds are ordained to answer to His original design for them. But our capacity for free will often makes us miss out on this design.

And so for the next ten days, we’re going to look into this purpose, and more so with regards to the abundance that we’re launching into the deep for, this year. We need to know how we’re supposed to behave when we get to that level. Because God isn’t going to bless us for the mere sake of it or simply because we asked for it? There’s a purpose beyond our own interests. Does God expect something of us at that level?

And so to start off on our series this month which we’re calling the Test of Abundance, we’re going to look at a text we read last month on DAY 3 of Launching into the Deep: Luke 5:4-7. And Luke says, towards the end of the text, that after they had launched into the deep as the Lord had commanded, they caught a great multitude of fish and called out to those in other ships. They beckoned unto them to join in and load the fish into their own boats. And this is where I want us to put our focus on because therein lies the perfect domino effect of a believer's life. They needed a catch, and the Lord gave them a condition, a command to launch into the deep. And they obeyed and got their hearts desires. But does it end there? No! Verse 7 carries a test. The Test of Abundance whose results are hinged on how they do in that test.

And Simon knows better than to keep everyone else from the limelight. He knows better than to hoard the blessings all to himself. He beckons the other ships to join in! And this is where we fail most as believers. We pray for blessings, we pray for abundance, and the Lord is gracious enough to invite us into His secret places of abundance. He opens the seasons of abundance to us. But what do we do with it? We fail the test! We get excited. We become selfish. We forget how we were in the previous season and those who’re where we were back then. We want the limelight all to ourselves.

We want everybody to see how different things are for us that we forget there is a higher purpose for what God bestows upon us. We forget that everything that has its origin in God has a purpose. An original design to which we must subscribe. And I want us to reflect and ask ourselves today; Are we failing the test? Are we missing out on the end goal of our blessings? What is the purpose of what God is doing for us? May we learn to look beyond the edges of our own needs this year. To notice and beckon unto the next man or woman to join in on what the Lord is going to do for us this year.

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Pastor Lucy Paynter Daily Insights

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