Rachel Sanders - October 29, 2023
Part 4: Overflow
Overflow 10/29/23 What does it mean that God is our Shepherd and how does that lead to overflow? God is our all-sufficient Shepherd "For many of us the great danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them." -Jon Ortberg If we are starting with an inaccurate or incomplete picture of God, then we can never fully surrender to Him as our provider, our Shepherd. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. "The gospel that Jesus himself proclaimed, manifested, and taught was about more than his death for the forgiveness of our sins, as important as that is. It was about the kingdom of God - God's immediate availability, his with-us-ness that makes a life without lack possible. There is so much more to our relationship with God than just his dealing with our guilt and sin. Once we have ben forgiven, we are meant to live in the fullness of the life that Jesus came to give us." -Dallas Willard We are His Sheep If dependence is the objective, weakness is an advantage "I am convinced that the Voice that whispered us into being still whispers within us and all creation. I am dead certain of it sometimes, terrified of it at other times, and longing for it at all times. The silence that so ofter seems to overcome me is more likely a matter of my not trusting my own ears than it is a matter of the Voice having gone suddenly inexplicably silent." -Robert Benson "To partner with God as He brings renewal in the world, in the systems and organizations where we live and lead, we must learn to detect His voice before moving forward; this is a countercultural act in an anxious system, which demands action, quick fixes, and fast acting remedies for pain. Waiting on the Lord, seeking His voice is an act of revolutionary stillness." -Mark Sayers His promise is fullness to the point of overflow "There is absolutely nothing that God lacks. We must understand this, because the overflowing sufficiency that we will experience when Yahweh is our Shepherd lies in the all-sufficiency of the Shepherd himself. If we do not understand the all-sufficiency of the Shepherd, we will never experience that sufficiency in relationship to him. What we need, God has - in infinite supply." -Dallas Willard Philippians 4:10-13 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Burnout happens when our doing exceeds our being.