Dear friends and family,
I have been thinking about how easy it is to live with a closed fist.
Not just financially. I mean emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.
We can hold tightly to our time. We can protect our hearts. We can become careful with our encouragement, our generosity, even our love. Sometimes life teaches us to guard what we have because we are afraid there may not be enough.
But the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I realize that He never called us to live with clenched fists.
He calls us to live with open hearts.
I have watched this principle again and again in my own life: when God pours something into us, He never intends for it to stop with us.
His love is meant to flow through us.
His grace is meant to flow through us.
His encouragement is meant to flow through us.
His provision is meant to flow through us.
Paul wrote in Romans 15:13:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I love that word: overflow.
God does not want us barely surviving spiritually. He wants our lives so full of Him that what He is doing inside of us begins spilling over onto the people around us.
That challenges me.
It makes me ask myself: Where have I started holding back?
Have I become too protective of my time?
Too careful with my resources?
Too hesitant to encourage someone?
Too guarded with my heart?
An open hand can give, but it can also receive.
And I am learning again that I do not have to be afraid of giving when I know Who my source is.
I cannot out-give God.
Every time I pour out what He has placed in me, He is faithful to meet me again with fresh grace, fresh strength, fresh hope, and fresh provision.
Maybe that is the word for some of us this week:
Open your heart again.
Love again.
Give again.
Encourage again.
Trust again.
Believe again.
Do not let disappointment, fear, or scarcity close your heart.
Jesus has been far too generous with us for us to live small, guarded lives.
I want my life to be an overflow of everything He has placed within me.
And I pray you do too.
Keep believing,
Mike