I am sitting in a Starbucks right now right outside Grand Canyon National Park. It’s so beautiful here and this morning it is snowing. Yes, snowing.
Despite the literal freezing temperatures that I will have to face soon and sleep in tonight, I am so happy. I have a warm cup of coffee in my hand that I didn’t have to pay for, which is a gift from God and God alone.
The last time I saw snow like this, it was the morning my grandma passed away. The Lord has been redeeming so many things for me this year and this is another one unfolding right now in front of my eyes.
He redeems. He redeems everything. He rewrites memories and turns mourning into joy. That is how thoughtful He is, He doesn’t have to, but He does.
ATL month starts tomorrow and my team doesn’t have a specific location. The Lord has been pressing on my heart to walk in full faith anyways though despite our lack of direction. I don’t have to know what He is doing to trust Him and follow Him.
This morning He has reminded me of a excerpt from the book “Faithful Service” that my friend and teammate Carolyn read to us awhile ago. It talks about John 2 and the Wedding at Cana. This is Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine.
After the wine runs out, Jesus tells the servants to fill up 6 stone water jars. It says in verse 7 that they “filled them up to the brim”. How easy would it have been to think Jesus was crazy and instead fill them up half way or a quarter of the way? After all they were gathering water, not wine. They had no idea what was gonna happen. Plus, walking back and forth from the well they were gathering and drawing water must have been exhausting. They must have thought at one point that this was pointless. They didn’t stop though, they filled the jars to the brim.
I hear Jesus saying “the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Matthew 7:2). The passage talks about judging others, but I think it can be applied to faith as well. The measure of faith you use, the measure it will be given to you.
The amount of water the servants put in the jars, the amount of wine they got.
This is the faith I want. To the brim, both feet in, in full confidence that He will provide for my every need and provide in abundance.
I declare this over ATL month. We don’t have much direction, but I am gonna walk in faith up to the brim.
I declare this over my finances. I have $12 and 7 months to go, but he will provide. Even if it isn’t financial, he will give me joy and peace with what I do have and I will lack nothing (James 1:4).
Even if all I have is faith as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). I will have faith up to the brim of that mustard seed.
Give the Lord all the faith you have. This reminds me of the Widow’s offering (Mark 12:41-44). The woman gave everything she had and it was only two small copper coins, but Jesus said, “truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
I believe He views faith the same way. Whatever we got, he wants it all. Up to the brim, not doubting, but two feet planted firmly on faith.
AND that’s not all. This is what stopped me in my tracks and made me weep internally.
Luke 6:38
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
That just sounds like abundance to me, and I want it.
The Lord is completely blowing my mind this morning and I just have to share. I know this isn’t just for me, but for some other people. He has completely opened my eyes to a whole new kind of faith that I pray I never forget.
And right this second as I write this I have a way to test this. A man just walked in front of me limping and Jesus said “pray for Him”. So a friend and I did. I was hoping to write “AND HE WAS HEALED!”. But he walked away limping. He was trying to get rid of us because He was totally weirded out. I can’t help but smile because it is totally weird for me too, I am shaking, but I had to do it. Jesus Heal Him!
Thanks for reading!
-A
