THE OVERFLOW (By Pastor E.A. Adeboye)

Key Text: Psalm 23:5

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

That passage didn’t say ‘our cup’, it says ‘my cup’. Now personalise the verse by saying “I shall enter into overflow tonight because my cup shall run over”.

When considering the theme ‘overflow’ the first thing we should note is that our God is not a small God. How big is our God? Isaiah 66:1 says He sits in the heavens and his legs touches the earth. Those legs must be pretty big! Our God is so big and because He is big, He doesn’t do small things. In Genesis 1:20-22, God commanded the waters to bring forth abundantly and the moment He said that, the ocean was filled with all manners of fish and creatures. All God needs to say is ‘let there be’ and things get created.

When He created man, He said be fruitful and multiply. Beginning from now, you’ll begin to multiply rapidly in Jesus name. Amen. Because our God is a big God that does big things, His purpose for your life is not small at all. His purpose for your life is not for you to remain small…You may start small but in the name that is above every other name, you’ll not finish small. Amen!

Beginning from now your joy shall multiply! Your blessings shall multiply! Your miracle shall multiply and you will begin to overflow in Jesus name. Amen! There are many people who are alive but barely surviving. In Luke 13:11-17 the bible tells the story of the woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years and as a result was bowed together and couldn’t stand straight. The woman didn’t die, yet she was barely surviving. In 2kings 5, the bible also gives the account of a great captain called Namaan but despite his riches, his joy wasn’t full because of his leprosy. Many people are alive but barely surviving… Whatever is limiting your joy will disappear tonight in Jesus name. Amen.

God wants you to overflow. He doesn’t just want you to be healthy, he wants you to be healing people. He doesn’t just want you to be free but He wants you to be setting the captives free. He doesn’t just want you to be rich, he wants you to be lending to nations. He doesn’t just want you to be happy, he wants you to bring joy to your nation…He wants you to overflow!

However you have a choice. Of all the creatures God created, only man has a choice and the ability to choose. You have a choice on how great you want to be. If you want to overflow there is a price to pay because entering into the overflow is not cheap.

ENTERING INTO THE OVERFLOW WILL COST YOU THE FOLLOWING
1) Total obedience to God . Read Deuteronomy 28:1-13. However verse 1 and 2 says “ if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

2) Hardwork. Proverbs 22:29 says “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”. When God enlarges your coast, it will lead you to hardwork. Overflow is not for the lazy and slothful , it is for hardworkers!

3) Self-discipline. 1Cor 9:25 says “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”. Careless people, those who cannot control themselves cannot cope with an overflow. You must learn to control yourself and be moderate in all things if you want the overflow.

4) Consistent and generous sowing. 1Cor 9:6 says “ But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully”.

5) Lots of prayers (particularly in the spirit). In 1Cor 14:18, Paul testified to how he prayed a lot in tongues and in Acts 19, there were testimonies of how Paul overflowed in anointing because his sweat and handkerchiefs from his body was doing miracles.

HOW DO WE BEGIN TO OVERFLOW?
1) Stop looking at yourself alone, begin to look for how you can become a blessing to others. Stop praying for yourself alone, include others in your prayers. Move away from prayers like “God heal me” to “God use me to heal people”. Move from prayers like “God bless me” to “God make me a blessing to others”. In 2Chron 1:6-12, when God asked Solomon what he wanted after he had offered the sacrifices, Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God’s people. He wanted wisdom so he could be a blessing to others and God honoured the request and even gave him more than he asked for.

2) Get thirsty for God. Matthew 5:6 says “ Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”. 2kings 2:9-15 When Elijah asked Elisha to make a request, He asked for a double portion anointing. When you understand what a single portion anointing can do, you’ll realise that Elisha was hungry for the anointing. He got his request and was soaked in so much anointing to the point that even after he died, his grave brought the dead back to life.

3) Accept His invitation. In John 7:37-38 Jesus stood and cried, saying “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. The invitation has been made a long time ago, all God is waiting for is for us to come to Him saying “Lord I want to overflow”. God is not just about to make the overflowing blessings, He has already set the table before you and all you need do is ask for it.

THE UNSTOPPABLE CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE (By: Pastor (Mrs) Folu Adeboye)

Gen 1:27-28, Ephesians 5: 21- 33

It is very important you don’t miss it when it comes to picking who to marry. If you marry wrongly, you can’t enjoy your life to the fullest.

Anything we call Christian is of Christ. So a Christian marriage starts with Christ. The basic foundation for a Christian marriage is for both the man and woman involved to be saved and redeemed! 

In a Christian marriage, there is no room for divorce or exchange of spouse, as a result one needs a firm foundation in Jesus to be able to withstand some pressures that may arise.

There is time for everything, when it is time for you to settle down, the Holy spirit Himself will minister to you. When have the urge to getting married, don’t just rush into it, wait upon the Lord for directions (Isaiah 40:31).  Don’t go after your desires and lust, in waiting, ask, seek and knock. Ask God to show you his will your life.

God’s will for your life could be revealed to you through dreams, visions, word of knowledge, word of God, deep convictions in the spirit. 

Ladies,  it is prohibited for you to go tell a man ‘You’re my husband’. Ladies never proposed to men in the Bible and anything outside the Bible isn’t the standard. It is all modern doctrine for a woman to go after the man, wait on God and He’ll bring the right person.

After waiting on God and He has shown you the revelation, don’t go to the person straight, go tell your pastor. That is RCCG doctrine! Tell your pastor so they can pray along and do some investigation about the person.

Also tell your parents about it! They also will pray and carry out any necessary background checks. In the midst of counsellors, you won’t go wrong! 

When your pastor and parents have confirmed it, the man and woman then need to come into agreement. You start courtship.

In courtship, you don’t meet up in secret places, be transparent! Protect yourself from evil, don’t give room to the devil. There have been many sad stories of Christian singles getting pregnant before marriage. Have your meetings in an open place, e.g. your pastor’s house.

Get to know each other during courtship. If you enter into marriage with deceit, you’ll reap it later! Show your true colours to your partner!

If in courtship, you realize the marriage won’t work, it is better to call it off, get out of it before it is too late!  A broken courtship is much better than a broken marriage.

During courtship, you need to go for counselling. All RCCG churches do marriage counselling, don’t try to avoid it, it will help you and the experiences of older couples will come in handy after the wedding.

After courtship and counselling have been successful, proceed to the altar! 

The material benefits you get before marriage doesn’t determine how good the marriage will eventually be. The secret to many successful Christian marriage is contentment! 

Don’t take a loan for marriage! Cut your coat according to your size!

Prepare your mind! You don’t know who you dated in courtship well enough until you start living together! 6years after the marriage you will still be discovering new things about the person. 

Prayer is important even after the wedding as practical living is different from all the pre-martial/ honeymoon excitement!

After the wedding, women are to submit to their husbands! Even if you are older, still submit. Even when you don’t agree, submit first, be nice and put your suggestions forward in a nice and peaceful way!

As a woman, accept the leadership of your husband and respect him. If he can only afford ‘N20, 000′ take it and use it wisely. You have to be able to manage resources very well! 

In a marriage, there will be a time of plenty and time of scarcity! Endure, be patient with each other and manage what you have together.
 

The husband is the leader and priest of the family. Show your wife love, use no abusive languages on her, respect her, tolerate her and love her as Christ loves the church.

To experience an unstoppable Christian marriage, don’t allow a third party get involved in your marriage. 

To experience an unstoppable Christian marriage, show each other what you expect in return. If you want peace in your marriage pursue peace, If you want laughter, laugh! Don’t frown at your spouse! If you want care in your marriage, care for your wife and she’ll shower you with care! If you give your wife 20% love, she’ll give you 120% love in return!

Apart from giving birth to children together, you are pray together, eat together, sleep together, suffer together, endure together, enjoy abundance together, train your children together, take care of your household together, and take care of your parents and siblings together. Mark 3:25

A good Christian home will bring you unstoppable joy, peace, good children, abundance and an open heaven!