Session 1

What it looks like to be filled and overflowing

From The Overflowing Life: A 14-Day Devotional

When you picture overflow, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of coffee spilling over the edges of a mug, water flowing over a dam, or the space just outside a packed concert venue.

God is a God of overflow. He desires for us to have a life overflowing with His character — too much hope to keep inside, peace spilling over the edges, love saturating everything in and around us.

But in order to overflow, something must first be filled. We cannot fill ourselves up by working harder, serving more, or by being good enough. Overflow is the opposite of striving — it flows freely from within.

The beginning of an overflowing life is an unshakable identity in God sustained by intimacy with Him. This identity is founded on the truth that God is pleased with us, not because of what we do but because of who we are in Christ.

Intimacy with God fills us with love, hope, peace, kindness — all of the rich things God wants to give us. And when we receive our fullness from Him, we are freed from the burden of performance and self-preservation. We are able to serve, give, and love out of His overflow.

God doesn’t ask us to earn fullness. Jesus already earned it for us. So we are able to operate in God’s joy as His ambassadors and children, pouring out to others as a result of an overflow instead of effort.

Reflect:

• Does pouring into others feel more depleting than freeing? Why do you think that is?
• Is the pressure to perform for God or others what drives you? How can you tell the difference between when you’re striving and when you’re overflowing?
• Do you believe God is pleased with you simply because you are a new creation in Christ? Take a few minutes to sit in silence and ask God to tell you what He loves about you.