“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” John 15:11 NLT

During our drought spell, I noted that my neighbors grass had a large patch of green growing where everything else was brown. I mentioned it to him, saying he MAY want to call the county to check for a leak in his water main. He did! Unfortunately they found that the leak was coming from MY side! $350 to the plumber put a stop to THAT nonsense. 2 weeks later… !!!

When grandchildren came to sleep over, bath and bedtime had them all orbiting the bathroom. The emptying of the tub and the flush of the toilet produced ANOTHER kind of overflow! This time, water was overflowing 2 bathroom floors AND the shower! And it WASN’T fresh water! A call to my plumber, 2 days and many hundreds of dollars later AGAIN, put a stop the that nonsense!

It was rather comical to me to read this part of the Bible when I had just experienced expensive plumbing problems in both the intake and outflow of water under the house. Meditating on what Jesus said, and what He was doing, I realized that when it comes to life in The Spirit, He is NOT concerned with control, waste management or supply and demand. Jesus is a dumper!

Jesus clearly teaches that He came to give Joy! And NOT just enough for the single moment. He came to give so much joy to people, that OVERFLOW is actually expected! It seems to me that the more I overflow with His joy in me, the MORE useful to Him I become. And overflow brings even MORE opportunity for overflow! Leak fixing is the furthest thing from Jesus’ mind!

It stands to reason then that… if I am walking around grumpy and irritable, it ISN’T the fault of Jesus or even life itself! The fault lies within ME. Jesus can supply me with MORE joy and abundant life than I could ever possibly use! TO NOT use or take advantage of that is just plain silly and stingy! Today I am planning to do some splashing in His overflow! How about YOU? I want the lawn of my life to be GREEN!   And so does HE!