OVER-SUPPLYING GRACE

*He Died For Us, words and music by Jimmy

Owens, 1971 and 2003 by Lillenas Publishing
Company.

Ive always loved this song. It reminds me that ever since

Jesus cried, It is finished! (John 19:30), God unleashed a
flood tide of grace upon this world, and that grace has been
flowing ever since. Whatever you need today, my friend,
Christ has already supplied it through the cross. You can tell
yourself, Man, whatever the situation I am in, Gods supply is
there!

Are You Demand- Or Supply-Oriented?

You know, I asked the Lord once what it meant to live under
grace. He said, When you are conscious of My constant
supply to you, you are living under grace. Conversely, when
you are conscious of the demand put on you to achieve, you
are living under the law. Simply put, the principle of grace
is supply, while the principle of the law is demand. The law
says, You shallYou shall notYou shall But under
grace, God says, I willI willI will (Hebrews 8:1012)
Can you see the difference? Under grace, God is the one
doing all the doing and supplying, not you. Praise God,
this is our relationship with Him under the new covenant of
grace!

When you are demand-oriented, you see everything as a

demand placed on youI must do thisI must do that
The result? You feel stressed and pressurized to perform,
meet peoples expectations and achieve results. But when
you are living under grace, you see the rich supply from God
providing whatever you need for your situation despite the
demands. The result? You walk in peace and always see
Gods provision because your eyes are focused on His
unfailing supply. As we deal with life on a day-by-day basis,
we can be demand-oriented or supply-oriented. So let me ask
you this: Are you demand-oriented or supply-oriented?

Be Supply-Conscious

My friend, when youre supply-oriented, youll see God work

miracles in your life. Not long ago, I went to Universal Studios
on the island of Sentosa, Singapore, with my family. While I
was having some food at a food court, a lady who worked
there walked right up to me and greeted me, Pastor Prince!

So I said, Hi, and she said, Wow, Im so glad to see you

here. She talked with me a little and then said, You know,
Ive been having this pain in my back for the past few days. I
prayed and asked God to send me someone and He sent
you. Will you please pray for me?

I looked around me. The setting wasnt right. There wasnt

anointed worship music playing in the background. In fact, the
food court was noisy with the chatter of people and the clatter
of cutlery and crockery. I thought to myself, You want me to
pray for you here? Now?
Then, I remembered what the Lord had been telling me about
being supply-oriented. So I stood up, placed my hand gently
on her elbow and said, Lord, I just thank You for Your supply
of grace. I just thank You that theres more grace here than
her pain. I just thank You that You are healing her back now,
adjusting and restoring whatever needs adjusting and
restoring. I thank You that shes completely healed in Jesus
name. No fanfare, no feeling holy goose bumps running up
and down my arms, just a simple, honest prayer. In the midst
of the setting of that ordinary, noisy food court, I just saw the
supply there for her healing.

After praying for this precious lady, I said to her, Okay, dont
worry about the pain anymore. Dont be conscious of it. Just
ignore it. The Lord has healed you already. She thanked me
and went on talking about her family and other things. Then,
all of a sudden, she said excitedly, Oh, hey, its gone! The
pain thats been there for a number of days is GONE!

I remember just standing there, looking at her, warmed by

Gods love for the dear lady and amazed at the sheer
simplicity of His grace toward us.

My friend, right in the ordinariness of everyday life, you can

receive from the supply that is constantly flowing toward you.
Do you need healing today? Do you need wisdom? Peace for
a troubled heart? You can receive it right now if you can see
His supply all around you, giving you what you need. It
doesnt matter where you find yourself. You dont have to wait
for the right time, place or external circumstances when it
comes to asking and receiving from God. Simply look away
from the demand, see His supply and receive by grace what
you need.
Grace Over-Supplies Your Need

Jesus walked in supply-consciousness. In the account of the

feeding of the 5,000, we see how the Lord was clearly
conscious of heavens supply in the face of scarcity. (John
6:113)

When Jesus saw the five loaves and two small fish, unlike His
disciples, He didnt see the impossible demand placed on
Himfeeding more than 5,000 hungry people with a boys
small lunch. He saw the supply. His disciples, on the other
hand, saw the demand. It bothered them so much that they
urged Him to send the people home. They were concerned
that they did not have enough food for everyone nor did they
have enough money to buy that much food.

But because Jesus saw the supply, He was able to thank the
Father for the little that was in His hands, and the little
multiplied and multiplied and kept on multiplying! Not only
were the people fed till their bellies were bulging, but there
were also 12 baskets full of leftovers! What an awesome
miracle! When grace supplies, its always exceedingly,
abundantly and above all you can ever ask or imagine!
(Ephesians 3:20)

Pause and think about this for a moment. Are you facing a
five-loaves-and-two-small-fish situation in your life right now?
Is there a situation of scarcity in your finances or family life?
Are you struggling to find enough time to get your work done
as well as spend quality time with your family? Whatever your
area of lack, take some time to reread the last two
paragraphs, and saturate your heart and mind with the
largeness of Gods heart and supply toward you. See the
abundance Jesus wants to bless you with instead of your
impossible situation and receive His supply with 12 baskets
full of leftovers in every area of insufficiency!

The Reason For Our Supply

Do you know why we can see that the supply is all around us?
Its not because we are good or deserving. Its because 2,000
years ago, a lonely and beaten-beyond-recognition figure
hung on Calvarys cross. Jesus chose to take our place and
become a curse for us. Bearing our sins and our curse, He
was cut off from all the blessings of God. He was cursed so
that we can be blessed. He cried out, My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46) so that today, you
and I can say, My Father, my Father, why have You so
blessed me?

He was in darkness, so that we can be in eternal light. He

took all that we deserved, so that we can be supplied with and
receive all that He deserves all the time!

Grace Supplies Because Love Is Always Giving

My friend, its not hard to understand how the grace of God is

always supplying when you know that the essence of God
Himself is love and that LOVE GIVES. The Bible says in two
places that God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16) Interestingly, the
Hebrew word for love is made up of three Hebrew
letters: Aleph, Hey and Bet (note that Hebrew reads from right
to left).

In other words, put Hey (grace) back in the centre of the word
for father and you get back the word for love. Can you see
it? In the midst of your Fathers heart is love. The Father is all
about love!

Now, what does love do? John 3:16 tells us For God so loved
the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son
Love gives! Love doesnt take. Love gives! In fact, love gives
more than you can take! So God, who is defined as love, and
who personifies perfect love, is always giving, giving, giving.

If you read the Gospels, youll find that during His earthly
ministry, God the Son was always giving. Jesus meant every
word He said when He said, the Son of Man did not come
to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many. (Matthew 20:28) Even in His glorified, resurrected
form in heaven, He remains a servant forever, signified by the
golden girdle around His waist. (Revelation 1:13, KJV) Yes,
He is Lord of lords, King of kings, but according to His Word,
He is also a servant who delights in serving and giving to you!

The Personal Touch

Throughout the Gospels, youll always find Jesus preaching,

teaching and healing, and He often gave more than just
health when He healed the sick. I am reminded of the poor
leper who came to the Lord and asked Him to make him
clean. The leper must have been desperatehe not only
broke the law when he left the leper colony to look for Jesus,
but he was also risking his life because he could have been
stoned to death for breaking the law and endangering the
health of others.

When the leper met Jesus, he worshipped Him and said,

Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. Im so glad
that Jesus didnt deal with him according to the demands of
the law. He didnt say, How dare you break the rabbinical
law and come out into the open? Youre a sinner! Youre
unclean! Get lost before the people stone you to death! No,
His grace was flowing abundantly toward the man. His supply
of healing was there for the taking.

So, filled with compassion and unconditional love, Jesus put

out His hand and touched the leper, saying, I am willing; be
cleansed. And immediately, the man was healed. (Matthew
8:13) Notice that Jesus touched the leper first before He
healed him. Now, why is this significant?

Simply put, that simple touch restored a sense of humanity

and dignity to the man who had not been touched for a long
time. Because of his unclean and probably physically
repulsive condition, no one wanted to touch, let alone
embrace or kiss, him. He himself could not touch, hug or kiss
his loved ones. Can you imagine what that does to the self-
esteem and sanity of a human being? Jesus alone
understood that he had not just been sick, but also alienated
and dehumanized.
I want you to see that love gave the man more than just
health. Jesus knew that the leper needed more than just
physical healing, so He gave above and beyond what the
leper had hoped for. Besides health, Jesus gave him back his
dignity and the joy of being able to embrace and be embraced
by his friends and loved ones. Again, we see the over-
supplying love and grace of our Lord!

Love Always Gives More Than What You Ask For

Thats the thing about Jesuswhen He gives, He always

over-supplies! He doesnt know how to give you just enough.
We see this again when He healed the man with the withered
hand. (Luke 6:610) When everyone else around them saw
only the hopelessness of the situation (how do you heal
a witheredhand?), Jesus saw the supply for the man to be
made whole. He saw heavens supply of healing all around
that man and his withered handand that withered hand
became replaced with a whole, healthy one.

In the Gospel of Luke, it says that it was the mans right

hand that was withered. Now, whether or not he was right-
handed, losing the use of one hand must have greatly
affected his ability to make a living. And when a person cant
really make a living, when he cant provide enough for his
family, he loses the respect of others, even his loved ones. So
when Jesus healed the man, He gave the man more than just
a new right hand. He gave him back his livelihood, and with
that, his self-worth and the respect of others. Thats my Jesus!
Thats the style with which He loves us and supplies our
needs!
My friend, maybe you need a breakthrough today. Maybe
youre discouraged because you feel that your situation is
hopeless. Or like the two men in the above accounts, maybe
you suffer from a physical condition and want to see healing
and restoration. Listen, Jesus is the same yesterday, today
and tomorrow. The same way He had compassion on the
leper and the man with the withered hand and over-supplied
their needs is the same way He has compassion on you and
wants you to experience His oversupply. Dont focus on the
hopelessness of your situation. Instead, see the oversupply of
grace and expect God to give to you beyond your wildest
imaginings!

Faith Takes From The Greater One

The Lord said this to me once: Grace supplies, love gives,

faith takes. What does faith do? Faith takes. Thats our part
as believers. Our part is to take. Im not talking about greed.
Im talking about understanding what faith simply isfaith is
the hand that takes from the hand of God.

But Pastor Prince, the Bible says that it is more blessed to

give. (Acts 20:35)

Yes, thats true when it comes to our relationship with man.

With our fellow man, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
But when it comes to God, we please Him when we receive
from Him. The Bible says that the lesser is always blessed by
the greater. (Hebrews 7:7) Obviously, between God and us,
God will always be the greater one. So when we humble
ourselves and take our place as the receiver, were letting
God be God in our lives and He loves that.

Well, Pastor Prince, what about giving to God and to others?

Isnt that important?

My friend, when you are blessed by God, when you

experience His love and unmerited favor, you cant help but
want to serve Him and bless others. Its when we remember
that it all came from Him first that well be giving to and
serving Him and others out of the right spirit. Like David, well
say, For all things come from You, and of Your own we
have given You. (1 Chronicles 29:14)

Oh You Of Little Faith

Our problem with faithlike Jesus disciplesis that we take

too little from the Lord. What did Jesus usually say to His
disciples when He chided them? He usually said, Oh you of
little faith. Little faith? What was Jesus telling them in
essence? I believe that He was telling them, I am so full of
supply, why do you take so little from Me?

Even Jesus chiding of His disciples is so full of love and

encouragement! Notice He didnt say, Oh you of little fasting,
or Oh you of little prayer. He said, Oh you of little faith.
He was telling them, Draw morefrom Me, take more from My
supply. Oh, what a beautiful Savior we have!

So, my friend, our faith is small when we take only a little from
God. When we take little from Him for our needs, we must be
taking from somewhere else. This means that our faith is in
someone or something else and God is just a standby or
last resort. That should not be the case. God should always
come first. Man will fail and disappoint you, but God will
never!

Typically, most of us are not good receivers. When you give

someone a gift, you often hear them say, Oh no, you
shouldnt have. I dont deserve this. We all need to ask God
to make us better receivers, to enlarge our capacities to
receive not based on how deserving we think we are, but
based solely on His grace to supply and give.

Take As Much As You Want!

Because we are such poor receivers, when we do take, we

take a little or just enough. We tell ourselves that thats the
polite and refined thing to do. Now, again, Im not talking
about hoarding and being greedy, especially at the buffet
table! Im talking about how Gods nature or style is to give
you as much as you want.

Lets look at the feeding of the 5,000 again. I want you to see
something:

John 6:1112
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He
distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those
sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they
wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples,
Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.
The men, women and children ate as much as they wanted
until they were filled! Sir, you want more bread? Here, have
as much as you want. Uncle Peter, can I have some more
fish? Sure boy, have two more, no, have three more!
Everyone ate to his hearts content!

Maybe you have been told this: It all depends on Gods will.
Sometimes He supplies more, sometimes He supplies less.
God works in mysterious ways. Yet, when you read the Bible
for yourself, youll find that Gods style is to give us as much
as we want. The supply only stops when we say, Enough,
Lord! Stop!

Living A Life Of Thanksgiving

So heres the bottom-line: In Gods kingdom, the supply never

runs out. It only stops, as far as you are concerned, when you
tell God to stop supplying. You decide. As your loving
heavenly Father, God gives lavishly and freely to you. And He
can do this judiciously because of His Sons finished work at
the cross. God does not give with a miserly hand. He is not
cheap or stingy. God loves you and His love gives. His love
over-supplies.

Your part is just to exercise faith by taking from God. People

often say, Depend on God. Depend on God. Sometimes,
this sounds a bit abstract. How do you depend on God? You
choose to see His loving heart and generous supply when
others see only the demand. And you reach out in faith and
take from God.
When you realize that its all about Gods love and
undeserved favor toward you, youll be thanking God all the
time. Instead of complaining and being stressed out when you
are demand-centered, youll be at rest and have more than
enough to give to others. My friend, may you choose to live in
the realm of Gods constant supply and lavish love!

Copyright Joseph Prince, 2010. All rights

reserved.