Friday, November 28, 2014

DEVOTION ~ Exceeding, Abundantly More by Shirley Corder

John 2:6-10

We all know the story of how Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. The question is why.

The wedding party ran out of wine. This would have been a huge embarrassment for the host family, and a disappointment to the guests. How good of Jesus to work his first ever miracle to save the situation. The guests would leave the wedding talking about the happy occasion, and the great wine.

Yet this miracle is about far more than wine and a rescued wedding celebration.

The servants brought their empty vessels to Jesus. They showed him the truth. They had nothing left to offer. Jesus told them to do the best they could with what they had. "Fill them with water." This they could do. It was all they could do. When they brought the containers, now filled with water, to Jesus, He transformed the water into wine. More wine than the wedding party could ever use. Exceeding, abundantly more than they needed.

What would have happened if the servants had said, "This is stupid. It's only water. We're not doing it."? The wedding would have been a disaster, a dismal failure. And we wouldn't have had this amazing story in Scripture.

When I as a writer find myself out of inspiration, with no astounding message or enthralling story to tell, I can bring my emptiness to Jesus. He may tell me to use what I have, write the words that are available to me, do the best I can. Then I can trust Him to touch them and transform them into a life-giving message that will inspire and encourage people I may never meet. He will not only change the words I have written, He will turn them into a blessing that is exceeding, abundantly more than I could ever expect or imagine. 

But I have to first write. I have to give Him words to work with, then trust Him to perform a miracle.

And unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory. Ephesians 3:20 KJV

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her time in the cancer valley.

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Please visit Shirley at ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook 

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the encouraging thought. It's a good reminder not only for me as a writer but also for me as a missionary.

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    1. Thank you Karen. Yes, we've learned to expect His supplies to see us through, although often not in ways we anticipate.

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  2. Thank you, Shirley. I love the way you use your gift of exhortation, leaving your readers positive, encouraged and uplifted. You have a way of using the everyday experiences we all recognise and applying to them the unconditional love God has for us, which makes everything extraordinary.

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    1. Thanks so much Jan. I just see this as the way Jesus taught. "Consider the lillies..." Farmers sowing seeds. Fishermen throwing nets. Everyday experiences that have so much to teach us if we'll only look for the lessons.

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  3. Shirl, lovely post :) Thanks for your encouraging and inspiring words.

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  4. Wonderful post, as usual, Shirl. Amen to what Janet said. It was exactly what I thought as I read this.

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    1. Thank you for your encouragement Judith! The Lord is so good the way He encourages us through the mundane things of life.

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  5. Such encouragement Shirl. You have a way with words that grips the imagination. Keep it up. Blessings, Ann

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    1. Thank you Ann. I love seeing God's hand at work in the ordinary "happenstances" of life!

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