A Cup of Blessing
By James C Morgan
Psalms 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation,
and call upon the name of the LORD.
14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into
the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove
me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows
of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
it.
1 Kings 17:8 ¶ And the word of the
LORD came unto him, saying,
9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there:
behold,
I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the
city,
behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called
to her,
and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may
drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring
me, I pray thee,
a morsel of bread in thine hand.
12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an
handful
of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering
two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may
eat it, and die.
13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but
make me thereof
a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and
for thy son.
14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not
waste,
neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth
rain upon the earth.
15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and
he, and her house,
did eat many days.
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail,
according to the
word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
God is not a wasteful God. God's storehouse has
all of the riches that will every be needed. He is able to pour
you out a blessing, a blessing that there shall not be room
enough to put it all.
So is you cup full, empty, or part full, part empty,
or is it full (all that you can hold?)
This woman that feed Elijah trusted in the LORD, only had a handful
of meal in a barrel, was the barrel full or
would it be empty, or would it be part empty, or would it be part
full. If was to never waste ( spoil ) or run out
( become empty) was it then full or was it as full as needs be.
If we get to much we tend to waste or store.
God doesn't want us to waste ( set by and do nothing.) God wants
us to share his blessings.
As we continue to read we see that she has a little oil in
a cruse. This was all that she had by the next part
that we read. That we may eat it, and die. She could see no more
in sight to her there was no more to be found.
she only found two sticks.
He asked her to fix him a cake first. Which she
did. This woman Set out to do God's work no matter what the
cost to her would be. How did the LORD Reward her? The barrel and
cruse of oil never ran out.
Never wasted. If they were never empty, then where they full?
The early Christian shared their possessions ( If you had possessions,
wealth you were considered
blessed of God.)
Acts 2:45 And sold their possessions
and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Acts 4:35 And laid them down at the apostles'
feet: and distribution was made unto every man according
as he had need.
Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all
your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Dt 8:18
All power comes from God. God is great enough
to supply All of our needs.
Our wants
sometimes becomes greater than our needs.
Does the Cup of Blessings have to be full to the brim to get the
blessings that fit your needs.
We have a story that asked some questions:
a1. How full the cup has to be to be completely full?
a2. Next how empty does the cup have to be to be perfectly empty?
a3. Again what is full or what is empty?
Our example is a Standard Blue
Drinking Glass size 12 fl. oz. This Glass is smaller at the bottom than
it is at the top For Stacking Purpose, this sometimes changes
the center of gravity.
b1. There is 6 fl. oz. in the 12 fl. oz Glass.
b2. Is the Glass half full?
b3. Is this Glass half empty?
b4. Or is the Glass as full or empty as it was intended to be?
2. The answer to the second question may not be clear. There are
several factors that have to be taken into
consideration before we can attempt
a understand of the status of the Drinking Glass and it's liquid being
half full.
A. What is the amount the Glass is intended to hold?
1. The Glass as used in the dinning room by an adult was designed to hold
12 fl. oz.
B. Was the person pouring the liquid into the Glass?
1. For the Glass to be half full the person that was filling the Glass
had to intended to fill
the Glass to 12 fl. oz.
C. Did the person doing the pouring intend to fill the glass to the
full 12 fl. oz.?
D. The filling of the glass did it meet the use of the glass?
Some people like Tea to drink while they Drive their car . Others like
to drink
liquids while they work. If the Glass is filled to 12 fl. oz. some will
spill out as you drive.
The fuller the Glass is the greater the chance the Glass is to turn over
spilling
its contents.
3. The answer to the third question may also not be clear.
There are some of the same factors that have
to be taken into consideration
before we can attempt a understand of the status of the Drinking Glass
and it's liquid contents
being half empty.
A. What is the amount the Glass is intended to hold?
1. The Glass as used in the dinning room by an adult was designed to hold
12 fl. oz. .
The use For a small child may dictate an amount less the 12 fl. oz.
For use by a child the adult person that is present may pour 6 fl. oz.
out of the
Blue Glass to make it half empty.
B. Was the person pouring the liquid into the Glass or where they pouring
the contents out
of the glass?
1. If the Glass was being filled by pouring liquid into the Glass and had
to stop till they
return to complete the intended task. The Glass could be said to be half
full.
2. If the Glass was being emptied by pouring liquid out of the Glass or
by drinking
the contents and had to stop till they return to complete the intended
task.
The Glass could be said to be half empty.
C. The Glass originally did it have more than 6 fl. oz. in the glass?
1. Another look, if it had had more the 6 fl. oz. the glass could be going
to empty.
2. Again if the Glass had had less than 6 fl. oz. and is now filled to
6 fl. oz.
The Glass could be said to be half full because it is being filled.
D. Did the person doing the pouring intend to empty the glass to
the 6 fl. oz. level?
1. Was the person involved intending to empty the Glass or did they intend
to fill the Glass?
E. The emptying of the glass did it meet the use of the glass?
1. For the Glass to be used in the present condition did it need to be
emptied to the point
that it will only have 6 fl. oz? Again if the Glass is being emptied it
could be said to be
half empty.
4. Again the answer to question 4 is not clear. We must know
Some more Facts.
A. How Full or empty was the Glass intended to be?
1. When driving or working because of spillage the Glass in that statue
my only hold 6 fl. oz.
2. In the part of Arkansas I live in some people heat with L. P. Gas. most
house have a
250 Gallon tank in their yard for storage. These tanks in the winter time
are only filled
to around 200 Gallons because it needs a place for the Gas to form and
to expand.
When the summer comes with temperatures of above 100 degrees F. They only
fill the
tanks to 175 Gallons for expanding gas. The tanks have a relief valve that
will pop off
if the pressure gets to high. If the pressure gets to high the tanks could
blow up if it
were not for the relief valve.
So in the winter the tank is said to be full at 200 gallons. In the summer
with temperatures
above 100 degrees F. Full is when the tank i-only has 175 gallons in it.
B. What are some reasons to only fill the Glass to only 6 fl. oz?
C. What are some reasons to empty the Glass to only 6 fl. oz?
To understand the question about the Glass we
need to understand what the conditions and background
history, it could mean difference things. The understand we must
study. The same holds true if studying the Bible. The background, the true
meaning of words both in our language at the time it was translate. It
even helps to understand the original language and the meaning of the words
at the time it was translated and written. The manners and customs of that
time in Bible history. The manners and customs changed from time to time.
The place where the writer lived at the time it was written.
Not every thing spoken in the Bible is true. The Devil
Lead Eve a stray. Job's Friends did not say truthful
things. Abraham and Jacob and ect. did not act Godly at times.
We as Children of God learned from their sins.
We have to be Careful of who is talking. To whom they are talking
and at what time in history they were speaking?
2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men
of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Jude 1:3-4 NIV
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager
to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to
write and urge you
to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
4 For certain men whose condemnation was written
about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.
They are godless men, who change
the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ
our only Sovereign and
Lord.
[Bible in Basic English] (Jude 1:3)
¶ My loved ones, while my thoughts were
full of a letter which I was going to send you about our common salvation,
it was necessary for me to send you one requesting you with all my heart
to go on fighting
strongly for the faith which has been given
to the saints once and for ever.
(Jude 1:4)
For certain men have come among you secretly,
marked out before in the holy Writings for this evil fate,
men without the fear of God, turning his grace
into an unclean thing, and false to our only Master and
Lord, Jesus Christ.
To receive the Blessing that the Lord
had given us and to contend for the Faith. We need to understand the importance
of God Word.
The First step in understanding the word is
to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[Bible in Basic English] (1 Corinthians 2:14)
For the natural man is not able to take in
the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him, and he is
not able to have knowledge of them, because such knowledge comes only through
the Spirit.
1 Cor 2:12-16 NIV
12 We have not received the spirit of the
world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand
what
God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught
us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
expressing
spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept
the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness
to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual man makes judgments about
all things, but he himself is not subject to
any man's
judgment:
16 "For who has known the mind
of the Lord that he may instruct him?"
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
1 Cor 15:1-32 NIV
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the
gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you
have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold
firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed
in vain
3 For what I received I passed on to you as
of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on
the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then
to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five
hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom
are still living, though
some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also,
as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do
not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I
persecuted the church of
God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked
harder than
all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is
what we preach, and this is what you believed.
[(Notice
what Paul Preached, He Preached Christ , The Grace of God) He did not preach
Christ plus works. Baptism, Lord Supper, or any hind of works.]
12 But if it is preached that Christ has been
raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there
is no resurrection
of the dead?
[ Paul begins her to use a negative to explain a positive]
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our
preaching is useless and so is your faith.
15 More than that, we are then found to be
false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God
that
he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the
dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ
has not been raised either.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
18 Then those also who have fallen asleep
in Christ are lost.
19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ,
we are to be pitied more than all men.
[Paul here begins to explain the positive]
20 But Christ has indeed been raised from
the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all
will be made alive.
23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits;
then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
24 Then the end will come, when he hands over
the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed
all dominion,
authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all
his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27 For he "has put everything under his feet."
Now when it says that "everything" has been put under
him, it is clear
that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ.
28 When he has done this, then the Son himself
will be made subject to him who put everything under
him, so that
God may be all in all.
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will
those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are
not raised
at all, why are people baptized for them?
30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves
every hour?
31 I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just
as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.
32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for
merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are
not raised, "Let
us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me.
There is God's Way that is truth and there is man's way that is of
your father the Devil.
This is the choice . We are free moral agents
(beings)
. We have the freewill to choose Heaven or
Hell
(The Lake of Fire that burns forever.)
(By Faith accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.).
Verses not foot noted came from
SwordSearcher
Version 3.4
Copyright 1999 Brandon Staggs, PO Box 3217, Lihue,
HI 96766
Website: http://swordsearcher.com
Email: bstaggs@swordsearcher.com
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