Please welcome Ruby Mae O’Dell to Faith in Writing. She has written a post for our Musical Wednesdays feature. Ruby Mae is offering a giveaway of her soon to be released novel, Hidden Treasures. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of that book.

This truly is a beautiful song (written by John Paul Moore, 1970). But the meaning has an even deeper beauty.

While meditating on this song I had to do a little examination of my own life. You see, I have no doubt that my cup has indeed overflowed. God’s blessings on His children are many and they continue to pour. But, I’m afraid I’ve taken many of those blessings for granted. Instead of drinking from my saucer, I’ve allowed them to run off my saucer and be wasted. I’ve failed to realize that my cup was filled to the brim when Jesus came into my heart. Meaning everything He’s blessed me with since then is a drop that overflows into my saucer. I’ve failed to be content with what I have and instead have looked for ways to fill my already filled cup myself. God has spoken through this song to my heart and brought me closer to Him as a result. My prayer is that God does the same for you as I explain this beautiful song to you.

How many of us can say we’re not blessed with financial riches? *raises hand* Now how many can say they’re happy anyhow? I’m sure there were less people than on the first question. Why is that? There is no reason why a child of God cannot go through life happy, no matter what their status. I think the apostle Paul says it best in Philippians chapter four, verses eleven through thirteen;

4:11-Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
4:12-I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
4:13-I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Now there was a true man of God. Paul had suffered numerous times, in various ways and his joy in the Lord never wavered. He said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” As Christians, we have the same power within us as Paul had—God. We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. That means no matter what we’re going through, no matter our hardships, no matter what our financial status, no matter our pains and losses, we can be happy through Christ.

There’s no true happiness in money, wealth, and worldly goods. True happiness lies with Jesus Christ. By doing God’s will for our lives we will surely reap better than we sow. God’s blessings are rich and abundant but the more we do God’s will, the more our cup overflows.

The Bible says in Proverbs chapter fourteen, verse twenty, “The poor is hated even of his neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.” I’m sure many of you know this verse to be true, as I, myself, know. But like the words in the second verse of this song, I’ve got a friend in Jesus. That is where my true riches lie. Jesus is truly all you need in this dark world and when you have Him, you truly have it all.

Jesus is a friend when friends can’t be found. His blessings continue and His mercies are new each morning. We should always be grateful and thank God daily, for our cups has truly overflowed.

Have you ever been through a situation so rough and tough that you feared you’d never make it through? I know I have. But as I listen to the words of this song, I can’t help but think of the time when the disciples rode through a storm on the sea. The first time, Jesus was sleeping in the back of the ship. Here they were, scared to death they were going to drown in the storm and the whole time they had the Messiah of the world in the boat with them.

Do you see the resemblance between the disciples physical storm and the ones we face in our lives? They had the Savior in the boat with them, the creator of the world and yet they were still fearful. They lacked faith in the God who was riding through the storm right there with them. They didn’t need to be afraid, there wasn’t any logical reason behind their fear besides their own flesh. As Christians, God lives in our hearts, so every single storm we go through, Jesus is right there riding through it by our side. And yet, we allow our flesh to blind us from the God Who is riding with us and fear takes hold.

Fear and Faith cannot coexist, they are opposites. Therefore, you either have faith or you have fear, you can’t have both. If we allow fear to take over then we are handing Satan the victory. Are you willing to let the devil win the battle so easily?

Paul says in Philippians chapter four, verse six, “Be careful for nothing;…” (don’t let anything worry you or make you afraid) “…but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God.” You see, like the disciples did when they were afraid, they went to Jesus with their fears. Granted they should have gone to Jesus first instead of trying to fight the storm on their own and allowing fear to grip their hearts. But the point of the matter is, they eventually did take it to Jesus. And you know what happened after they did? Those storm clouds vanished and there was an immediate calm.

If we take the little problems to God then there’s no chance of those smaller problems becoming bigger problems in the future. I read a story in a family magazine a few years back. It said this couple had just celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. A friend of the groom asked him what was the best agreement he’d ever made with his wife. The groom said without hesitation, “We agreed on the night of our wedding that she would handle all the little problems and I would handle all the big problems.” The groom’s friend asked, “How’s it worked out so far?” The groom smiled brightly and said, “It’s worked out swell! I haven’t had to solve a single problem so far!”

Now given the above story is most likely fictional, it does indeed work that way with God. If we turn over every single problem we come to, no matter how small or petty it may seem, to God then you would start to see those big problems disappear. Do you take all your problems to God? Or do you (like me) tend to hold on to them until they get too big for you to handle?

Also, when things get tough, we are still expected to come to God in prayer and thanksgiving. Remember But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God, and In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.(1 Thess. 5:18). Those verses doesn’t exclude the bad times, God wants us to come to Him with everything. He wants to rejoice with us during the good times and comfort us in the bad time. No complaining or grumbling about our troubles, if God brought us to it, you better believe that He will without a doubt He’ll bring us through it. And we’ll have a stronger testimony because of it.

I know I’m not the only one guilty of asking for more blessings when God has already blessed me with far more than I deserve. I’m ashamed of allowing my greedy flesh to take over on more than one occasion. But once again, God can help us overcome it and praise God His mercies are new each morning. Like I said before, when you have Jesus in your life, He’s all you need and we should be content children of God and not spoiled brats.

The best way I’ve found to avoid this is by helping others. If we infuse ourselves with doing the Lord’s will, we’ll be so busy thinking of God and putting Him and others before ourselves that there will be no time to think of ourselves and our greedy wants. Besides, there’s no greater joy than doing God’s work and helping Him bless others through us.

While listening to this song and hearing these simple words about my overflowing cup over and over again, God revealed the above to me and also showed me that I’ve been allowing many of my saucer blessings to go to waste. I’ve already said, my cup was filled to the brim the moment I asked Jesus into my heart to save me, as was yours. But God continues to bless His children and that my dear friends are the saucer blessings. Now God doesn’t give us those saucer blessings to keep to ourselves. No, God gives them to us to bless others and bring glory to Him. He gives them to us freely for us to give away freely.

In Matthew chapter ten, God gives his disciples the gifts of preaching, healing, and exorcism. These spiritual gifts were blessings to the twelve disciples. But what did Jesus command them to do with their blessings? He sent them out by twos to bless others saying, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8) God expects us to use our blessings to further the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew twenty-five, verses fourteen through thirty you can read the parable of the servants and the talents their master entrusted them with. This parable resembles God entrusting His children with His blessings. When He comes back we are expected to give an account for how we used those blessings to further His Kingdom and bring Him honor.

This really touched my heart, as I realized that I have wasted many blessings He’d entrusted me with. Instead, I’ve taken them for granted and sought my own pleasures. I pray the Lord forgive me and I’m determined to try harder to give my all for Christ. I’m going to do my best to drink from my saucer and distribute those blessings I consume through my heart as I grow closer to Christ to others in hopes that I may win at least a few for Him.

I hope and pray that the Lord touched your hearts as He did mine and I hope you will all join me as I say, I’m going to drink from my saucer, Lord, for my cup is overflowing.

Many Blessings to you all!

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win your ebook copy of Ruby Mae’s Hidden Treasures.

(All verse references are taken from the Authorized Version of the Bible, commonly referred to as the King James Version.)

Ruby Mae O’Dell is a small town girl, who loves God and her family. She resides in one of Georgia’s small historic towns with her family. She’s the eldest of eight children in her family and considers it a great blessing to be a part of such a large and Godly family. She was homeschooled all her life, which she also considers a huge blessing. She found the ultimate treasure, God’s gift of salvation, when she was eighteen. Since then, she has been called to share the knowledge of God through the ministry of singing, teaching, and now writing. Ruby Mae was also led by the Spirit to teach other young people about the importance of purity and to encourage them to follow God’s will in saving themselves for marriage—a vow Ruby Mae has made herself as she continues to wait for God to send her the man He’s created for her.

Book Blurb for Hidden Treasures:

HAND OVER THE JADE HEART OR ELSE!

Trouble is brewing in Cascade Valley, Tennessee, for single mom Shayla Lornette. When her beloved shop is wrecked from top to bottom, she has no idea who would do such a thing. With the only clue being a note left on her register, saying, HAND OVER THE JADE HEART OR ELSE! she knows that she and her twin siblings are in danger. Shayla has no idea who the note is from or what it’s referring to. So she turns to the man who broke her heart four years ago for help. She welcomes his help, but with a guarded heart. She simply refuses to trust Josiah with her heart again.

Josiah Sawyer hasn’t been home in four years. After running from the only woman he ever loved, he never expected to see Shayla again. Much less to find her unconscious in her dad’s shop on the corner of Main Street. When Shayla and her twin siblings are threatened, he’ll do everything he can to protect them. He knows that Shayla will never forgive him for making the big mistake of leaving her. But he refuses to let her face the enemy alone. But protecting them while also protecting his heart proves difficult as he begins to reconnect with Shayla as her stalker gets more and more desperate. Shayla and Josiah must lay aside their past in order to work together to solve the mystery of the Jade Heart. But will they solve it in time before the stalker ups the stakes? Can they work together while guarding their hearts? Or will God rekindle the love they thought they’d lost forever?