Cinde Lucas Overflow Ministries

John 7:38 He that believes in Me as the scriptures have said, out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water.

When I’m really thirsty the one thing I desire most is a tall glass of ice cold water because nothing else satisfies like water. Likewise, when our spirit and soul become dried out and thirsty, we need to drink from the well of Living Water that God offers us.

How exactly do we drink from God’s well of living water? Well the first thing we must do is recognize that we need it! Just like there are lots of things to drink to satisfy our natural thirst, there are many things that we can turn to in hopes of quenching our spiritual thirsts. Some turn to dangerous things like alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or even cutting themselves; some become shop-aholics; some overeat; some become obsessed with perfection in everything they do; and some become depressed and just give up.  All of these are symptoms of the thirst that is deep within us.

When Jesus met the woman at the well in Samaria in John 4, He knew that she needed more than just a pail of water. The life she was living was not a happy one. She was an outcast, living in sin, and hopelessly wondering from one dead end relationship to the next.  She thought that if she could stay away from the mainstream of life, her misery would go unnoticed. But Jesus saw her in her misery and made a special trip just to meet her.

The truth is that Jesus saw every single one of us in our misery too. That’s why He humbled Himself and came to earth. He lived a sinless life, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to show us that in all things we could trust Him to deliver us from evil. He gave His life as a living sacrifice and shed His blood so that we could receive forgiveness from all of our sins and become joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17). His death opened the way for all of mankind to receive Living Water from the throne of God’s grace so that we would never be thirsty for the ways for the world.

Unfortunately, the devil and the world have deceived us by making the water from their wells seem more desirable and accessible. We have turned away from our Creator and drank from the empty wells of lust, greed, and pride. Just like the woman at the well, we’ve had many affairs with other “gods” that haven’t delivered what we had hoped they would. The graven images of the world are collapsing all around us and we are discovering that we are still thirsting for the truth that will set us free.

Jesus said that when we become weak, weary and heavy laden to come to Him and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28).  He said that He would freely give living water to all who would come and drink from His well (Rev. 21:6 & 17). You see the best that the world can offer us is ways to cope with our thirst, but these ways will never quench our parched lives. But the water that Jesus offers us not only satisfies our present thirsts, it actually becomes a well of living water inside of us that multiplies and grows within us so that we have a continual supply of Living Water!

Are you tired of drinking from the wells of man? Are you ready to turn from your old ways and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in paths of righteousness? The blood of Jesus has opened the way for you to come boldly into the throne room of God and ask Him to forgive you and receive help in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16). When you confess your sin, He is faithful to forgive you and restore you to right fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9). Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. He desires to give you Living Water that will refresh, restore and renew your soul. He has good plans for you and He wants to empower you to fulfill them. Apart from Him, you will continue to struggle and be thirsty. But when you align yourself with Him and live according to His way, God Himself will make all your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-8).

So I want to encourage you to examine your life. Are you really satisfied with where you are and what you’re doing? Is your life producing good things? Are you experiencing an overflow of joy and peace? If not, then perhaps it’s because deep down you are thirsty for the Living Water that only Jesus can give you. Turn and come back to Him and allow Him to fill you to overflowing with the fresh Living water of God’s love for you!

Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive me for drinking from the wells of the world. I am tired, worn out and extremely thirsty for You. Fill my cup with Your Living Water and cause it to multiply and overflow in my life. I want to experience Your River of Living water in my life so I will never be tempted to draw from any other well again. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Finding s good place to  eat that won’t break your budget is a challenge here in New Orleans. But today we discovered a great place that offered both. We headed for lunch with a group of friends but our plans were interrupted by the INVITATION of a man on a bicycle. He was LOUDLY proclaiming to all that there was a place we could go for lunch that offered great food and wouldn’t break our credit card!

Intrigued by his offer, we accpeted his “trak” (menu) and followed his directions. In less than 5 minutes we were inside a litteral whole-in-the-wall known as HOBNOBBERS. His proclamation turned out to be TRUE; GREAT food & Great prices!

So what’s the point of me sharing this. Everyone is hungry for the truth of Jesus. They don’t need to hear about what their NOT doing; they just need to hear the GOOD NEWS that will lead them to repentance. They just may not know where to find it and so they need someone to show them the way! Now you may not shout from a street corner (and probably don’t need to) or even pass out a menu, but you can share the LOVE of God that is in you with some hungry soul. SMILE, give a word of encouragement, or maybe buy someone’s lunch. Give the world around you a piece of God’s heart in you. Not only will you be blessed, but someone, who might not know the way on their own, will have experienced Jesus in a REAL way through you!!!

If the pressures of the world have just about smothered you, this will be a message that will help you breathe again! No matter where you are right now, God is calling us to believe to see His goodness in the land of the living. 

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Well we arrived late last night in New Orleans. We are here for the next week with the United Methodist Church Congress on Evangelism. The room we checked into was extrordinarily large and very nice. We settled in as best we could last night and went to bed. This morning when we got up we noticed that the thermostat wasn’t working so we called the front desk. Almost immediately a young man named Jeremiah came in to see if he could resolve the problem. As I listened to him go through all scenerios that his boss was giving him, I realized that we were going to be changing rooms.

Sure enough, they informed us that we would need to move. Unlike other times when we have had this happen I knew that God was up to something, so I determined that I would NOT lose my joy! As soon as we entered the new room I new what that something was. Our OLD room was large and very nice but it  had NO VIEW; the window opened up to a brick wall! Our new room was a bit smaller, but it had a wonderful view of the city and the river!

Be careful of being comfortable with NO VISION. Proverbs 29:18 says that without a vision people perish. There are people wandering all over this city that it is obvious they have no Godly vision for their lives. God wants us to be willing to move when He says move, even if it means being inconvenienced. He wants to open our eyes to His plans for us so that we can agree with Him. His grace will supply all that we need to fulfill His plans.

If you’re looking at a lot of nothing, then it’s time to seek God and ask Him to enlarge your view. Go where He leads and trust that no matter what, He will make your paths straight!

We were in Walmart buying groceries for our New Orleans trip and there were two little boys that were LAUGHING non stop! I mean these little guys were about 5 & 7 and they were just having a great time laughing. When I met up with them in the produce section their grandfather looked a bit put out with them.  I just couldn’t help myself. I asked the youngest one if he would please share his JOY with me?!  He looked at me rather oddly and I told him that I hoped he never lost his joy and his laughter.

Jesus said that we must come to Him like little children. CHILDREN are fun and full of laughter! Somehow, the older we get the less we laugh.  Laughter is like medicine for our soul; A merry heart doeth good like medicine. So this year, let’s try to laugh more. After all, Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came so that we could have and enjoy our lives! So smile, laugh, and enjoy yourself. This is the day the Lord has made; rejoice and be glad in it!

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a TIME for EVERYTHING. God is not the author of confusion. He does everything in a timely manor.  Genesis 8 says that as long as the earth remains there will be seed, TIME, and harvest. Many places throughout the Bible refer to the FULLNESS of time; in the fullness of time God sent forth His son to redeem mankind (Galatians 4:4). Jesus ‘birth was not an accident; it was timely. He was born at a specific time and He will return a specific time.

God doesn’t want us to be ignorant of the times and seasons. There is a time to plant and a time to reap, but if you don’t know which is which, you are likely to miss the right timing. A good thing for each of us to do is to pray for the Spirit to quicken us to know the times and seasons so that we can stay in step with what the Lord’s purposes, plans and timing for us are. He will lead and guide us into all truth. If we will ask Him, He will tell us exactly what time it is!

As we step out of the Old and into the NEW YEAR, I pray that you will be able to GRASP just how much God loves you. That you would know the depth, the breadth, and the heighth and width of His amazing love for you and in that knowing would experience peace that surpasses all worldly understanding. God is good and His goodness overcomes all evil. Trust in Him with all your heart and He will make your paths straight. Delight yourself in God and He will give you the desires of your heart!

A Devotion to Start 2010

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have ?apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of ?the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

It’s hard to believe that this year is coming to close. In just a few days we will leave behind all the OOOOs! O9, O8, O7, O6, O5, O4, O3, O2, O1, and OO! That’s enough to make me want to shout! The Bible says that in order for us to step into the new, we must be willing to let go of the old.

Like most of you, we have had our share of woes and ohs over the last few years. Not just economically either! But as I look back and ponder those times I see that with each challenge there was an opportunity to grow closer to God. Setbacks are not setbacks unless you let them be. Setbacks are set ups for God to show Himself strong in our lives.

Here’s the deal, we can either worry, fret, and fear or we can trust, hope and believe in the goodness of God. The first option will bring depression, grief and sorry. The second option will bring joy, peace, and faith. So ask yourself which of the two you’d like to have more of in 2010, and the rest of your life for that matter. If you choose the first option, then basically you don’t have to do anything. You can just continue down the path of worry and fear. But if you choose the second option of trusting God, believing in His promises, and hoping for His goodness then you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and get to work!

Somehow we fall into a stupor of believing that God is just going to make everything happen for us. While He is working on our behalf, He also expects us to do our part.  The spiritual principles that we have learned are worthless if we don’t put them into practice and do them. (James 1:22) We must be willing to forgive those who offend us so that the enemy won’t have place in us. If want to have the windows of God’s heavenly storehouse open to us, then we must be willing to tithe and give offerings to God’s Kingdom work (Malachi 3:10). If we want to have joy and peace, we must guard ourselves against things like gossip, grumbling, and complaining (Colossians 3:8, Ephesians 4:22, 1 Peter 2:1).

Like it or not, we are in a battle. The enemy never stops working his plan to bring defeat and misery into our lives. But God has not left us defenseless. He  has given us mighty weapons to use against the wiles of the enemy (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Our weapons of faith, praise, prayer, and declaring are the only things that work against satan’s arsenal. It’s time to rise up and use them to dispel the works of darkness that are ever increasing in our lives. God is on our side and He will empower us to do good works for His glory. He expects us to go forth in our lives wearing His armor that will quench every missile that the enemy shoots at us (Ephesians 6:11-18).

I for one am declaring to the Os that they are NOT going with me into this new season! No weapon that has been formed against me in the past is going to prosper. I will not give up, give in or shrink back from the promises God has given to me, no matter how long it takes for them to manifest in my life! 2010 is a time to start again. Start by making some New Year declarations of peace over your family; declare God’s prosperity over your finances; declare the Lord’s blessings over your life; declare God’s favor over your job. You are a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords and you have a blood bought right to expect to see the goodness of the Lord in every area of your life (Psalm 27:13). Start again in 2010 believing that in all things and in all ways God’s goodness will override the darkness and bring forth His eternal LIGHT! He is for you and His Spirit in you is greater than anything in this world (1 John 4:4).

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for New Beginnings. Thank You that have given me weapons to fight off the depression and hopelessness that clings to me. Right now I declare that this is a new day, a New Year, and new beginning. All the old has passed away and You are making all things NEW. Lead me in paths of righteousness and strengthen me in my inner being to believe You more. Unlock my chains of unbelief and set me free to joyfully obey Your word and Your commands. YOU are my God and I am determined to trust You with all of my heart. In Jesus Name! Amen!