Today is Double Portion Day!

Someone mentioned double portions in a post yesterday and God brought to mind elementary school camp, which was so much fun and a great blessing as a kid. I loved camp at Lake Tyler! The massive cedar paneled dining hall and the scrumptious biscuits with honey and butter were just wonderful. You’d go through the line to get your meal and they’d ladle each portion carefully on your plate. You didn’t get to go back through the line, but your tray was so full that nobody needed seconds!  Holiday plates are wonderful too! When I was a girl the men ate from platters! Their plates would be so full and brimming over the edge – as they ate all the wonderful delicacies saved especially for holidays. We kids had our special plates too and there was always a table for just desserts. I have photos my mother took of my two nephews standing on their little tiptoes trying to get a piece of cake or pie from that table!

We’d sit around and enjoy those family meals, including Sunday dinners, with the adults talking and the kids giggling and nudging one another under the table! Our little dog, Tinkerbell, even got in on the festivities. She’d sit underneath the table and tap one lap after another for a morsel from the huge spread!  Everyone enjoyed double portions and laughed as they tasted all the desserts, candies and cookies. Those times were not for diets, but for fellowship. And our fellowships were awesome!

Maybe you miss the old days. Perhaps you feel that you don’t have enough of the good things anymore. You once ate at the table until you were full and felt so satisfied. But life has crept in and the little troubles have overtaken the big joys. You hold back – from enjoying - blessing, banqueting, fellowshipping and more. You feel you must refrain – you’ve either done too wrong, gone too far or can’t believe God anymore.  It could be that a loved one has disappointed you or betrayed you. You can’t possibly see how God would want you at His table anymore.

Oh beloved! You need to know today that a double portion is yours! A double portion of His love, a double portion of His grace, a double portion of His mercy! What are you lacking? Where is your weakness? A double portion is yours for the asking! Hungry for God , for the way it was? He says to you today, Come back to Me for I have a double portion awaiting those who turn to Me.  He will NOT turn you away, you may come to the banqueting room over and over again! Feasting on His Manna makes for healthy hearts, healthy minds and healthy spirits!

Don’t hold back today, but run to the King of Kings and let Him serve you all the riches of His Kingdom. Give your heart fully to Him and watch as you Open His Menu Book and See – no prices listed- for His choicest foods are available at no cost to you! It may look like the world’s menu is the better deal, but it always costs you more than you want to pay and never fulfills your longing heart.  Everything in His Menu Book is readable and understandable for you, His child. It’s all yours! For the Lord of Heaven and Earth is your Double Portion always!

He loves you beloved, forever! And He’s going to keep you spiritually fed and well cared for all the days of your life!

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.

Psalm 31:19 How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear You. You lavish it on those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (NAS)

Psalm 24:5 They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. KJV

It is In the Giving Away that We find Real Joy

To make extra spending money when I was little, my mother crocheted doilies. I’m talking about the huge triple ruffled kind that was stiff starched and prominently displayed all over the house. She crocheted with tiny needles and fine thread. I have the last doily she worked on with the needle and thread attached that she was using.  Some would say that is a silly thing to hold onto. But it’s a visible reminder that regardless our life’s circumstances we should continue to create and enjoy every day.  She crocheted those lovely pieces as though she would be keeping them forever, never lacking in quality no matter that they were going to someone else’s home.  She thoroughly enjoyed the very things she was destined to give away.

Often we humans hold tightly to the things we hold dear. Whether it’s friendship or ministry or family or hobbies or talents.  They’re ours we reason. We don’t share well. We keep things to ourselves. We’re almost miserly with our affections.  Yet it is in the giving away that we find real joy.

Oh beloved, God knows your heart. He knows you want to enjoy the days He’s given you, but you find it hard to release the worry and the fear.  What if you give it all? What if you forgive completely, love whole-heartedly and let Him be first? What if you use up the talents He gave you for others? Run to Him this morning and lay it all at His feet. He will take what you are holding back and exchange it for a treasure trove of beauty in your life that’s meant to be shared, distributed, given away. You can trust Him beloved, because all that you give away and in the measure with which you give it is how He will give back to you. He says you cannot give too much. Even in your lack, if you begin to give you will see amazing things begin to happen.  How blessed are we to be people who can trust Him with everything? He loves you, He’s for you and that’s all that really matters.

 Matthew 25:29 For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.

Romans 8:32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.