The true nature of God is totally different from the character-assassinating rumors Satan has been spreading about God since the beginning of time. God is good and if you don’t believe it, just ask Him! Look around in His Word and you’ll see that God is not enough. He’s too much!
His grace is too much! His mercy is too much! His love is too much! Everything He is and everything He gives is just too much for us to use up!
He Is Generous
The God of too much is especially “too much” when it comes to His kids. The “G” in God might as well stand for generous, because according to the Scriptures, that is what He is.
He never gives you an offering unless he stomps on it a little bit to get more blessing into your bucket. Luke 6:38 tells us He presseth it down, He shaketh it together and it runneth over! He’s squeezing more in there than you can handle! He’s not into just getting by, He’s into abundance!
Wanting Nothing
God’s Not Looking to Keep You Down; He’s Looking to Raise You Up! God isn’t looking for a way to keep you down! He wants you to be successful! He’s not looking to keep you homeless, hungry, in need of clothing or a car. He wishes that you be…perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4).
No matter what type of community or society you live in, God wants to bless you with more than enough to meet your need. He wants you to be successful in everything you set your hand to do.
God Takes Care Of The Little Things
Don’t you just love to see the faces of your family and friends when you surprise them with a gift? How about when you do something for them that they weren’t expecting? I think we get that love of surprises from our Father, God. He just loves to go out of His way for us! Sometimes subtle and sometimes not, God’s surprises always seem to remind us of His thoughtful, generous, and caring nature.
As you may know, I am a traveling minister and I’m on the road preaching the Gospel more than I’m home. When you live according to a calendar like I do, sometimes time can speed away from you. But God always seems to take care of me.
A few years ago, I found myself traveling and realized that it was just a couple of days before my twentythird wedding anniversary. I have been married since 1970. (And just in case you’re wondering, it’s been to the same woman. I have to say that these days!)
Up to that point, Cathy and I’d had 18 years of bliss and five years of hell! Oh, yeah, complete hell!
Those first five years were terrible! But it wasn’t her fault. It was mine. I was a heathen dog from hell with hair down my back, alcohol breath you could smell for a mile and pride that would make a rooster look humble. It was a good thing that Jesus came into my life when He did because if He hadn’t, who knows what would have happened to my marriage. We’d either be divorced or I’d be dead today! Thank God that Jesus made me realize what a good thing a wife is.
Anyway, Cathy and I were traveling on the road together almost 23 years to the day since we said “I do.” And I realized after a few attempts en route to the next meeting that this woman just wasn’t going to leave my side!
I tried to ditch her a few times so that I could arrange something nice for our anniversary, but she just wouldn’t go away! So consequently I ended up empty-handed the day before our anniversary. No gift, no flowers, nothing. Nothing but my Cathy, that is.
It was the day before and we were on a plane flying to the next meeting. (Yes, I also forgot about our anniversary when I booked the next meeting. But thanks to Cathy, I haven’t done it since!) So I thought to myself, “I’m going to call that church secretary when I get to the hotel. I’ll get her to order me 24 long-stem roses for Cathy.”
I knew we’d been married 23, but I added one to grow on. You know, I wanted to make it nice and I knew Cathy liked flowers.
I was thinking that I’d give them to her from the pulpit at church. To make a long story short, I didn’t make it to the phone in time. The church offices were closed. I was disappointed but I thought, “Well, I’ll just have to find something special to do on Sunday.” The anniversary came. Cathy and I got ready for church and someone from the church came to pick us up for morning service.
God’s Perfect Timing
Well, wouldn’t you know it! All of a sudden, someone came walking up to Cathy and handed her two-dozen long-stem roses, just to be a blessing to her! I was so shocked! I told Cathy that I’d meant to do it all weekend long, turned to her and said, “Happy Anniversary, Mama!” I was excited!
I thanked the Lord for surprising me and He replied, “I heard you think it, Jesse.” It blessed me so much to know that God loved me enough to take care of a situation that was as unimportant in the grand scope of things as our wedding anniversary.
But He cared for us! And He made sure that He supplied even simple desires! He didn’t just give 23 roses, one for each year of marriage, He gave 24. Why? Because He’s too much, and giving just enough wouldn’t be abundant.
That is how God is. He is El Shaddai, not El Cheapo! He is just too much! God doesn’t just meet your need—He goes beyond it into the realm of too much. God is beyond your need, beyond your desire, beyond your want. To just meet a need would be below His standards of abundance.
God lives abundantly. And it is His wish that you live and give that way, too.
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Jesse Duplantis, minister of the Gospel, motivational speaker, television personality, and best-selling author, has been in full-time ministry since 1976 and is the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries, located in the Greater New Orleans area of south Louisiana in the United States of America. With over four decades of sharing his unique blend of humor and faith around the world, generations of believers have been inspired by his messages and countless numbers have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior through his ministry.
Known for his unflinching, status-quo-breaking messages and humorous take on experiences in the life of the believer, Jesse continues to draw large audiences of believers through social media, television, and meetings held around the world. With speaking engagements booked years in advance, Jesse Duplantis continues to keep an intense traveling schedule, flying throughout the United States and the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With no booking agents pursuing meetings for him and no set fees imposed upon churches for speaking engagements, Jesse chooses his outreach meetings based on the same two criteria he always has: invitations that come in and prayer over each one. This uncommon way of scheduling in today’s world means Jesse’s many followers may find him speaking in some of the largest churches and venues in America and the world, as well as a great many small and growing congregations, too. No church is too big or small for the Holy Spirit, as he says.
Side by side with his wife Cathy Duplantis, the co-founder and chief of staff of Jesse Duplantis Ministries and the senior pastor of Covenant Church in Destrehan, Louisiana, Jesse continues to fulfill his life’s calling by daily taking up the Great Commission of Jesus Christ: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Through social media, television broadcasts, books, and other ministry products, as well as through many evangelistic meetings, the JDM website, the JDM app, and Voice of the Covenant magazine, Jesse Duplantis continues to see growth in his ministry and expand each year while maintaining his roots. Jesus is the center of his life. The salvation of lost people and the growth of believers is the purpose of his ministry. And for both he and his wife, every day is another day to “Reach People and Change Lives, One Soul at a Time.”