The Overflowing Life by Cesar Limon
“May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees.” Psalm 119:171
In the past I have had fleeting moments of joy in my life, but nothing comes close to the joy and excitement that came after I began my walk with God when I got baptized on April 11, 2010! I was baptized in the Orange County region after being reached out to by Malcolm Abbot while being at Fullerton College. After being a disciple for 4 months I moved to Riverside, CA to help start a house church, which is where began my journey at the University of California, Riverside where I recently
graduated with a BA in Sociology. After graduating I was asked by many, “What are you going to do with your life?” Since being baptized, my dream has been to be in the full-time ministry, and amazingly after graduating this past June, I was asked to plant a sector in Palms Springs with eight other incredible disciples! It has been a remarkable journey in the beautiful city of Palms Springs where there are many people that desperately looking for a group that is preaching the true gospel with God’s family. In our first Sunday service with only nine disciples we had 42 in attendance with one child, that being my beautiful daughter Natalie! Since our planting 7 weeks ago, we have witnessed 7 baptisms, which bring us to 16 sold out disciples ready to go anywhere and do anything for Jesus! Everything that God has done not only in my life but also in the lives of those around me has left me no option but to have “my lips overflow with praise”. There are three things specifically that have been overflowing in my life since then, in which I believe should overflow in any disciple’s life.
Our first service out in Palms Springs!
Overflowing JOY
“In the midst of a very severe trial, their OVERFLOWING JOY and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”
2 Corinthians 8:2
The first century church in Macedonia was known as the poorest church, which of course brings the most trials. Despite all this, Paul considered them the most joyful church, so much joy that the scripture says they were “overflowing” with joy. It is remarkable that as disciples we too can have overflowing joy in the midst of severe trials… and yes even extreme poverty! This past year has definitely been a year filled with trials as I went through a divorce, stepped back from leadership, finished my last year of college and had severe financial struggles. God helped me overcome all my fears, self-pity, guilt, impurities, bitterness, shame, and each one of these brought me closer and forced me to rely on God. Although it has been one of the toughest years of my life, I can honestly say I have never overflowed with so much joy in my entire life! Before becoming a Christian when I would go through trials I leaned towards drugs, relationships, or any other way to escape… yet I was always left empty. Through all the trials this past year I have learned that the only solution is to go to God. I learned that true joy is only found in God and not the status or circumstances of my life. I learned that severe trials are from God, so that we come to Him, and get our joy from Him! During my trials I had a large number of people tell me that the trials that I overcame have helped them immensely in their walk with God. It is amazing that when you come to God and find your comfort and joy in Him, then your joy overflows to others and you help others find the true joy!
Overflowing THANKFULLNESS
“rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and OVERFLOWING with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7
These past months have also been “overflowing with thankfulness” as I find myself thanking God a large amount of my day for all the blessings that keep coming. I am truly filled with gratitude as I have the best mentor in the faith anyone can ask for, Argo Arneson. He has helped me overcome many of my sins and trials and he always brings me back to Jesus and for that I am forever grateful. I am filled with gratitude as I have the most amazing daughter, Natalie Limon. I am filled with gratitude for the trials and struggles God has put in my path so that I can grow and comfort others. I am super grateful for the opportunity to be in the International College of Christian Ministries and to be able to learn from valiant disciples like Kip McKean! I was filled with gratitude to be able to go to the Central and South American Missions Conference in Santiago, Chile this past week! I am filled with gratitude daily because not only did God save me but He also “considered me faithful, appointing me to his service”, as I have the incredible opportunity to serve in the ministry full-time, leading a Sector out in the beautiful city of Palms Springs! I am filled with gratitude for the 8 disciples that came on this mission team that have hearts for God that I have not seen anywhere else. I am especially grateful for the 7 new disciples added to the family as they are true worshipers and they have an amazing heart for God. Sometimes I find myself not content with what I have and that is because I easily lose sight of everything I truly have. There is nothing to be ungrateful for in my life, especially since Jesus went on the cross and allowed me to die with him at my baptism almost 4 years ago! Your life with God should overflow with thankfulness!
Overflowing HOPE
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may OVERFLOW with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
This scripture is amazing as it teaches that we serve “The God of Hope.” Sadly the world today has lost its hope. We have songs such as “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer that instill in us that we don’t have the means to change the world and so all we can do is wait for the world to change. We also have songs with catching beats such as “Same Love” by Macklemore that emphasize how we cannot overcome our sexual sin, even if we wanted to! Before I became a disciple my life had no hope. I was smoking marijuana ten times a day, experimenting with different drugs, getting drunk every weekend, being impure with different women, and even hired 8 of my friends to sell drugs for me. I tried several times to stop each of these things and I even made a promise that when my daughter was born I would completely stop. Just thirty minutes after she was born I found myself outside the hospital smoking once again and going out to party that weekend. It was only when the “The God of Hope” came into my life that I truly had hope. After my third bible study, the Discipleship Study, I threw away all the drugs and repented of all those gross impurities and since then I have not returned to any of those drugs, I finally had HOPE! Even as a disciple I have lost hope several times and I need to be reminded that I serve “The God of Hope”. After going through a divorce I did not ever want to date or marry again. I had lost hope but amazingly this Valentine’s Day God allowed me to begin to date one of my best friends, Debbie Bosch! I still struggle with sin but I am continuing to change as I know there is hope for any sin with the power of God and so I will continue to strive to be like Jesus all the days of my life! When God’s hope came into my life I quickly began to share it and so I was able to baptize my brother, my next door neighbor, and even studied with some of the guys that sold drugs for me! When you have overflowing hope, it truly overflows to others.
On the railroad tracks in Santiago, Chile!
Which OVERFLOWING Life do you want?
“They have become FILLED with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are FULL of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful: they invent ways of doing evil: they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.” Romans 1:29-31
Interestingly we all have the overflowing life, yet you have to ask yourself: what are you filled with? Despite any trials or financial problems, do you still have overflowing joy? Or are you letting situations in your life take away your joy? God wants us all to OVERFLOW with joy so that in turn it overflows to others. Decide to put your joy in God and not in your situation or circumstances of life! What are you grateful for? Are you overflowing with thankfulness with everything God has given you? Do you have overflowing hope? Away from God there is no hope and you are bound to be filled with every kind of wickedness. People are enslaved to anger, selfishness, greed, impurity, and they are being told they can’t change! Yet when you are walking with God, it leaves you with an OVERLFOWING Joy, OVERFLOWING thankfulness, and an OVERFLOWING Hope. God lets you choose which overflowing life you’re going to live, choose wisely!