Barely Getting By to Blessed Beyond Measure!
What if God never meant for you to survive — but to thrive? In this heartfelt conversation, Diana unpacks how God’s generosity goes far beyond our limited thinking. Through Scripture, personal stories, and biblical truth, you’ll discover that His design for you is to live blessed beyond measure — not by striving, but by trusting His heart.
Learn how gratitude, faith, and generosity open the door to a life that reflects His abundance. It’s time to trade “just enough” for more than enough — God’s way.
Diana’s Notes
Barely Getting By to Blessed Beyond Measure!
Hello everybody!!! And welcome to today’s episode, Barely Getting By to Blessed Beyond Measure, here on Heartfelt Conversations with Diana!
Last week, we began a conversation on God’s generosity and love towards us and how the nature of God IS LOVE. It is because of His love towards us that He wants us to be fully blessed, whole, and fulfilled in every area of our lives — body, soul, and spirit — and how His goodness to us is far greater than the world’s rejection of us. We all need to really grab tightly onto being able to love ourselves and see ourselves the way He sees us — wonderfully complex and deeply loved.
God does not want you living a barely getting by, small, isolated, miserable life. He wants us all to be living a generous life. And +we have been building the framework of what this life is by exploring Founding Pastor Beth Jones and her bible study workbook - Getting A Grip On The Basics Of Generous Living. Order the book cuz we are only scratching the surface of this in-depth study.
So, what are your thoughts on prosperity - financially- materially?
There may be a lot of us who wrongly believed and were perhaps taught that if you were successful, if you had wealth, possessions, then you could not be living God’s way of life. Unfortunately, generations of people have been told and taught that if you follow Jesus Christ, then you must live in lack and poverty. I mean, come on, Jesus was born poor and lived a homeless, poverty-stricken life, right? He wandered around in rags, barely getting by in order to tell other people about God’s Kingdom - The GOOD News. So if we want to follow Jesus and go to heaven, then we have to be poor too; otherwise, we are greedy, selfish people.
True or not true?
God does not disapprove of money. Money is just money. What God does not want is for money to become our god and turn us into people who live their whole lives with money on their mind and filling up their hearts with it. Turning them into selfish, greedy people rather than open-hearted and generous people who love to be generous to others, because we know how generous God is to us.
God wants to be the center of your heart, so that you will be able to live the life He created you for.
Remember last week’s conversation when we talked about God’s concern being all about the motives of our hearts. People look at our appearance, what we wear, what we drive, where we live, our status, and our toys. All the “stuff” of life, which, if that is what occupies the space in our hearts, will lead us down a very selfish, very self-centered lifestyle.
God does want to bring wealth & prosperity to those who love Him, to bless us and bring pleasure to us. He wants us to be blessed and to be a blessing to others.
Let’s see what the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, tells us:
Genesis 12:1-3: (NLT) The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
Did you catch that last line - “All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”
That is you and me! We are a part of “All the families on earth”.
If you have received Jesus, then this blessing is for you. The Abraham blessing, as it is often referred to, is a part of your inheritance. It can not and will not be withheld from you because God promised it. He said it. That settles it.
(We will chat more on that specifically during our next time together. )
2 Corinthians 9:7-12: (NLT) You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. (There is the blessed to be a blessing part, the passage goes on to say) As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
The scripture here referenced is giving to others as a ministry of giving. Again, blessed to be a blessing.
And what two good things come out of our generosity?
The needs of believers will be met, AND they will joyfully express thanks to God.
God works through us to meet the needs of others, and He also works through others to meet our needs.
Have you ever received something you needed, food, clothing, shelter, paid a repair bill or rent, whatever it might be, and that need would not have been met if someone didn’t step up and provide it for you?
Or you received an unexpected check in the mail at just the right time?
One year, when the boys were really young and my youngest son had just been born, it was Christmas time, and money was really short. We were barely getting by, we were sitting in Church, everyone was taking their seats, getting ready for the service to start, and a lovely couple we were sitting behind turned and handed us an envelope with money inside. They said they just felt God telling them to bless us with this financial gift.
I wanted to cry. It meant so much!!
God will not only meet our basic necessities, but He will also bless us with the desires of our hearts. In this case, I wanted to bless my kids with a Christmas gift I wouldn’t have been able to afford if this wonderful couple had not been generous. They could have ignored the nudge of God’s voice through His Spirit in their hearts; they could have said, “We could use that money for ourselves or for our own kids”, or whatever they wanted. Instead, they were faithful and generously gave. And not only did they give, but they did so with joy in their heart and a smile on their faces. I have no doubt God blessed their obedience.
And guess what. Just like the verse said, my prayer was answered, a need was met, AND I thanked God. I gave praise to Him for being so good to me and my children.
Are you allowing God to use you to bless others?
Are you allowing your needs to be met through the kindness and obedience of others?
Here is a little nugget: Don’t let greed keep you from giving, and don’t let pride keep you from receiving.
God desires to share all of His goodness with us, to bless us beyond all measure, and, like the couple above, use our abundance to help and bless those around us.
John 1:16 (NLT) tells us: From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.
I can testify from my own experience that this is so true!
Our motives for wanting wealth are very important to God because when we use our talents, time, and money and share all of His grace and generosity with others, we are reflecting all the goodness of God.
As believers, that is one of our purposes. To reflect Who God is! As Pastor Eric says, to walk, talk, and live a whole lot more like Jesus. That is reflecting the nature of God.
It is when we reflect God’s glory that others will come and learn and grow. It is not about us, how good we are, patting ourselves on the back, but living a mirror image of God.
When we let things go to our head and get all puffed up on ego, then we are trying to elevate ourselves to falsely think we are equal to God. That is pride - not generosity - and pride leads to death. Spiritual death is not any part of God’s good plan for us.
As Beth tells us,” You are a person of incredible potential!
May you become personally convinced and convicted of God’s willingness to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that you could hope or ask for.
Ephesians 3:20: (AMP) Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
That is generous! God wants to do even more than you dare ask Him for!!!
The Greek word for abundantly is perissos (per-is-sos), and the meaning of the word includes terms like - more than necessary, super-added, extraordinary, surpassing, superior in quality, excessive, “ and “ beyond measure.
Would you like an excessively blessed life beyond your ability to measure? ME TOO!!!!
That is why we are learning to follow the ways of Jesus so that we can learn how to have the superabundant life God has already planned and purposed for each and every single one of us!
I hope you are stirred up and excited to be blessed AND to be a blessing!
So, let’s just chat for a minute about Jesus and His life. I fell into the wrong thinking category of the Christmas story that most of us are familiar with.
I love Christmas! I love being around family! I love the lights, I love the smell of fresh-cut Christmas trees, I love all the yummy treats at Christmas, and I love seeing the Nativity scene that a lot of us grew up seeing.
The three wisemen, shepherds, barnyard animals surrounding Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus in the manager. Can you see it?
Jesus was born poor, right? Hmm, let’s see what Beth’s workbook says and what scripture actually says on this subject.
Matthew 2:1-12: (NIV) After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem
and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“ ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
(now listen to verse 11)
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
So, based upon what we just read from the bible, does it tell us the number of Magi, or wisemen? No, it doesn’t. There could have been many. We don’t really know. Maybe, because they brought three gifts, we assumed there were three of them. Each was carrying a little sack of the three gifts. We don’t even know the measure or amount given. It could have been a treasure chest full!
Like I mentioned earlier, I love the whole nativity scene. I guess because it is traditional, and for me, tradition brings comfort, a sense of familiarity, and familiar things can comfort us when life is hectic, crazy, and unmanageable. Stressful.
How much more comfortable are you in an environment or situation that you are familiar with than when you are in a brand new environment surrounded by all new people, places, and things? It is a little unsettling.
I think in order for God to bring better things to us, we have to let go of the comfortable. Right? Not easy for sure!! But that is often when growth comes. Growth equals life; unchanging can equal death if it keeps us isolated from God’s generosity.
But, did you notice that in the bible, first, by the time the Magi ( or wisemen) found Jesus, he was not a newborn baby. He was a child.
Second, they didn’t find him in a barn; they found him in a house.
Then, what did the wisemen do? They presented Jesus, a child, with gifts out of their treasury. And they were not gifts from Dollar Tree or Walmart. Not that those are bad. I don’t know about you, but sometimes, that is all my treasury funds will allow! LOL
But they worshipped Jesus - they fell down to their knees, in reverence of who this child was. Then they presented King Jesus with their gifts.
How would you like someone to drop by your house and deliver you some gold!! Jackpot! Ethel, we have hit the lotto! Haha
Gold was often a gift for kings; this gift was of high value in its monetary value and in the symbolic gesture of their recognizing Jesus as KING.
Frankincense is a resin that comes from trees and was used in very expensive perfumes, I guess, because of its wonderful fragrance. It was used in biblical times for making incense and as an ingredient in sacrifices. Frankincense was primarily used in the Bible for worship, so the Magi brought this expensive, costly gift to worship King Jesus.
(Exodus 30:34)(Leviticus 2:1-2). (Song of Solomon 3:6; 4:14)
Myrrh, was less expensive than frankincense, but was still highly valued. Myrrh was used for a variety of purposes in biblical times as a perfume, an anesthetic, for burial embalming, and as an ingredient in anointing oil.
(Song of Solomon 1:13; 3:6; 4:6, 14; 5:1, 5, 13), (John 19:39), (Exodus 30:23-25)
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were highly prized by kings and emperors. These magi gave Jesus three very expensive gifts. The gift of gold was a king’s gift, and Christ is our King. Frankincense was a worthy gift for Christ since He was the anointed One who deserves our worship. Myrrh was a prophetic gift because Jesus would die for the sins of the world.
(NeverThirsty - Like the Master Ministries)
With gifts like that, would you consider Jesus to be poor?
On the cross, Jesus became poor so that we might be rich. He became poor by taking on our sin, our sickness, our poverty upon Himself so that we might be richly redeemed from eternal death and separation from God, from sickness, from disease, and from poverty.
God is for you in every single area of your life! God wants to bless you- our part is to cooperate with His ways so that He is able to get those blessings in every area for us.
( from page 79 in Beth’s workbook)
Pastor Eric spoke on faith in his message: Hall of faith: Now, faith is.
He read from the NKJV - but I am going to read it from the NLT
Hebrews 11:1-3: (NLT) Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Listen to the last verse one more time- listen carefully: Pause and think calmly on this today.
By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Do not limit the God of the Universe and His ability to bless you. To be generous to you in every single area of your life because you haven’t learned to live by faith in Him.
Learn to live in faith, knowing God is good. He has nothing but good already planned for you. So trust Him and learn to be content where you are. Not settling but trusting.
We all need money to live. God knows that. So let’s learn to get our minds off the money and onto our faith and become generous in other areas of our lives. I believe that as we do, God will bless us generously with peace of mind, joy in our hearts, and satisfy us with His goodness while we are walking out this faith journey we are all on. He will not cheat you out of any blessing, so trust Him in the waiting.
Matthew 6:33: (NLT) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Along with today’s notes, on our website, heartfeltconversations.com, I will have a link to Beth’s video: Get Your Ask in Gear…
And Pastor Eric’s message: Now Faith Is - I believe these additional resources will bless you and your personal journey.
Father, thank you for being so good to us. You are a generous God, teach us to be generous so that we reflect You as we get up every day and live a life full of gratitude. As we seek You and Your kingdom above everything else, we know that according to Your word in Matthew, we can be assured that all of our needs will be met. Teach us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and off of all the traps and snares of this world. We thank you for our time together and for Your word, which is a lamp unto our feet and a light for our daily path. We give You all the praise and glory and honor. You are Jehovah Jira. Your name literally means; our LORD will provide. Help us to claim the promise of Your Name - You will provide. We ask for every good thing You have prepared for each one of us, and we ask in the Name of Jesus, Your perfect and Holy Son. Amen!
I love you. More importantly, God loves you! AND it pleases Him to be generous to you!!! So bask in that this week!
See ya next time on Heartfelt Conversations with Diana
Get Your Ask in Gear:
Hall of faith:
Thirst Quenchers
Songs to inspire you:
Song of Hope (Heaven Come Down) With Lyrics
Andrew Ripp - Fill My Cup (Official Audio)
Phil Wickham - This Is Our God (Official Music Video)
Encouraging Verses:
Isaiah 42:16: God’s Word Translation
I will lead the blind on unfamiliar roads. I will lead them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light in front of them. I will make rough places smooth. These are the things I will do for them, and I will never abandon them.
Isaiah 54:10: Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
Psalm 119:105: Your word is a light unto our path and a light unto our feet.
Isaiah 54:17: But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!
Isaiah 52:12: (EASY) But you will not have to hurry and run away.No, the Lord, Israel's God, will keep you safe.He will lead you at the front,and He will be your guard at the back.
Matthew 7:11: So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
1 Peter 2:23 tells us - When He was insulted, He did not answer back with an insult; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but placed His hopes in God, the righteous Judge.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
1 Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that… they may see your good deeds and glorify God.”
The New Living Translation reads it this way: Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20: "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Now choose life."
Luke 6:37 “Forgive, and you will be forgiven”.
Matthew 6:14: If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
Romans 8:31 in the AMP Bible tells us: What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?
Psalm 65:11: You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
Psalm 32:8: The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.
Proverbs 15:3: The Lord sees everything, whether good or bad.
1 Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
Additional Resources:
Steven Furtick: Triggered Taking Back Your Mind in the Age of Anxiety
Beth Jones: Getting a Grip on the Basics is a great resource to help you get the basics of how vital you are to God and how good He desires to be to you
https://www.thebasicsuniversity.com
Joyce Meyer: The Mind is a Battlefield - https://joycemeyer.org
Prayer of Salvation
Jesus has given salvation, healing, and countless benefits to all who call upon His name. These benefits can be yours if you receive Him into your heart by saying this prayer:
Heavenly Father, I come to You admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask You to cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I believe that Jesus rose again from the dead so that I may be justified and made righteous through faith in Him. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Jesus, I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. I declare right now that I am a born again, child of God. I am free from sin and full of the righteousness of God. I am saved in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This prayer and the comment above were taken out of the book:
Secrets to Powerful Prayer - Discovering the Languages of the Heart
By Lynne Hammond and Patsy Cameneti
If you have just received Jesus as your Savior, please write Lynne Hammond Ministries at:
PO Box 29469
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55429-2946
Or, email one of the ministries listed on the Additional Resources Tab and let them know that you are a brand-new Christian and need some direction on the next steps for your new life in Christ.
Or email us here at Heartfelt Conversations with Diana, and we will forward your information to you.
Congratulations if you are a brand new Christian or if you have Returned Home! Welcome!!! Get in God’s Word and get it into you.