Sheryl Brady - Living on Leftovers

Look at your neighbor and say, «Neighbor, I’m living large on my leftovers.» Now turn to your other neighbor and say, «Neighbor, my leftovers are the blessings that keep on giving.»

Father, today I love you and I thank you. Yes, God, thank you for making a way out of no way. Thank you for tearing open the heavens on our behalf. Thank you for your word that will flow in this place today like a mighty rushing water. I give you glory in advance for opening our eyes, for allowing the scales to fall off our eyes. You know what every individual under the sound of my voice needs in this place. Now, Spirit of God, say it in a way that they can grab hold of it and connect with it, and their lives will change, not just in this building, but as they walk out of here and into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Let the word of God come alive in your people, and we will always give you the glory. It is yours; thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. In your name we pray, amen and amen.

Hit somebody and tell them, «You look like you’re living large on your leftovers!» Woo! That wasn’t meant to be an insult, okay? So don’t get mad at your neighbor; blame it on me. I guess it is in 2 Corinthians 3:2, and the Bible tells us something that I’ve been hearing all my life. It says that we—you and I—are living epistles, and our lives are read by all men. What Paul is actually trying to convey to us in that scripture is that our lives and the way we live them should be a letter from Christ to the entire world. He is helping us to understand that many people may never pick up and read the word, but they will read us, and they will see how we live our lives. Therefore, it is our obligation; it is our job to understand that we’ve been called to be a living epistle. That means that when you get ready to go off on somebody, you need to remind yourself that you are a love letter to the world from God. Everywhere you go—if you go into 7-Eleven—you are a love letter to those who are there, letting them know that God is a very real God.

Nan and I flew out and were in Cincinnati yesterday, and on our way home, there was an empty seat between us. This young lady comes in and says she needs her seat, so we got up to let her in. I’m telling you, the biggest tears were pouring down her face, and I thought, «Woo child, you’re in the right seat today! I don’t know what’s going on, but God is getting ready to help you.» Her friend, seated about seven or eight rows back, said this was her first flight and that she was very scared. Nah said, «Oh!» The spirit of evangelism came upon Nah, and I was never so proud. I just turned and looked out the window and listened to her talk to this young lady. She said, «Oh, you’re going to be fine. You don’t understand; we’re praying people on this flight.» Then the lady behind us spoke up and said, «Yeah, and I’m praying back here. I’ve been praying for everyone on this plane all day long.» It was the sweetest thing because we were living epistles, telling her, «It’s going to be alright. As long as you know Jesus, it’s going to be alright.»

Now, if we are living epistles that are read by all men, then we have to be intentional about investing His word into our lives. Look at somebody and ask, «Are you intentional about investing His word?» We have to do that. We have to invest His word into our lives, not just on Sundays when you hear me preach or when you hear one of our pastors preach. Didn’t Pastor Chris Baker preach last Sunday? If you missed it, you need to watch it because it was absolutely amazing. We have to be intentional. It’s not just going to happen; you have to be intentional about investing the word into your life.

At one point in my life, I was intentional about remembering phone numbers, right? Because we didn’t have them stored in our phones like we do now. My mama, all my life, carried a little black book that was this big in her purse. If nothing else was in there, that little black book had to be there because she was going to have whoever’s number she needed. We got to the point that we just memorized them. I can tell you the phone numbers of every house I lived in until I was 20 years old because we became intentional about it. Today, not so much, because we expect our phones to hold all that information. Now, if I get lost, I’m thinking, «What’s Bishop’s number? Lord, what’s his number?» I should know it by heart, which tells me it can be done! So what I’m saying to you is that you…