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LIVING A LIFE of ABUNDANCE (SHEFA שׁפע ) IN CHRIST - [Sermon Note]

Pastor Stephanie




PSALM 91:16 KJV

With long LIFE will I SATISFY him, and SHEW him MY SALVATION.


He wants to satisfy.


H7646 satisfy

Original: שׂבע שׂבע

Transliteration: śâba‛ śâbêa‛

Phonetic: saw-bah'

to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled,

to be sated (with food)

(have desire satisfied)

to have in excess

Strong's Definition:

to sate, :- have enough, fill (full, self, with), be (to the) full (of),

have plenty of, be satiate, satisfy (with), suffice.


DEUTERONOMY 33:19 KJV

They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the ABUNDANCE of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.


When abundance is mentioned in the Bible is in relation to the sea.


H8228 abundance

Original: שׁפע

Transliteration: shepha‛

Phonetic: sheh'-fah

Strong's Definition: to ABOUND; RESOURCES:- ABUNDANCE.


Abundance means many resources.


ISAIAH 66:10-11 NIV

“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and BE SATISFIED at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her OVERFLOWING ABUNDANCE.”


The above verse speaks of Jehovah El-Shaddai (mighty teat; overflowing milk).


God will nurse us and satisfy us until overflowing.


DEUTERONOMY 8:6-10

Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of YHWH your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.


For YHWH your God is bringing you into a good land,

a land of streams of water,

of fountains and springs,

flowing out in valleys and hills;

a land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees, and pomegranates,

a land of olive oil and honey;

a land where you will eat food without shortage,

in which you will not lack anything;

a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.


God's instructions has been put into our heart.


When you have eaten and are satisfied [w-sava’ta], you shall bless YHWH your God for the good land which He has given you.


DEUTERONOMY 8:11-13 NKJV

“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest —when you have eaten and are FULL , and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks MULTIPLY, and your silver and your gold are MULTIPLIED, and all that you have is MULTIPLIED;


DEUTERONOMY 8:18 NKJV

“And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is HE who GIVES you POWER to get WEALTH, that He may establish HIS COVENANT which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.


PSALM 132:13

[YHWH regarding Zion:] “I will ABUNDANTLY BLESS her food; I will SATISFY [a-s’bia] her needy with bread.


PSALM 145:14-16

YHWH, support all who fall and raise up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and SATISFY [u-ma-s’bia] the DESIRE of EVERY LIVING THING.


God's heart is always to satisfy the desire of man.


Before we enter into the promise land, we need to clear our mind on how we see God.


God has put Godly desires in our heart.


PSALM 103:1-5

Bless YHWH, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless YHWH, my soul, and do not forget any of HIS BENEFITS; who pardons all your guilt, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with favour and compassion; (CHESED - LOVINGKINDNESS) who SATISFIES [ha-ma-s’biya] your YEARS with GOOD THINGS, so that your YOUTH is RENEWED like the EAGLE.


God's chesed is different from man's chesed (kindness).


YHWH Provides Ultimate Satisfaction


True, ultimate, satisfaction comes from YHWH.

He is the bringer of abundant life, where we can be well-fed and well-loved.


A testimony of Jew - (composer, producer, author)


My wife, Shira, shops for the smallest packages of food in order to conserve space in our three-shelf pantry.


When I find one of those ten-ounce boxes of Cheerios, I cringe and dream of buying supersize at Costco.


I prefer a plethora of cereal options to mix and match my breakfast. Shira retaliates by purchasing mini jars of peanut butter.


My closet full of clothes is another issue of contention. I have more than she does and she calls me a packrat.


I like having choices and as long as they still fit, see no reason to dispose of my favourites.


So, too, with my CD collection, the gear in my music studio and my extensive library.


Am I too attached to material things? Yes!

But I prefer to give my obsession another name: Shefa.


"Shefa (abundance) is one of my favourite Hebrew words. On the basic level, it means having plenty of money in the bank account.


Shefa is a full tank of gas, robust health, a beloved job, satisfying hobbies, ample time for family and friends.


Having an array of cereal and T-shirt choices serves as my subconscious method of living in the world of shefa, for at least some of my day.


We add shefa to our lives by celebrating Shabbat and holidays like royalty, entertaining guests in grand style, holding court as the monarchs of Livonia Avenue.


The popular new age film The Secret echoes a truth that Jews have espoused for time immemorial: words have a tremendous impact.


We bring abundance into being by harnessing this under-appreciated source of power.


The incantation “abracadabra” comes from the Aramaic “I will create as I have spoken.”


Prayer is simply speaking our deepest desires into being.


Be careful not to radiate what you don’t want.


As we speak, we are creating something.


Use words that express what you do want!

Cry out to the Almighty, “Help me gain financial freedom,” instead of exclaiming, “I’m sick of being broke.”


God is continuously creating the world in alignment with humanity’s deepest desires.

Envision your success.

Express yourself.


We are God’s partners in creating the world we want.


A world of peace and harmony, a world of unfettered joy, loving relationships and monetary success. Ask for your life to be filled with shefa.


God give them creative power and wisdom to create wealth.


Giving tzedakah (charity) is the ultimate shefa “magnet.”


If we respond to those in need with our hard-earned cash, clearly God can trust us with abundance.


Tzedakah is the quintessential key to the gate of righteousness.

The root of tzedakah is tzedek, justice.

We don’t give our mandated 10% because we feel guilty or sorry for someone.

We give because it’s the right thing to do.


In order to attract shefa, we must fashion ourselves into vessels primed for an ever-increasing blessing.


A sixteen-year-old praying for a red Ferrari is most likely not ready for such a vehicle.


The answer to his prayer, regardless of how earnestly he asks, is going to be no.


Over our lifetimes, God gives us challenges to determine how much shefa we can sustain.


Too much shefa can destroy us.

We don’t dare sip water from a fire hose.


The tests we get on a daily basis build us into people who can deal with ever-greater gifts.


Kabbalah describes a higher meaning of shefa: our God is essentially good and created the universe to extend goodness in every direction.


Shefa refers to the flow of God’s beneficence in all forms.


Imagine a brilliant beam emanating from a spotlight toward a performer on stage.


This is like the divine light highlighting all creation.


Spotlight operators have a choice of filters to dim the light down to near darkness.

The Zohar emphasises that we are in control of these filters; we can open or close our personal apertures based on our actions and attitudes.


In troubled times, we tend to self-limit the flow of God’s light in our lives.


We allow economic woes to diminish our outlook.

We feel beaten down at work, have less time to do the things we enjoy, feel hopeless trying to pay stacks of bills with shrinking salaries and struggle with health issues.


Life can be scary.

Living in fear takes us out of the flow of shefa.


The million-dollar question: how can we pursue our dreams full throttle, without trepidation, attracting blessings in our income, health and happiness?


Learning to ski requires pointing one’s skis downhill and letting them rip!


Maximizing shefa means taking calculated risks, bravely committing to a particular outcome.

Courage doesn’t mean the absence of fear — it means, “I’m afraid but I’m committed.”


Tony Robbins says, “Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and start being excited about what could go right.”


From another Jew-

A number of years ago, someone, who I guess felt I could use some motivation, gave me a CD of Tony Robbins to listen to.


I was excited to hear what one of the most inspirational people of modern times would have to say and how it could change my life for the better.


He started his talk by saying that he has the secret to both happiness and success.


If you follow his advice and begin each day of your life exactly as he prescribes, he can all but guarantee that you will find yourself happier, achieving your goals and dreams.


I, like everyone else, want to be happy and I try to be successful in everything I do.

So I was very eager to hear: What would he say next? What is the secret?


What Tony Robbins said is exactly correct, but for me, and for you, and for Jewish 3-year-olds around the world, it was nothing new.


The secret to happiness and to achieving success, he said, is to start every day of your life by expressing gratitude.


As soon as you wake up, before doing anything else, say “thank you.”


Be grateful and appreciative for being alive, having a roof over your head, having your health if you are lucky, your family, and so on.


He continued that it isn’t enough to think appreciatively.

You need to start your day by verbalizing and actually saying “thank you” out loud.


If you do, the rest of your day is guaranteed to be successful and happy.


Speak out and confess it out the blessings.


What Tony Robbins is teaching in the 21st century, Judaism has taught since its inception thousands of years ago.


From an early age, we teach our children to wake up saying modehanilefanecha, I am grateful to you, G-d, for the fact that I woke up, that I am alive to see another day, for the wonderful blessings in my life and for my relationship with You.


It has been inculcated within us from our youth that we don’t wake up feeling entitled, deserving and demanding.


Rather, we wake up with a deep and profound sense of gratitude, appreciation and thanks.


In my experience, Tony Robbins is absolutely correct. How we start our day has an incredible impact on how the rest of it will go.


God is continuously showering us with shefa.

Only we can choose whether to acknowledge it.

Shefa surrounds us in the form of every breath we take, our miraculous bodily functions, intelligence, loving relationships, self-awareness and inner peace.


And of course, in plenty of cereal in the cupboard, landing a great gig or the Holy Grail: a perfect parking spot.


Living a life of shefa is the Jewish “secret,” one we can share with all humanity.


PROVERBS 3:9-10 EASY

Show that you respect the Lord in the way that you use your money. Offer the first part of the harvest from your farm to him.


If you do that, you will store more food than you need for yourself. You will have more wine than you can drink.


Tithing and offering is a magnet of blessings.


LUKE 6:38 EASY

Give to other people and God will give to you.

He will give to you even more than you gave.

He will FILL YOUR POCKET until no more will go in.

It will be SO FULL that it will come out over the top.

Think about how you give to other people.

God will give in the same way to you.’
















PSALM 94:18 NKJV

If I say, “My foot slips,” Your mercy (chesed), O Lord, will HOLD me UP.


Jews sees God's blessings surrounding them.

They attract richness to come into their business etc.


In order for God's abundance to come into our life, we need to shift our focus to God and not on lack.



Aleph (also spelled Alef) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet

Numerical value: 1

Meaning: 1. Master 2. teacher 3. wondrous














The letter LAMED is equivalent to 30 in numerical terms. It is known as the majestic letter, symbolic of the King of Kings, towering higher than all the others in the Hebrew alphabet.


The number 30, as represented by the LAMED, signifies the number of days in a full month according to the Jewish calendar.


LAMED refers to the word ‘lamad’, signifying both teaching and learning in the biblical sense.


LAMED is an acronym of lev mevindaat (a heart that understands WISDOM).


Samech - The Jews are aware that God are surrounding them.

Lamed - They keep on looking up and learning from God - wisdom for their business


It is the path to riches and prosperity for the Jews.



Sabbath - To have sabbath rest in Him.

Belong - We belong to him in our tithing and tither. We are coming back to Him in our tithing and offering.


Today, we rest from our human efforts and human works.


JOHN 10:10 AMP

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have LIFE, and have it in ABUNDANCE [to the FULL, till it OVERFLOW].


G4053 abundant

Original: περισσός

Transliteration: PERISSOS

Phonetic: per-is-sos'

Thayer Definition:

- exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

- over and above, more than is necessary, superadded

- exceeding abundantly, supremely

something further, more, much more than all, more plainly

- superior, extraordinary, SURPASSING, UNCOMMON


pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent


Strong's Definition: From G4012 (in the sense of BEYOND); SUPERABUNDANT (in quantity) or SUPERIOR (in quality); EXCESSIVE;

preeminence:-

exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly,

advantage, exceedingly,

very highly,

beyond measure, more, superfluous, vehement [-ly].


Nothing wrong to have abundance.

It is a blessing to us.


Waste is never in abundance.

Waste is not a mindset of shefa (abundance).


When our mind is small, very hard for God to give us.


He is a God of abundance.


Shefaשׁפע is the symbol of abundance in its highest form - as a Divine principle of the flow between Creator to His creation



"Living a life of ABUNDANCE SHEFA is the Jewish “secret,” one we can share with all humanity."


LIVING A LIFE OF ABUNDANCE (SHEFA) and (PERISSOS) IN CHRIST IS THE BELIEVER'S SECRET too, one that we can experience and share with all humanity.

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