Tuesday, April 21, 2015

What Are You Full Of?


Grab a cup of coffee, a blanket and a good book and head to a quiet place. That is how I relax. 

Now, let’s say that I have a cup and it’s full of water but I want coffee. I could try to pour coffee in and maybe I might get some coffee-flavored water, but if I don’t empty that cup out completely, that coffee that I want will be tainted. It won’t be the best it can be.

I can’t just add coffee to my water cup, I have to first empty the cup completely out and then pour the coffee in.

This is also true in my walk with the Lord.

Confession: it’s not just a ritual that we are taught to do so that we have access to God. It’s so much more then just that.

I have to first be empty of myself, so that I may be filled completely full of the Spirit.

Galatians chapter 5 is a great passage that speaks to us about what is carnal, or fleshly, and what is spiritual, living by the Spirit.

Ask God to show you what is not right and then confess to Him specifically what you are struggling with. Turn from that sin, empty it onto the cross. Ask a friend to help keep you accountable and run in the other direction.

During my quiet time, I like to clean my spiritual house of me and my fleshly desires. I confess my sins and then when I am empty of "me", I ask the Spirit to fill me up. I ask Him to fill every crack and crevice.

I want the Spirit to fill me from the roots of my head to the nails on my toes, so that when I am walking, I will be led in the right direction, so that when I am using my hands, it is with Jesus’ gentle love, so that when my lips are open, they speak truth WITH GRACE.

When I am led by the Spirit, I am more likely to bear the fruits of the Spirit and NOT the fruits of my flesh.

I need to be EMPTY of myself, and FILLED with the Spirit. Don’t try to pour that coffee in that water cup. It DOESN’T work. Don’t try to pour the Spirit into your filthy heart, there isn’t room in there for Him.

Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

- Rejoicing in the Present

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