Bible Ballistics: Vol. 13 No.11 Full Of What???

 

We sometimes hear someone say, “I’m as full as as a tick!”; or “I’m so full, I couldn’t take another bite!”  All in reference to having had enough; but how much is enough? Well, it depends on what we are talking about.  I’ve eaten all the “liver” that I ever care to eat, but ice cream, now that’s a different matter.  And when we speak of people, we have all met people (and sometimes we’ve been that person) that we say are “full of themselves”, usually meaning that they think and act with only themselves in mind.  I think that we can find some life lessons in scripture in this regard, and it would behoove us to consider our own ways.  Haggai shares that very comment from God.

“Now therefore

thus saith the LORD of hosts;

Consider your ways.

6 Ye have sown much,

and bring in little;

ye eat,

but ye have not enough;

ye drink,

but ye are not filled with drink;

ye clothe you,

but there is none warm;

and he that earneth wages

earneth wages

to put it into a bag

with holes.

7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts;

Consider your ways.” Haggai 1:5-7

Haggai was writing to those of Israel who had returned to Judah, after the Babylonian captivity, to rebuild the Temple of God, yet the people had become so distracted with their own desires, that they weren’t rebuilding the Temple.  So, God sent Haggai to call them to come back to God, the One who had brought them back to their home-land and called them to rebuild HIS Temple!  I know lots of us today have also become distracted and get so filled with the things of this world, that we allow ourselves to be distracted by them and forsake the work of God—perhaps a specific work that God has called you/me to.  We often allow our ‘busy’ness, things, our own desires, or the demands of others, to pull us away from God.  We are so full of the world, that sometimes people don’t even know that we belong to Jesus! God called Israel to “Consider your ways” and return to HIM and take care of the things of God, and HE would take care of them, both personally and corporately.  The same is true today for us who belong to Jesus!   He has promised that HE will—and He has never failed.

“If they break my statutes,

and keep not my commandments;

32 Then will I visit their transgression

with the rod,

and their iniquity

with stripes.

33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness

will I not utterly take from him,

nor suffer my faithfulness

to fail.

34 My covenant

will I not break,

nor alter the thing

that is gone out of my lips.”  Psalm 89:31-34

Our God IS faithful!  Always has been, and always will be!  He keeps HIS Word (whether we keep ours or not!)!

“Paul, a servant of God,

and an apostle of Jesus Christ,

according to the faith of God’s elect,

and the acknowledging of the truth

which is after godliness;

2 In hope of eternal life,

which God,

that cannot lie,

promised

before the world began;”  Titus 1:1-2 

I love that Paul related this powerful truth to Titus, “God, that cannot lie, promised”! and what God has promised, HE will accomplish!  And God has promised us “abundant life” in Jesus; He has also promised that His Holy Spirit would dwell within those who come to Him in repentance and faith!  And Jesus is “full” of ‘all’ that we need!

“And such trust have we

through Christ

to God-ward:

5 Not that we are sufficient

of ourselves

to think any thing

as of ourselves;

but our sufficiency

is of God;”  2 Corinthians 3:4-5

Because our God is able, even as God told Paul, we can persevere through HIS grace and power not our own—for we are never alone!!!

“For this thing I besought the Lord thrice,

that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me,

My grace is sufficient for thee:

for my strength is made perfect

in weakness.

Most gladly therefore

will I rather glory in my infirmities,

that the power of Christ

may rest upon me.”    2 Corinthians 12:8-9

If we will but keep our eyes on Jesus—our all sufficient Lord God– yielding to HIS Sprit, we will find in Him the wisdom, grace and power to overcome the enemy of our souls—the great “liar” who comes only to destroy.  As we serve the living Lord Jesus, we can have that “abundant” life which Jesus imparts!  Don’t let the enemy fill you with his vile and insidious lies.

“I am the door:

by me if any man enter in,

he shall be saved,

and shall go in and out,

and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not,

but for to steal,

and to kill

and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life,

and that they might have it

more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd:

the good shepherd giveth his life

for the sheep.”  John 10:9-11

And Jesus, the good shepherd who gave HIS life for our salvation, will fill us with HIS Spirit, and as we yield to Him in every way, He will provide all that we need for victorious living “in the Spirit”!

“This I say then,

Walk in the Spirit,

and ye shall not fulfil

the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh

lusteth against the Spirit,

and the Spirit

against the flesh:

and these are contrary

the one to the other:

so that ye cannot do the things

that ye would…

…24  And they that are Christ’s

have crucified the flesh

with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit,

let us also walk in the Spirit.”   Galatians 5:16-17 & 24-25

There is freedom and peace walking in the Spirit of Jesus, allowing HIM to fill us with HIMSELF, rather than continually filling our hearts and minds with more of ‘self’!

“And be ye kind

one to another,

tenderhearted,

forgiving one another,

even as God

for Christ’s sake

hath forgiven you.”   Ephesians 4:32

How do we walk in this “kindness”?  By yielding to God’s continual working in us.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly,

not as fools,

but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time,

because the days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise,

but understanding

what the will of the Lord is.

18 And be not drunk with wine,

wherein is excess;

but be filled

with the Spirit;

19 Speaking to yourselves

in psalms

and hymns

and spiritual songs,

singing and making melody

in your heart

to the Lord;

20 Giving thanks

always

for all things

unto God

and the Father

in the name

of our Lord Jesus Christ;”    Ephesians 5:16-20

We are to yield to God’s Holy Spirit who will “fill” us with Himself!  Just as Paul refers to the “control” that wine takes over a person, we are to allow the Holy Spirit to “pervade” our hearts and lives!  Just as a drunken man is controlled (pervaded) by the liquor that is in him, in contrast, we are to be controlled by God’s Holy Spirit!  And when we allow God to “fill us” with Himself—we never have to fear a ‘hang over’ or fear shaming our self or others before God or man!

Paul paints such an amazing word-picture of encouragement on using our senses to stay focused on our Lord—we are to fill our eyes, our ears, and our mind with godly words and music, growing a heart of gratitude and love towards God; being a testimony to a lost and dying world in need of Jesus.  They need to see Jesus in us—in you and in me!

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is the epitome of how to live being filled with the Spirit.  So, I’ll share it with you and pray that you have a blessed week pursuing the “mind of Christ”!  Please ponder these words—they are empowering, heart-changing and life transforming!

“Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who,

being in the form of God,

thought it not robbery

to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation,

and took upon him the form of a servant,

and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man,

he humbled himself,

and became obedient

unto death,

even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also

hath highly exalted him,

and given him a name

which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

of things in heaven,

and things in earth,

and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

12 Wherefore, my beloved,

as ye have always obeyed,

not as in my presence only,

but now much more in my absence,

work out your own salvation

with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God

which worketh in you

both to will

and to do

of his good pleasure.

14 Do all things

without murmurings

and disputings:

15 That ye may be blameless

and harmless,

the sons of God,

without rebuke,

in the midst of a crooked

and perverse nation,

among whom ye shine

as lights in the world;”    Philippians 2:5-15

God’s work—God’s way! Let His Spirit fill you each step of your journey!  Shine on dear friends, Shine on!!!  The choice is yours!  Choose wisely—there is a test!

Amen and Amen!