“You know, a lot of people talk about you
either look at the glass half-full or half-empty, I don't know why people do
that because my opinion is, if you don't like what's in your cup, then empty it
out and fill it up with something new, and if you're going to fill it up, might
as well fill it all the way up.”
Jim
Harbaugh
I start again with Jim Harbaugh quote. He is a great motivator and many of his
sayings are Biblically sound although not Biblically based. I have reason to
believe that he is a Christian; although, I don’t think he intended this saying
to be interpreted from a Biblical viewpoint.
I think that the above quote, however. is very pertinent to today’s
blog. Last time I talked about being
“filled with the Holy Spirit” or “being full of the Holy Spirit”. I think that the “half full/half empty”
dilemma is very applicable to that discussion.
It is obvious scripturally that this is not a
heaven or hell matter; BUT it is a matter of how much God can use us. Paul was talking to Christians telling them
and praying for them to be “filled with the Holy Spirit. They were already saved. The Holy Spirit did dwell in them; but, He
did not control them. The Holy Spirit will
control you only as much as you yield yourself to him, allow Him to fill you.
We choose, with what we fill the cup; that is
our lives. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no
help. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.”
In the days of Samuel, it was said, “In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there
were not many visions”. Can this be said about the church in
America? How much of the Word do you
have in you? Does it fill you? Does it permeate every part of your being?
Look at what the Psalmists says:
Psalm 57
In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Psalm 107:
Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for
his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psalm 119
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name.
Paul instructs the Colossians:
We… do not cease
to pray for you, and..
desire
that
ye might be filled
with the knowledge
of his will in all wisdom
and spiritual
understanding;
That ye
might walk worthy
of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful
in every
good work,
and increasing
in
the knowledge
of God; Strengthened
with all might,
according to his glorious
power,
unto all patience
and longsuffering
with joyfulness.
Let (allow) the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord
Are you and I allowing
the Word of God to dwell in us richly?
If someone checked the hard drive in our heads, what would it be filled
with? Do we need to defrag our hard
drive? Is the Word of God so scattered
in our head such that it is not functioning effectively in our lives?
The Psalmist in Psalm 92 tells there is a
“secret place” that we can live in. In
that place we are “under the shadow of the Almighty”.
There are benefits to living in this “secret
place”
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall
be thy shield and buckler.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Where is this
“secret place? How do I live there? Jesus tells us where that place is and how to
live in that place:
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them
into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
He also tells the benefits from living
in this place.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that
your joy might be full.
How do we allow
God to fill us? As you fill yourself up
with His Word, all the other “stuff” is pushed out. When Jesus talked about casting out demons,
He said that if the house is left empty, seven more demons will come in,
leaving it in worse condition than before.
Your mind will be filled with something.
We decide what to put in it. We
must make a conscious decision to put the Word into it.
Every
pastor/teacher in the Body of Christ has the responsibility to put as much Word
as possible into the flock. The job of
the shepherd is to feed the sheep. If
the sheep are not producing wool, something is wrong. If the body is not producing fruit; maybe, it
is because it is starving or malnourished. Jesus said, “The student is not above the teacher, but
everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher”.
The under shepherd needs to follow the example
of the Great Shepherd
He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet
waters. He renews my life; He leads me
along the right paths for His name's sake. Even when I go through the darkest
valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff-they
comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint
my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue
me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long
as I live.
Are you feeding on the Word? Are you being fed the Word? Pastors and teachers, are you keeping your
flock well fed? Oh, that the church
would be filled with spiritual obese Christians!
Hosea spoke these Words to the
people of Isreal
“Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has
a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness,
no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed…
You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you….my people are destroyed
from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you
as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore
your children”.
Has this happened in America
today. Is the Word of God rare, like in
the day of Samuel? Is America being
destroyed because we have taken prayer and the Word of God out of our schools
and replaced it with evolution, the homosexual life style and freedom of choice. We have placed the accumulation of things
ahead of spending our time and money on teaching the Word to our kids. How much do we spend on our cars, homes, and
toys? How much time and money do we
spend educating our kids and grandkids about God. When our kids and grandkids look at us, do
they see someone who puts the things of God first in our lives; or, do they see
someone who puts things first?
Does that mean that we are all
lost? No, but don’t expect God to use
us. Just like the football coach, if you
are not all in; you will not play in the game.
You may not even travel with the team.
God pulled Ananias, and Sapphira, literally killed them. They
were still saved, but God could no longer use them. They were a cancer in the young church. The same is true at the church of Laodicea in
Revelations. They were the church of Christ,
the body of Christ; but, God could no longer use them.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that
the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Does that sound
like the church in America? As long as it all about what I want, what I
deserve, what I earned, me, me; me; God can’t use us. It is hypocritical to think that we are
“filled with the Spirit” when we are filled with “ME”. We come up with excuses why God answers our
prayers with “NO” and will not be honest with ourselves or God. Mean while, “the eyes of the LORD run throughout the earth to strengthen those whose
hearts are fully committed to him”; meanwhile “anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law- even his
prayer is detestable”.
“Surely
those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves
to share in the expression of His. Consider the call from the Throne above,
"Go ye," and from round about, "Come over and help us," and
even the call from the damned souls below, "Send Lazarus to my brothers,
that they come not to this place." Impelled, then, by these voices, I dare
not stay home while Quichuas perish. So what if the well-fed church in the
homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and
a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the
dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the
service of Mammon, and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who
succumb to the spirit of Laodicea.”
“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to
know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are
"harmless," and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists,
non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with
principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with
men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship
of the Cross. We are "sideliners" -- coaching and criticizing the
real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged.
The world cannot hate us we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”
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