Is the glass
half empty or half full? Generally, if
we are thirsty, we prefer it full, but maybe there are times it is better
empty. Just lately in my time with the
Lord, a profound insight struck me. If a
glass is full, it has no room for anything better, so if we want to put
something different in, first we must pour out the contents already in the
glass. That might seem simplistic, but
consider the implications to our Christianity.
Firstly, we are vessels:
(about Paul) But the Lord said to him, Go! For this
one is a chosen vessel to Me… Ac. 9:15
But in a great house there are not only vessels of
gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth... 2Tm. 2:20
Some vessels
are made with gold or silver, others with wood or earth. Of course the ones that are more valuable are
the metal ones that withstand the test of time with harsher usage and while the
wood is slightly better than the clay, both are considered frailer than metal. If I had to choose a vessel and these were my
four choices, I would probably choose silver because it is strong due to
purification, would last a long time, and I like the colour better than gold!
Anyway after
asking the Lord why we don’t see His power working visibly as in the days of
Acts, I began picturing that I was like an empty bronze glass, and I thought,
why is it empty? Then the Lord
whispered, ‘if your glass is full, how can I fill it with My anointed
Spirit? If My Spirit is not filling you
up, then how can my power be displayed in you?’ (or something like that) Okay, I thought, so what is my glass full of
that leaves no room for You? The
flesh. Self. Pride.
Ah, another ouch moment!
Before I go
on I would just like to say I am NOT talking about emptying your
personality, your mind (like eastern religions do), thoughts, or any other
weird practices. I am speaking strictly
in the Biblical sense of casting down, putting off, denying, crucifying,
submitting, putting to death, mortifying desires, and such that is sort of like
emptying ourselves of the old sinful man to allow God to fill us with His
Spirit.
There is just
so much here to go through that I’m going to finish this tomorrow, but I want
you to know that it is possible to empty ourselves, or completely entrust our
old man- our own desires, wants, passions, will, emotions (that was a biggie
for me), own wisdom/ smarts, reputation, dreams, time, all that we are into the
hands of our loving, good and righteous Father.
If our own glass is already full or mostly full of self, how much room
is left for the Spirit to fill?
Honestly I
have to admit that as many times as I said/ sang that I completely gave myself, surrendered,
and other such things, it never really seemed to change me in the same way this has. Seeing myself as (continually) empty of the old person and allowing God to
fill me to overflowing has caused me to BE different.
Now I have a
new boldness. I offer to pray even for
complete strangers, I stop to help people I don’t know, I try to cheer up
people in line ups, encourage and spread kindness in ways I didn’t before. Not that I was awful before, but it was never
like this. I’ve changed once again, and
I know there is still far to go, but with the Spirit filling me I’m eager for
the Lord to move through me- to help others know Him and want to be with Him. And I’m hoping that one day all Christians
will allow the Spirit (of whom Jesus needed to go so He could send Jh. 16:7) to
fill us to overflowing and God’s power will be visibly displayed in the world, in a mighty way once
again just like the days of Acts.