FILLED TO OVERFLOWING?
26th Jul 2023
The Bible paints a picture of Eden, where God and man interact in love and harmony, they enjoy each other, God is caring and providing for Adam. He sees Adam’s loneliness and creates a perfect answer in Eve. Satan comes and questions God’s word and authority, and soon the picture changes as pride, independence, rebellion and selfishness begin to emerge and take control.
Adam and Eve are excluded from Eden and sinful behaviour begins to dominate. God still longs for connection with His creation, and in His redeeming love sends Jesus to cleanse, restore and reconnect us with the Godhead. He intends us to live in that same open dependant relationship He had at the beginning; He has made it possible, demonstrated it through Jesus, and calls us to live resourced by and constantly filled with His Holy Spirit - but do we?
I certainly want to live a Spirit filled life, enjoying His presence, hearing His instructions, living a life pleasing to Him. Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they had been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49) Elsewhere He said “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:6) and demonstrated that He too was living a life relying on God’s Spirit within Him to guide and empower.
There are times when I know I’m relying on the Spirit to do and say things I couldn’t do on my own, but there are also times when I can live without this certainty and act in independence.
I feel challenged to live in a ‘filled’ state, to be seeking to enquire what the Lord wants for this day, hour, moment. To live with the fruit of the Spirit growing and affecting every action and conversation. I know this is possible and can be satisfyingly real, but so often thwarted by independent thinking and action.
So my prayer for myself and you is for God’s Spirit to keep us filled to overflowing; to keep us sensitive to what the Spirit is saying to us personally; to empower us to speak and act according to His desire in us at this moment; and that as we live in this intimacy, the world we inhabit will be changed as we demonstrate that we, on our own, can do nothing, but with God’s Spirit - anything is possible.
As it says in Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
by Joyce Sibthorpe
