How many of you like it when you get a bottomless cup of coffee, pop or juice with your meal order? For me, it adds value to my purchase – I feel like I’m getting a better deal. Of course, I have to be able to drink the extra liquid to take advantage of the offer and I do have a limit to what I can consume. But, a deal’s a deal.
I’d like you to think of your life as a cup that can be filled with any number of things. I’m not talking about physical intake but rather what goes into our minds and spirits. We take in so much stuff throughout the day that we’re exposed to that we either hold onto or get rid of. We let ourselves get filled with things that either help us or hinder us.
You can generally tell what someone has been allowing to fill them. It shows up in the way they deal with life issues and interact with others. Sometimes we say that someone is a ‘glass half full’ or a ‘glass half empty’ person, based on the positive or negative way they view the challenges they face. What makes someone one or the other?
Personality can play a role as can the long-term effects of life experiences. As someone has said, we can either become better or bitter when we are dealt a tough hand. That’s true, but how can we maintain a positive attitude at all times regardless of the circumstances?
As followers of Jesus, we have access to an endless supply of every resource needed to not only cope with life, but thrive beyond anything we are capable of by utilizing our own abilities. We can in effect be like bottomless cups enjoying refills as fast as we use God’s resources within us. So, how do we do that?
Romans 15:13 gives us a picture of God’s unlimited potential constantly filling us:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
I encourage you to take time over the next few days to read and meditate on this verse. It is jam packed with insights regarding your potential to experience the never-ending provision of God’s grace to and through you. The possibility of freedom from anything that would try to put you in spiritual and emotional bondage is available for every follower of Christ through trusting God and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
I look forward to sharing these insights further with you on Sunday. Join me in asking the Holy Spirit in advance to be at work in a special way in all of us who gather together. I can hardly wait…how about you?
Blessings,
Pastor Del