As I wrote about last spring Alli graduated from high school in May. As part of the baccalaureate ceremony everyone in the family was asked to write a letter to their son/daughter and then read the letter to them at the ceremony. Needless to say this was a very emotional event. Many friends had warned us but that still did not prepare us for the floodgate of tears we experienced.

The letter could be anything from fond memories to how proud we are of them to how much we love them to how beautiful they are to talking about their many accomplishments – basically telling them how special they are to us.

As I was writing this letter it occurred to me that God wants to tell us everyday how special we are to Him; how proud He is of us – basically reminding us how much He loves us. He wants to fill us up everyday with His love so it can overflow to everyone around us.

John P., a guy in my men’s group, said this recently about getting our daily fill up: “We are like an empty cup at the beginning of the day; if we don’t get our daily fill up of God to start the day we will get filled with the things of this world.” In other words, we can get filled with the Holy Spirit and allow His love to overflow to everyone around us or start the day with an empty cup and have it filled with greed, envy, lust, anger, worry, and the rest of the stuff of this world.

We can’t love; we can’t put others first; we can’t live sacrificially; we can’t live the way God wants us to live without being filled with the Holy Spirit:

Romans 15:13 “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.”

Brett C., another guy in the group, had a great point about filling up – if we aren’t careful the cup can leak throughout the day exchanging the Spirit with our sinful nature. The leak can be a small pin hole or a large gash. So how do we protect against the leaks?

Ephesians 6:18 “Pray in the Spirit at all times…”

3 questions for you:

1. What are you getting filled with?
2. Are you starting your day being filled with the Spirit or are you allowing your sinful nature to control you?
3. How are you ensuring you don’t leak throughout the day?

In His Service,

Ed

Related verse: Romans 8:26

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