Filled…But With What?
Ephesians 1:21-23 Amplified Bible (AMP)
21Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come. 22And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church], 23Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].
My daughter is so excited. She is filled with anticipation and expectation about this new portion of her life that is what she will know as College life and working towards a degree. My son however does not feel the same. He is filled but excitement, anticipation and expectation are far from the things he is filled with, it is more like anxiety, and dread. Two different children, two different responses to the same situation; this is because they have learned to emotionally respond to things in a very different manners, because of certain things that have transpired in both their lives that have effected them differently, and has caused them to respond to change and challenges in a very different manner. My Babyboy learned to hold everything in because he was told that it was not the manly thing to do to respond with tears or upset, or to have an emotion is not a trait if a “real man,” he was not reassured by a male that it is okay for a boy or male to have a range of emotions, although, mom may have tried to, when the figure you relate to most that is specific to your gender does not affirm that, it is hard to see that it is okay. My Babygirl, was affirmed and reassured that strength was okay in a woman, that it is good for a woman to become whatever it is she puts her mind to and that no career or aspiration, none of it is off limits to a her because she is a woman. She had an example and words that told her it is okay to be emotional, but sometimes you have to shut that down and keep it moving, in spite of how you feel.
Our lives can take us in many different places and we can experience many different things, but what we become filled with depends on many things, but what we stay filled with depends upon us, our choices, or view points and our relationships. My experiences in life have not been perfect or stellar in many respects, but I have learned especially in the last four years of my life that I am more responsible than I realized for what I am filled with or what remains filling me. There are a lot of things that we allow to fill our minds, hearts, and spirits that invoke things that have nothing to do with Godly living that affords us the freedom that Jesus came to give us. Many of us allow people’s assessment to infiltrate our thinking and find a place in our hearts and become a part of our lives and how we view ourselves and our abilities and capabilities. It can affect our potential and ultimately our relationship with our Father God! What we are filled with can clutter our heart and affect the way we believe and what we believe not just about God, but about ourselves and others. It is so important to allow the power of God fill our lives, not just in some capacities but in every, to help us overcome our past, and any adversity that life brings and to forge ahead to our future and to the giftings and callings God has planted in us. It is important to allow the love of God to fill us in order for us to love when we don’t think love is warranted, deserved, needed or when we have been hurt so bad we think we will die. It is important for us to have the peace of God fill us so that we can prevent people from taking us “there,” and affecting how we live and respond to them, or when life throws us something that can alter us or our lives. It is important to have the Word of God fill us because it provides us a Guide and standards to live by, but it also gives us all of the necessary tools to live successfully and in the will of God.
So what when you look at your life, yourself and what is going on with you, what are you filled, with, or being filled with. What takes up the space in your Spirit, Heart, and Mind? For what abides within us, does become us and it becomes our focus and dictates our actions, reactions, responses and relationships. It dictates our faith, our ability to love and be obedient to the will of God. Are the right things occupying your time, thoughts, and tongue? Are you filled with the things of God or things that people have done to you or told you? It may be time to empty out so that you can be filled again with the things that will enhance and enlarge your life, and your service to God.
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