Full

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzw6A2WC5Qo

Feel Invincible ~ Skillet

 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~ John 10:10 NIV

 

Two weeks ago, the school gym was very full! The gymnasium/school lunchroom was full of people, full of noise, full of decorations and chairs for the upcoming musical. It was full! But it wasn’t just full for fullness’ sake. It was teeming with life and laughter. There was happiness and joy. The sound was the endless chatter of classmates and friends. The space and sound were full.

 

That’s the kind of life Jesus said He came to give us: a life filled with His Word, nature, and character. Jesus’ kind of full is not just filled to the top. Just as the noise in the gym didn’t stay contained there, but rather spread out beyond the walls, Jesus gives us life that is full to overflowing. Full is defined as, “exceeding abundantly,” (G4053 - Perissos - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV), n.d.). An abundance is, to be, “²well supplied with something; ³richly supplied, as with resources,” (“Definition of Abundant,” n.d.-b). An abundance is like Scrooge McDuck, from Disney’s Ducktales, swimming in his warehouse of money. Exceeding abundance is like 1 million warehouses of money.

 

God’s not talking about money in John 10:10. This is Christ’s life—the Spirit filling you up, full to overflowing in all the fruit of the Spirit, the promises of God, and in all the blessings, grace, and favor of the Lord. The zŏē life of God is real and genuine. It’s active and vigorous. It’s from God and is devoted to God. It’s the promised portion in this world and is “to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body) and to last forever,” (G2222 - Zōē - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (KJV), n.d.).

 

Every May, my calendar gets really full, just like that gymnasium. Between the kids’ end-of-the-year projects, field trips, and concerts, in addition to Mother’s Day celebrations, birthdays, and miscellaneous end-of-school playdates, I’m not sure if we could pack much more into the month. Every year, I can look at it as overwhelming and dread it or remember the zŏē life of God that’s been given to me and enjoy it.

 

Whether it’s your family’s calendar or a hard season of life, as Christ followers, we have been given the zŏē life of God, not just to carry us through our lives, but to greatly impact the lives of others. Let’s challenge ourselves to walk in the fullness of the life that Christ came to give us.

©Heather Potts 2023

Overflowing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs8WTFxEcEw&list=RDcs8WTFxEcEw&start_radio=1&rv=cs8WTFxEcEw&t=0

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us ~ Nicole Nordeman

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over. ~ Psalm 23:5 AMPC

As an adult, have you ever asked a small child to guess your height? The younger the child, the grander the answers, as they likely have no idea. If a small child, who can see you, can’t figure out how tall you are, how are we to grasp the amount of God’s love, whom we have never seen?

Ephesians 3:17-19 lay out a prayer that the Church would have the power to grasp the size of the love of Christ, and would be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” How can you even fathom the fullness of God, let alone be filled to its measure? First of all, the measure of the fullness of God is not like a level cup; it’s full to overflowing. If you dumped the water from an olympic-sized swimming pool into a thimble-sized container, you’d start to form an idea of “full to overflowing,” but it would still be a far cry from how much God wants to pour into us. And yet, a child of God, who’s been anointed with oil--representative of Holy Spirit--is being filled to full and overflowing with God’s love.

The secret isn’t in the container, or the action of holding what God pours into our containers. The secret is receiving with the expectation that whatever God pours into your life will overflow onto the lives of those around you. The jars of clay into which God breathed His life were not created with the ability, let alone capacity, to contain all that God longs to pour into our lives, (2 Corinthians 4:7). Why? Because His ultimate goal is not to make your life bigger, better, higher, grander, or more comfortable than everyone else’s. Rather, His charge, to us who follow Him, is that we would be a conduit, river,  and cup overflowing, letting His love flow to, captivate, and change the hearts and lives of others.

If you have been feeling dry, it’s time to open and humble your heart, and come back to the presence of Father God, who longs to pour His love on you. And if you are being filled, but still feel empty, it’s time to find, and surround yourself with, others to whom you can be a conduit, river, and cup overflowing. It’s only when we’re abiding in His presence as an open vessel--not trying to grab it all for ourselves--that we can truly live full to overflowing.

©Heather Potts 2021