Filled

Acts 4:31

“After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
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We are empty vessels; jars of clay.  As beings who spend our entire lives trying be filled and fulfilled, we often look to the world for what can fill us up.  That God-shaped hole at the core of our nature can possess us with a compulsion to fill it in whatever way possible.

We pursue money, drugs, power, sex, junk food, fame, alcohol…all things which can certainly fill us up temporarily, but still leave us feeling empty inside. What can fill us up?

When we fill ourselves up with these things…bad things…we leave no room for the good things.  And, it is the good things which keep us filled.  If we, with God’s help, can release the sin from our lives, we make room for being filled with the Holy Spirit.  As we pass along our gifts from the Holy Spirit, we are filled up again and again, refreshed and renewed as the Living Water passes through us, never to be empty again.

Father God, 

Our heart’s desire is set on You. We long to be filled with Your love and with the Holy Spirit. 

Remind us, Lord, that the things of this world cannot fill us up; only You can.  Words of false praise from our so-called friends cannot fill us up; only You can.  Power and possessions cannot fill us up; only You can. 

Fill us, dearest God.  You have promised through Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we don’t have to be thirsty, we don’t have to be hungry.  Your Holy Spirit can fill us. We ask you to send your Spirit to us that we may rejoice in being filled. 

In Jesus’ name we pray,  

Amen