Filled part 1
One of my very favorite passages in Scripture (and I use the word "very" to distinguish it from all of my other favorite passages... you know, almost all of them) is Ephesians 3:16-19, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." There's so much there. And its all so good. I love it. But for this Rant series I want to key in on being filled with the fulness of God. And I know I Rant about this idea a lot. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. But I truly believe that letting what's inside--the love of God--come out is the only way we can experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. HIS life of love! The way we experience what's inside is by letting it out. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it by receiving it. We love Him (by loving each other) because He first loved us, right? Its His love inside us that equips and empowers us to love each other. The key, of course, is understanding the nature of love. Knowing the love of Christ--with a knowledge that passes knowledge. Not head knolwedge, but heart knowledge. The only thing the heart knows is love. Either wanting it, because you think you don't have it... or sharing it, because you know what you have and its too good to keep to yourself. And that's the key to this whole thing: We comprehend the breadth, length, depth, and height of God's love... WITH all saints! Its not something you can do by yourself. Because love is giving. And in order to give, you have to have someone to give to. It takes two to tango. Relationship. Connection with others. Its not good that man should be alone. We need each other, because we're all in this together. And love is the only thing that can bridge the gap between people. We're so good at building walls. Drawing lines in the sand. "Members only." You vs me. But that's all surface stuff. Looking for differences that don't really matter. And, as always, I'm not saying you just accept anything and everything. I'm saying you can major on the majors and minor on the minors. Being strengthened in the INNER man means the light IN me responds to the light IN you. Its what's inside that matters. And when you know (and believe) what's really in there--God's love--that's when, and how, we fill ourselves with what we've been filled with. Comprehending, or testing, the dimensions of God's love happens when we love higher, and deeper, and broader, and longer than we ever thought we could. Love isn't about getting. Love IS giving. The more you give what you've got, the more you experience what you've got. Shared experiences fill us up way more than individual experiences. Because shared experiences fill up others too. And that's what's important... loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people!