Full of It part 1
I know I preach and Rant about some stuff that seems "out there." Non-traditional. Non-conformist. And I know some people think I'm full of it. But that's the cool part. I AM full of it! And so are you! Filled to overflowing with the only "it" that matters! Filled to overflowing with the love of God. Filled to overflowing with the God who is love! Look at Colossians 2:9 in the NLT, "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body." Think about that. All the fulness of God. You can't get any more than ALL of the FULNESS. In the Old Testament, in the book of Job, Job describes the wonderful works of God and then he writes, "And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” (Job 26:14 NIV). In the Old Testament we only saw the outer fringes of His work. His ways were mysterious to us. Because while the Holy Spirit would come on people in power so that they might accomplish a task, at that time the Holy Spirit didn't LIVE in people. Not until Jesus. In HIM lives all the fulness. And He lives in US. So now, on this side of the cross, because of the finished work, because God poured His Spirit out on all flesh, in US lives all of the fulness of God. We're full of it. Full of HIM. We have every single thing we could or will ever need. We have been blessed with all Spiritual blessings. We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Jesus did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all! The "all" that Jesus did was the cross. He poured Himself out for us, and He poured Himself out INTO us. And that "all" that we have is the Holy Spirit. The very Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. The love receptor. Because that is the difference between death and life. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Love is what makes abundant life abundant. Love is what makes life worth living, and love is what makes it POSSIBLE to truly live. Because to live is to love. To love is to live. You can't have one without the other because they are the same thing. So when we say we're full of it--full of love--that means we are full of life! John 1:4 tells us that, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." All of these pictures of God--love, light, Spirit, a consuming fire--they are all pictures of life. His life is the light that shows us the way. His life is the light that brought (and brings) us out of darkness so that we can be in the light as He is in the light. So we can be who we are instead of trying to be someone we're not. So we can know what we have. Know what we're full of. So we can stop trying to get something we think we don't have. So that we can stop trying to finish a work that's already finished and we can rest. Rest in His loving arms, and love others with that same love. Enjoy the fruit of HIS labor, which is the fruit of the Spirit, which is love! That's who we are. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. Filled to overflowing with light, and life, and love!