Fullness part 3
I'm going to use the NIV for my memory verse today. John 1:16, "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." I like that phrasing. Grace in place of grace already given. That's what God's fullness is. Look just a few verses previous, John 1:14 (NLT), "So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." Full of unfailing love and faithfulness. Full of grace and truth. All the fullness of the Godhead in a body. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. WE have been filled with all the fullness of God. Jesus emptied Himself out... into us. And now we simply receive it and release it. Now we simply fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Grace upon grace. Grace in place of grace already given. Fullness means overflowing. What's inside coming out. Naturally. What's inside bursting at the seams. When you know and believe what you have, that's when you can experience it by giving it away. By letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. There is so much more available to us than what we settle for. And all it takes is a mindset shift. Letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. Using what we've got. Being who we are. Being transformed into what we've already been transformed into. That's so key--we don't need to wait for anything to happen. We simply need to accept what has happened. The truth has set us free and made us free, but it is when we know and believe the truth that we experience that freedom. When we use what we've got, or give what we've got, that's when we experience what we've got. And, if I can make this as simple as possible, it's all about love. Experiencing God's love by loving people. Letting God love us and loving Him back by loving people. Receiving and releasing. That's as simple as I can make it. Let God love you and love people with that love. Grace upon grace. Love upon love. Exceeding abundantly above all we could ever ask or think. That's what's available to us. That's the fullness of God. His mercy, and forgiveness, and grace, and truth. His love. Everything God is is everything we are. That's the shift we need to make. That's the understanding we need to come into. Who we fully are. Which is who God fully is. Our true identity is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. Christ in you the hope of glory. The hope of REVEALED glory. As one preacher once said it, "We are the spout where God's glory comes out." We are the visible face of the invisible God. We are what people see. If we want people to know the grace of God... we need to be gracious. If we want people to know the forgiveness of God... we need to forgive them. That's where I always get to with this stuff--releasing what we have received from God. And in that way experiencing what we have received from God. Love is giving. You can give without loving but you can't love without giving. If you want to feel loved... love someone. Because you ARE loved. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Charity is love in action. Where the rubber meets the road. The overflowing that makes the fullness... full. The love of God that makes the abundant life... abundant. And that's what being full means--living out of your abundance. Letting God bless you... so that you can be a blessing. Giving what you've got because you know have the fullness. You have everything you need. You have more than enough!