FILLED

In the Bible humans are compared to vessels (Roman 9.19-24). We are each beautifully made by the potter, and we all have unique purposes based on our design. However, a vessel's main function is to be filled. God created us to be overflowing with His glory and to pour that glory onto the nations. We can not be filled with God's glory unless we have the righteousness of Jesus covering us. God is 100% perfect, and He does not commune with anything imperfect. Without Jesus' sacrifice for our sins, we stand flawed and separated from God.

Because of God's grace and our faith, we are miraculously found perfect in God's eyes when we profess our sins, ask for God's forgiveness and receive Jesus in our hearts; and the Holy Spirit can fill us. Even so, God will not force His presence into a Christian's life. We have free-will and we can deny the inpouring of the Holy Spirit and keep parts of our heart away from Him. Many Christians refuse God's leading, and they ignorantly believe that they stand alone. They think that they are neutral and that they direct themselves. What they don't realize is that this is exactly what the Enemy wants them to believe.

We never stand alone. We are vessels; and if we are not filled with the Spirit of God, we will be filled by the spirit of the Enemy. There are two spiritual waves influencing the physical world, and we will be pulled by the surge of good or evil. There is no third option. I believe Christians who are saved by grace but not led by the Holy Spirit do more damage to the Kingdom of God than people who are not redeemed. We point our fingers at non-believers and accuse them for living in darkness, yet it is the Christian who has light and chooses to walk in darkness that causes the most confusion.

"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice truth. But if we walk in light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1.5-7 NIV).

The Enemy wants to fill the righteous vessels. He plans carefully to knock our lights into sin. He wants to prove that he is strong, so he leads us to believe that our vessels can remain empty. Secretly, though, the Enemy begins to fill us with his ugliness; and before we know it, we are lost in a black hole of compromise and sin. The world watches us fall, while mocking our faith and our God.

I pray every day for God to fill me with His Spirit. I know I am a vessel, and I know the Enemy would like nothing better than to fill me. This knowledge gives me a holy fear. I am not blind to the Enemy's schemes. I know that if I'm not yoked to Jesus that I will be yoked by another who wants to deceive, hurt and destroy me. The world can offer me all its beautifully painted delicacies of sin, but I'm not falling for it. I will stand firm in the promises of God.

"Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!
Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!"
- Psalm 141.3-4 NIV

God is faithful. As Christians, our souls are secure in heaven because of Jesus' righteousness covering us. But, God also gives us free-will. We must choose to yoke ourselves with Jesus every day (Matthew 11.29). Only then can we be guided into God's best for our lives. Otherwise, we become puppets for the father of all lies (John 8.39-47). There is a purpose for our existence on this earth, and we need to "be wise as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10.16). Only then can we achieve our predetermined victories in Christ.