Poured Out

Have you ever had one of those "Aha!" moments during your quiet time with the Lord? Or maybe an, "Ohhhhh!" moment, or even an "Huhhh?"

This morning I was reading in Psalm 23 and the Spirit showed me something that I had never seen before. Verse 5b says, "You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Many of you probably know that anointing with oil is symbolic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Well this morning I finally caught the idea that your cup has to be filled before it can overflow. Yeah, I know, sometimes I can be a little bit slow to understand some things. In case you are interested, I am going to recap my journey this morning.

Before I read Psalm 23, I read some of My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It was there that I started this journey. The first quote that got my attention was, "God has only one intended destiny for mankind - holiness. His only goal is to produce saints. God is not some eternal blessing-machine for people to use... He came to save us because He created us to be holy." How many times have I been obedient to God because I wanted to receive some kind of blessing from Him? More than I would like to admit. Too many times in my life I have drawn close to God in a time of need, only to see that desire slack off and distance to creep in during times of comfort.

Then I read further, "If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts." That thought exploded in my mind. God created us for holiness, but not to keep, but to give away just like Jesus did. The Life of God the Father, the Son, and the Spirit that is being poured into my life is intended to overflow into the lives of those around me so that they too may be filled. Isn't that the picture of Jesus. His life was being poured out over and over again until His blood was literally poured out for our forgiveness.

I was drinking a cup of chai (tea) while reading and thinking about all of this and it occured to me that my heart was similar to that chai, very cloudy and impure. If I were to take that cup of chai and slowly add pure water to it, something beautiful would happen. The chai would begin to overflow and with each passing second the liquid inside would become more and more clear, more and more pure. Eventually, the cup would be full of pure water and that purity would continue to overflow to everything surrounding it. That is a picture of Psalm 23.

No matter what situation or circumstance I am in, I was designed to be filled with the Spirit. Not just filled for my sake, or for my own blessings, but for the sake of overflowing to bring that Spirit and those blessings into the lives of those surrounding me. May you and I be filled to overflowing with the love and Spirit of Jesus Christ that those around us would be saturated as well.

Blessings,
Shiloh