Dear Precious Friends,
It's Fill Our Soul Sunday and I pray you waking up to a beautiful new day and you are worshipping at an amazing Bible teaching church. If you need a great church to come to, we love Lake Mary Church and will be serving at the 12:30 service. Message me if you want more info.
So, we are finishing up Col 3:12-17 today... All week we have been looking at the entire scripture and breaking it down so we know how we are to live this out! Today we are looking at Col 3:16-17:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col 3:16-17
I love looking these verses up, seeking commentaries and Bibles that break down the meaning and then sharing it with you!!!
Sometimes I love the specific words chosen to be spoken through the Bible. It is unlike any other book, and it has a literary beauty that can be appreciated on natural and supernatural levels.
In verse 16, the words “in all its richness” stir my soul. Paul could have just written, “Let the message of Christ fill your lives.” Instead, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul added that phrase “in all its richness,” giving it the power to soak more deeply into our hearts.
Pause right now and just sit with the richness of the Gospel before you rush about your day.
This rich, supernatural power and blessing is not just for us to keep to ourselves. After we soak it in like a sponge, we next allow God to wring us out over the lives of others so that the Spirit pours into them as well. We can teach, offer counsel, lead in worship, and demonstrate gratitude to bless and encourage each other. And when God has squeezed our sponge-hearts, we must sit and soak again to refill.
Here’s our freedom for today: everything you ever need to give flows directly from the Holy Spirit. There is not one single thing you need to offer the world all by yourself. If you are feeling spent or depleted or dry, then you are in a soaking season. If this is where you are right now, please take time out to fill your soul!! It's ok to step away for a time and in fact, I've found it to be the most important thing we can do to regroup, refill and be used mightily through the Holy Spirit. When I've gone through a season where I need soaking, I've been able to come back stronger through the Holy Spirit than ever before. If I had not taken that time off, I would have been using my own strength to try to do the things God has called me to do and that would be miserable!!!
It's OK to take time out to get refilled!! Always remember this!
The question we must ask ourselves is first, am I getting into the Word of God, and secondly... “Is the Word getting into you?” Are we dwelling in it so that when we get poked by the things of this world we bleed the Word? When our friends are going through a challenging life experience, do we have an appropriate word from Christ to encourage them?
Is the Word becoming so deeply intertwined into your heartbeat, the very essence of who we are, that we are experiencing God’s transforming grace pulsating through our veins?
I believe that Paul wants us to experience the Word of Christ in our lives this way when he says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”Verse 17 says that everything we do or say comes from the position of “representative of Christ.” We cannot do that well if we do not sit with him long enough to know his heart. We are the spokespeople of Jesus’ message. 2 Timothy 3:15 “…the scriptures make us wise to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord..”
2 Timothy 3:16 “…good for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness..”
2 Timothy 3:17 “…that we may be made complete, equipped for every good work.”
As we dwell in and then give out the Word of Christ, it will affect our hearts and we will not be able to stop bursting out in song to the One who is worthy of all praise. This heart response will be a part of both our private worship and our public worship as well.
And whatever we do… in our speech or our actions, we are to do them in the name of our Lord Jesus, not in our name or power, but in Jesus! We do this with thankful hearts to our God who has made this all possible for us through Christ.
Charles Spurgeon in one of his sermons on this passage says, “Therefore, beloved, be much with your Bibles and let your Bibles be much with you – for your own profit, for the profit of others and for the glory of God! So be it, for Christ’s sake!
Now this my friends is reason to focus on Filling our Soul this Sunday to replenish and repurpose ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN!
