Changes Everything

When we fill a clear glass with orange juice, it changes the appearance of the glass. When we fill our car with gasoline, we enhance the power of the car to go farther. When we fill our minds with good thoughts our perspective changes. The process of filling changes things.

Ephesians 5:18-21 says, “but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” God gives His Holy Spirit to dwell within believers, which gives them power. This power is experienced and displayed by surrendering to the Spirit, which will result in boldly speaking the gospel message to others, encouraging others, and the continual joyful expression of thanksgiving to God. Becoming filled with the Holy Spirit of God, changes how we act, think, respond to others and what we can give to a hurting world around us.

Regifting

Some people are avid regifters. They may need very little themselves, so they get joy out of giving what they have received to others. Many just see regifting as an opportunity to offload something that they didn’t really want in the first place. White elephant gift exchanges are a prime example of the downside of regifting. What if we found a way to give to others the good and desired things we received?

II Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” God has never faced a situation in any person’s life that He could not and would not provide comfort. Having received comfort from God, we have the responsibility to share this comfort with others in similar afflictions that we have faced.

They Cry, “Peace”

In the news, we see and hear scores of people crying out for peace. In the name of peace, they are taking over college campuses, stopping traffic, and condemning everyone on the other side of the political spectrum. At the same time, families are being destroyed and angry people dominate social media and oftentimes the news. How can we cry out for national peace, when we don’t have any idea how to obtain peace on an individual personal level?

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” God promises to give us peace, perfect peace, when we keep our minds on him, trusting in Him fully. Then we can be an instrument of peace to our hurting world.

Love Received, Love to Give

Among material things, we cannot give what we have not received. You cannot give away a cup of sugar to a neighbor, without somehow receiving sugar from which you can give. While that applies materially, we can give from our heart without first receiving. For instance, you can give a kindness to a stranger, without first receiving kindness. However, even in the giving of kindness, it is much easier to give if we have received kindness somewhere along the line.

I John 4:10-11 says, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” God loves you! Let that sink into your thoughts. Better yet, let that consume your thoughts, so that His love permeates your thoughts and actions toward others. We can love others because He first loved us. And because His love is abundant, we can love others abundantly.

The Difficulty of Waiting

I am often an impatient person. If I am waiting for a package to be delivered, I am always checking updates on its progress. If I am waiting in line at a traffic light, I start to get anxious as I don’t see the cars quickly moving when the light turns green. In our rush to get things done, patience is becoming more scarce among us. The hardest wait, however, is the wait for a loved one to return, whether from work travel or military deployment or estrangement.

Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for him.” The Lord is a God of great mercy and justice, so He waits for us to humbly come to Him when we have sinned and walked away. His mercy is great, even when we have wronged Him. He extends grace to us to awaken our need to come to Him. We should pass this blessing of mercy onto others who offend us and be patient with them.