I put the last bite in my mouth. The past hour had been spectacular. Donna made pork ribs with Italian “sauce”. Yeah, you Jersey, New York Italians call it “SO-AHS”. I couldn’t push away from it. I actually slopped up the remaining sauce with the last piece of my baguette. After a little pause to put away the dishes and clean up for our friends, Donna brought out the motherload of desserts; THE HOLY Grail . . . Yup, it was a Costco peanut butter pie. OH . . . MY . . . GAWSH! My piece looked like a battleship. It was so big that it hung over the edge of the pie plate. I knew I shouldn’t try this enormous feat of gluttony. It wasn’t a good move for me to try this. It wasn’t healthy. I could still turn back. After a little thought I had a refreshed mindset. I was determined to focus and show proper fitness . . . Fit ‘ness whole pie in my mouth!
As I licked the fork clean and picked up the final crumb of crust with my fingers on my plate, I wiped my mouth, belched (silently) and it hit me . . . I knew I was full. In fact, the next two hours, I had to put on my stretchy pants and just lay down without moving. I was in the fetal position. I was miserable . . . I wish I had never done it . . . This was just like Thanksgiving dinner, but worse. There wasn’t a Dallas Cowboys’ game on TV to distract me from the pain. Yes, I knew I was FULL . . . VERY FULL.
This situation led me to a thought during my alone time this week. How full am I with God? I mean, how do I actually fill myself with the Lord? How can I get more? Do I just keep filling until I’m about to burst like that night with the peanut butter pie? I want to be filled up. Don’t we all? How? Should I spend 30 more minutes a day reading the bible? Take detailed notes on every chapter? Go to all three Sunday church services? Pray harder and longer? Attend more bible studies and watch more podcasts of different pastors’ opinions of how to get closer and have my cup filled more frequently with Jesus? OH MAN, I better get busy huh?
As I sat there with these thoughts, I began to feel a bit stressed, I mean, who doesn’t want to be filled with God. Do you feel like I used to, that you have to do more things to be filled more, forgiven more, justified more or experience more righteousness? While sitting there asking ABBA for some guidance, I was moved to turn to a few passages of scripture that eased my mind.
“For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him who is the head of all rule and authority.” -Colossians 2:9-10. Wait a minute! . . . What’s Paul trying to say here? Throughout his letters you can almost hear Paul pleading with the Christians in the area to grow deeper and understand more about what truly happened to them when they believed. These letters serve as his reminder as he tells them. “Come on guys, pull your heads out and understand it’s only Jesus now. No more traditions, no more man-made stuff, no more adding law into The Gospel . . . Just Jesus! . . . COME ON GUYS!! YOU GOT THIS!”
Think about his words above to the Colossians. In Christ, the fullness of God dwells. We believers have been filled in Christ. So, in Christ we now have the fullness of God. BOOM! We ARE filled! We aren’t a just little filled. We aren’t half full. It’s not just a few drops of God. We are filled to the brim, WITH HIM. And it has nothing to do with what we have done. It’s only about what Jesus did. Let that soak in a minute. We have the fullness of God!
Another passage given to me was, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” -Galatians 2:20. Once again, you can hear Paul pleading with the believers about how they are now different, and that Christ actually lives INSIDE of them. So, Trey’s not writing this devotional. It’s Christ in Trey writing. Are you kidding me?! How cool is that?
Lastly, The Lord guided me to my personal favorite bible verse (Note: see the devotional “Who Lives in You” from a few months ago). “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” -Romans 8:11. STOP! Hold the press! Is Paul saying that the very Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, lives in us . . . believers in Christ? The most powerful force in the world actually lives in ME? Just like Jesus promised his apostles in the upper room just hours before he was crucified. (See John 13-16). Is this real?
The simple answer is as simple as the gospel. YES!!! You were indwelled with God the day you believed that“Christ died for our sins according to scripture, was buried and resurrected on the third day according to scripture” – 1 Corinthians 15:4. Yes, you my friend, are as close to God as you’re going to get. In fact, you are so filled with God, through Christ in you, that He will flow from out of your heart like rivers of living water. (See John 7:38-39).
Imagine walking this revelation out every day. Imagine how your attitude and outlook changes knowing you’re 100% filled in Him. Imagine how motivated and empowered you are to grow in the complete knowledge of who you truly are as a “filled to the brim” Christian in today’s broken world. Imagine how the bible comes to life knowing who indwells you and is now guiding you and inspiring you. Now, imagine others that you come across in the store or at school, at a restaurant or a ball game, who see His fullness flowing from your eyes as they ponder the reason for your hope and the truth about who you are, in Christ . . . so they can experience the fullness of God in Christ as well, in themselves. Talk about being full . . . YOU ARE CHRISTIAN. You might even need to put on your stretchy pants and pour out your fullness to everyone you see.
Next week- What’s next after we have the revelation of our fullness in Christ? It's really cool as well!
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