“From Empty to Full” – Part 1 “Filled To The Brim”

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

Psalm 42:1
King James Version

EXPLORATION:

“From Empty to Full” – Part 1

“Filled To The Brim”

“Fullness” – Containing all that is possible. Complete in every detail.

What empty place in my life would I like to have God fill with His fullness?

INSPIRATION:

“O Lord, You have created us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.”

St. Augustine

My sister and I had a game we played as kids. Much to our mother’s displeasure, we would get a carton of milk from the refrigerator at lunch and see who could fill their glass the highest. Believe me, this was tricky business. We would pour quite rapidly until a certain point, then good reflexes and careful attention took over as ever so slowly we tried, a little at a time, to raise the level of the milk until it came right to the top of the rim on our glasses.As you might well imagine, there were times we messed-up and milk started rolling down the sides of the glass and onto the table. We’d scurry to clean up the spill before our mother caught us playing our little shenanigan!

The funny thing is, years later, I can still remember how much enjoyment we got out of seeing how full we could make those glasses. I’ve always thought there was something special about watching as a container filled up to the top and then the contents began to roll down the sides. Being “full” in comparison with “lack” – too little – certainly seems to be something most of us would rather experience.

In the very first recorded miracle of Jesus in John 2: 1-11 we are told about a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It seems either there were more guests at the event than were planned for or else the catering service miscalculated and didn’t purchase enough wine. Regardless of the reason, Mary, Jesus’ mother, came to Him and told Him the pots containing the drink were empty – there was a lack.

Here’s the part of the story I just love. Jesus instructed the servers to fill the “waterpots with water.” And John writes: “They filled them up to the brim” (John 2: 7, K.J.V.). I went to my trusty Greek dictionary to find out how the word “brim” was used in ancient times. This word meant, “filled up above, higher up.” Don’t you just love that?! Remember the text, “To Him who is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3: 20, K.J.V.). There’s that word again – above!

If, like a thirsty deer, I long for the water of God’s fullness to fill up the empty places in my life, He promises He will fill me to the brim – up high, above all I could dream for…all I could wish for…all I could desire.

The words of Henry T. Hamblin so beautifully describe the abundance from which God longs to fill our empty places with His fullness:

“The abundance of God is like a mighty ocean, so vast you cannot possibly exhaust it or cause a shortage for others. You can go to this inexhaustible ocean with a small cup and bring away only that small cup of bounty and blessing. Or, if you have faith, you can take a bucket and bring away a bucketful. It makes no difference to the ocean. Nor does it matter how often you go…God’s abundance is always there.”

The Psalmist David describes the fullness of God’s resources this way, “O Lord, how manifold are Thy works…the earth is full of Thy riches” (Psalm 104:24, K.J.V.).

Are you feeling empty? Is there a space in your life that seems to be hollow and barren? Like the waterpots in Cana, do you feel you have “run dry?” Then I invite you to go get a big bucket! Bring it with you this week to Transformation Garden. And get ready – for the fullness of God’s abundance is going to be poured into your life until you will be filled high-up to the brim and running over.

“No (woman) can know (herself) as (she) is, and all the fullness of (her) nature, without also knowing God.”

T. T. Munger

AFFIRMATIONS:

“These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

John 15: 11
K.J.V.

“Fill my cup, Lord,
I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven
Feed me till I want no more –
Fill my cup,
Fill it up and make me whole.”

Richard Blanchard

Your friend,
Dorothy Valcàrcel, Author
When A Woman Meets Jesus
Dorothy@Transformationgarden.com

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