Empty for Filling

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Rom 15:13 NIV

Empty for filling...............

Don't we have to throw out some things to make room for filling?

The God of Hope....... He does the pouring from water drawn from a bottomless well, fed by a spring that renews......

....joy and peace....... they pour in, soak through -- IF we've emptied and cleared space....

.....as you trust in Him........it's hard to toss out all that's pressed hard into us, shaped us over time, worn us down like desert rock crags, without leaning in hard in trust that believes that He's got us covered; that He won't leave us in the same shape He finds us; that He won't look away in disgust or horror at the sight of our dirty selves.........

.....so that you may overflow......     isn't it just like Him to not just give us a little, but to pour in more and more until we're not just saturated, but overflowing with what only He can give us?......

.....HOPE....... hope......hope.....not the Pollyanna head-in-the-sand hope, but real hope. Hope that comes from a track record that has proved itself over thousands of years in millions of little and big ways......

....by the Power of the Holy Spirit........ power! power! wonder working power! The Spirit that came to us to comfort us, to guide us, to speak for us when we've no words to put to the pain that is ripping us apart........this power that whispers "let go; let Me......" 

Thank you, Lord! Let me be still and know.

And, then, as the Samaritan woman at the well, throw down my pot and run to the others proclaiming "Come and see a man who has told me everything I've ever done!"  Jesus knew her.  Jesus knows me. And He doesn't look away.  May we as believers have the faith to receive all He wants to pour into us and the courage to draw close enough to those around us that our hope overflows, gets them wet enough to point them to the Living Water.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

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