Empty Dishes 7/31/2018

Good Morning,

I can smell my Door County Mocha Mint Coffee brewing downstairs and it is calling my name. I woke up with a prayer on my mind and some goals for the day.

This small shelf hangs  in our dining room and is part of antique dish collections. All four dishes were used a couple of times since we purchased them, but it has been a few years since they were filled. In order for them to be anything but art they need to be filled and then used.

People are the same way. We all need to be filled with a sense of worth that comes from a relationship with God. Once filled with the Holy Spirit we then can be used by God to benefit others, with our spiritual gifts. We then become useful blessings to others.

Galatians 5:16-26

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Do you feel like an empty dish that just can't be filled? The Holy Spirit is just waiting to point you to Jesus Christ and then occupy your heart with His presence. The dish then is filled and the cover taken off and the love of God pours from the dish to serve Him and others. The dish never runs empty and is perpetually filled with purpose, and passion for God.

Food for thought.

Marty