ARE YOU FULL?

Pastor Rick Jackson

Good or bad, right or wrong, skinny or fat, there is something I have noticed about Bradford Baptist Church fellowships where our people bring the food. If you leave hungry… it is your fault! There is always plenty of food available and left-overs enough to feed families for days after! The Bible clearly teaches the same is true in the spiritual realm. If you leave God’s table hungry… it’s your fault!

Now you may be thinking I am talking about leaving a church service without being fed and while that may apply in some cases that is NOT what I am talking about. God wants us to be full. He wants us to be full of good things not spiritual junk. Almost 100 verses in the New Testament use the term “pleroo” and obviously we don’t have time to look at all of them so lets just look at those which use it in a prayer request!

The world wants you to fill up on things, the flesh wants you to fill up on lusts, the Devil wants you to fill up on lies, the carnal Christian wants you to fill up on empty emotionalism, entertainment, and/or psychobabble BUT that’s not what God wants you to fill up on! God puts out a good spread with many satisfying “foods” and says “Be filled!”

1. JOY & PEACE [Romans 15:13] Note how this is accomplished!

2. GOD [Ephesians 3:14-19, 5:18]

3. FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [Philippians 1:9-11]

4. KNOWLEDGE [Colossians 1:9]

It is also worth noting that the Greek word for "filled" is the same as for "fulfilled." When a Christian is "filled" with all these wonderful realities, he becomes a "fulfillment," as it were, of God's purpose in creating and redeeming him. His ultimate goal, of course, is to measure up to "the fulness of Christ," Himself (Ephesians 4:13). HMM

Inspired by the Days of Praise devotional from INSTITUTE FOR CREATION RESEARCH www.icr.org July 10, 2008.