BeFilled | Kristi's Morning Devotional

Yesterday I prepared a coleslaw for a bbq dinner we will share with friends tonight. This particular coleslaw has a marinated dressing, unlike most that have a mayonnaise or creamy dressing.

After it had been in the refrigerator for a while I decided to sample it and make sure it had the flavor I intended. When I put it back in the fridge I noticed there was a sugar ring on the countertop, I wiped it up thinking I had been sloppy.

At noon, Dave had a small amount of coleslaw as part of his lunch. Once again, there was the syrupy ring on the countertop. Upon further investigation, I also found it on the refrigerator shelf. Unbeknownst to me, the bowl had a small crack in the bottom and the marinade was slowly seeping out.

If I hadn’t caught it in time all the good stuff would have leaked out and I would have been left with dry cabbage, bell pepper and onion.

The good stuff – how often do we unknowingly let the good stuff leak out of our lives.

“I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
²I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2 NLT

The busy-ness of the week, the general responsibilities of life, can leave us feeling dry.

“If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Luke 11:36 NLT

“I want you to know all about Christ’s love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is.” Ephesians 3:19 CEV

“Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,” Ephesians 5:17-18 NLT

It is incumbent upon us to check our lives for leaks; leaks of anger, selfishness, pride, self-righteousness, bitterness. When we find that our level of light, joy, the Holy Spirit and all that God is has begun to drain out we need to come to Him for a resupply.

Today I will be making a second batch of marinade for the coleslaw but I will also be examining my heart to make sure I’m not allowing the goodness of God to drain slowly from my character.

May we always be filled with the goodness of God!

The last few days photos of our youngest grandson have been showing up on my memory pages. He just celebrated his 7th birthday and it’s been fun to look back at his first few weeks of life.

I love babies!!

They are so pure and so hungry. They eat all the time and make no apology for it. They have a God-given instinct to know that they must eat, and they let the world know it. Their feedings take priority.

“Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved. 3 You have already found out how good the Lord really is.” I Peter 2:2-3 CEV

Yes, we need to be like babies – sincere, innocent, with an overwhelming desire to grow – to drink spiritual milk (the Word) and learn of the Lord’s goodness.

As we feast on milk we grow and come to a point where we are mature enough to enjoy solid food, as the writer of Hebrews put it. Growing is natural, it’s good, it is proof that we are healthy and strong.

“People who live on milk are like babies who don’t really know what is right. ¹⁴Solid food is for mature people who have been trained to know right from wrong.” Hebrews 5:13-14 CEV

Sometimes babies, and adults, just need a drink of water and not milk. It keeps us hydrated and all our organs functioning well.

We also need to come for the living water that only Christ can give.

“Jesus answered, ‘You don’t know what God can give you. And you don’t know who I am, the one who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.’

11 The woman said, ‘Sir, where will you get that living water?…

13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give people will be like a spring flowing inside them. It will bring them eternal life.’

15 The woman said to Jesus, ‘Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again and won’t have to come back here to get more water.’” John 4:10-15 ERV

Water and milk are both a necessity of life. When babies need to eat, they cry out. They really have no other way to signal that they are hungry.

When was the last time we cried because we were hungry for the sincere milk of God’s word or the living water that only He can give? Jesus made us all a promise.

“Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry. He who puts his trust in Me will never be thirsty. ³⁶I said to you that you have seen Me and yet you do not put your trust in Me. ³⁷All whom My Father has given to Me will come to Me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me.” John 6:35-37 NLV

When we come to Him, hungry and thirsty for the life He gives, He will never turn us away!

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