I was worshiping one Sunday and just chatting with the Holy Spirit. I was dwelling in the muck of the most current events. After spending some extra time on Saturday journaling and trying to figure out how I felt about all that is going on in the country, I realized my feelings don’t matter so much as what I plan to do about it. So, on Sunday I was asking God how He feels about it. See, it is irrelevant how I feel. I can have feelings about it all, but if I am going to upgrade my perspective, I need to ask HIM. He isn’t swarming in emotions, social media sites that are a buffet of fury and opinions, and conflicted news. He is above all of that. He sees the entire picture. His perspective is the one that we need to achieve. So I quieted myself and as I was listening and delighting in His presence, I heard this acronym. L.I.F.E.
Live
In the
Fullness
Everyday
What exactly does this mean? The fullness. I sat down and pulled out my journal. I had to unpack this. The fullness means full saturation in His presence. If He dwells in me that means I have pretty quick access to all He is prepared to offer me in this life. But it dwelling in us is not enough. We have to tap into the resources we’ve been given. Picture this: you have an amazing Yankee Candle (or Bath and Body Works, or wherever amazing candles come from) in your home. It is the type of smell that brings peace and tranquility to you nearly instantly upon taking a whiff. But instead of burning this candle, you just keep the lid on and store it in a cabinet. You have it, but it is doing zero good sitting in the cabinet. You have to take it out and light it. This is living in the fullness. I take a portion of every morning to open the cabinet and light the wick. It takes action to fully be saturated in the gift given. The difference in my illustration and the actual act of activating the presence is that there is really only one way to “activate” a candle, but there are a myriad of ways to connect to our heavenly gift that is the Holy Spirit. The actions are not the point, the intent and the heart’s desire is what matters. God knows if you are doing a morning devotional simply to check it off the list. He also knows when you are making yourself do it out of a true desire to connect. You can’t trick God.
Personally, I shake things up to keep myself from getting attached to the habit and somehow thinking that I can earn my way to an encounter by doing x, y, and z. I will spend some mornings reading a book on spiritual growth for a while, then I’ll do a bible study another week. Then maybe I’ll spend my mornings listening to worship music and journaling. I might go through a phase where I am simply making my way through a book of the bible. Side note: I have never read the entire bible front to back. Unless I feel God inviting me into that journey, I never will. I know that seems like a very Christian thing to do, but for what? This isn’t like Girl Scout badge earning. We don’t get to tote our achievements on a little sash in Heaven. (Thank goodness!)
I want to know the Father more and more with each passing day, week, month, and year. I hunger to know Him and I believe He reveals Himself in unique and creative ways (it’s kinda His M.O.). This journey of knowing the Lord will only be boring if you let it. Be adventurous and creative and expect Him to respond to you. Life In the Fullness Everyday!