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And to know the love of Christ, whichPasseth knowledge,
That ye may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph3:19 ‘Full on empty’ As long as there is anything in the way of self inside of you, anything in the way of pride or ambition or self assertiveness or self will, you can not be full with all the fullness of God. As long as you think that there is something in self that does not need to fall under the power of the atonement you can not be filled with all the fullness of God. As long as you think that by effort and devotion you can meet the expectations of God and fulfill his will, you can not be filled with all the fullness of God. To be born again is a simple experience to have. It is simple because it cost God everything. By merely accepting what Christ did for you and repenting of sin you receive the Spirit of God and are washed in the blood of the Lamb. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit, to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, requires self-denial and utter poverty of spirit. Until you know your poverty, until you know that nothing of Adam, nothing of the flesh, will inherit the kingdom of God, being filled with all the fullness of God is just a dream. But if you truly desire to be filled to the full, if you desire to empty yourself of thought, of the noise of attachments (wife, children, possessions, ambition, power, success, and approval) then the possibility of being filled with all the fullness of God becomes a real possibility. To be filled with all the fullness of God is a painful and long process. Love suffers long and is kind. It is not conceited. It thinks no evil. It rejoices in the truth. To be filled means that God has sent trials and temptations your way to break the stranglehold of the flesh and the cravings of the natural man so that you draw nigh unto God that he may draw nigh unto you. To be filled means that natural affinities, good and noble things, (family, friends, job, education) do not stand in the way of your time and commitment to God. To seek first the kingdom of God means that and nothing less. To be filled means being empty first. It means be dead, dead to self, dead to ambition, dead to me. Only when you are empty can you be full. Only when you live a life of silence, absence of self not absence of sound, can the Spirit of God permeate your very being and your life be hid with Christ in God. Jesus had no ambition other than to please his Father. We can have no other ambition than to please him. The only way to realize the love of God that passeth knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God is to unlearn what you have learned in the world, empty yourself of self, and be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen |