Are you running on empty?  Or does the life of God fill your soul?  St. Paul could say in all truthfulness and honesty, that he was full.  He was filled with all the fullness of God.  He could suffer  in preaching  the gospel yet with boldness and great success.  He could operate in all the gifts of the Spirit. He had the gift of utterance to speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  Though possessing nothing, he had all things.  He had no lack.  St. Paul was full.  He lived the truth.  He lived the life.  The Word dwelled richly in him. How about you?  When you meet Christ do you want to be meet him being full or empty?  Do you wish to have a legacy that is pleasing to God or do you wish only for his mercy showing little fruit in your life?  Unless you put the word of God into practice, unless you act upon whatever truth you have gleaned from scripture, unless you walk in love, you will never experience fullness.  St. Paul in Ephesians three prays for us that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.  Do you want to be filled with all the fullness of God?  If you do, there is a price to be paid.  By sharing in the suffering of Christ, you will share in the resurrection.  Only by being obedient to the word of God, only by being obedient to our call to love, only by emptying ourselves of the world will we ever come near what St. Paul has experienced.  If you want to be full, you must deny yourself and take up your cross.  You must follow in the footsteps of Christ and not follow the lure of riches or the lust of other things but seek only that which is above where Christ dwells and not those things of earth where the prince of this world, satan, dwells.  You must seek first the kingdom of God.  You must hunger and thirst for righteousness.  You must desire a pure heart in order to see God. 

            This weekend God told me I had entered the kingdom of God.  I have never heard anyone ever say they had entered the kingdom of God yet the gospel says to seek the kingdom first and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.  So Jesus plainly tells us we can enter the kingdom.  I gave up everything I owned, I have suffered greatly, I spent years soaking in the word of God, I needed deliverance from spirits of lust and fear, I have given generously over the years, I have devoted my life to ministry, and finally, after thirty six years, God spoke to me and told me I had entered the kingdom.  Tonight after over two years, I sat down and read scripture.  I had spent those two years just listening and allowing the Spirit to reveal what he wanted me to write.  Everything I have written and everything I have preached over the last two years has been revelation.  It has been revealed truth.  I am so filled with the Spirit of God that he satisfies my mouth with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagles.  There is no lack to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purposes.  Like St. Paul it's been a long journey but today I can say I know that I am going to be full, today I can say that all the promises of God are yes and amen, today I can say the sky is not the limit, heaven is! 

            Take God at his word and be obedient to the Spirit.  Don't let doubt and fear stop you from doing what God wants you to do.  Desire to be full.  Pay the price.  It is worth it in the end and you will enjoy eternity that much more.  Think about it and you make the call.

amen