Session 1-Living Beyond Yourself - POURING

Another evening, buzzing with energy and conversation. Another packed evening, even the balcony was filled. Since I am somewhat claustrophobic, I felt a bit disoriented down in the sanctuary, but felt safe surrounded by people who make me feel safely loved, including my childhood friend, Sandra, Ivel, Tess, and of course, my hubby and Tess's hubby. My 10-yr-old decided it was boring to be with the kids, so he decided to stay with me. Mmmmm...

Well, shortly after Beth started, I glanced down at my son. Apparently he had been 'playing' with the gum in his mouth and it was now wrapped and stuck around 2 of his fingers. As surreptitiously as possible in a small, crowded space, I gave him some Kleenex. Why? I have no idea, because soon there were bits of tissue shredded and stuck on his fingers. OK, another surreptitious move, while Beth is speaking and my mind is berating me for not taking him to the kids' room, I took my sanitizer out to spray his fingers. More needed. Yet more needed. OK. Finally. Sigh...

Still God spoke and spoke.

This session was all about POURING: to produce or utter in or as in a stream or flood (www.dictionary.reference.com)

1. Pouring Out: CONFESSIONS & CONCERNS - Psalm 62:8 (NIV Version, The Holy Bible)
Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your hearts to Him, For God is our Refuge.

We need to spill out all that concerns us, our sins, our anxieties, our hurts, our anger, ALL....

WHY?

We need a different kind of "Filling"!

2. Pouring In: HIS SPIRIT - Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Prerequisite: Pouring out

Only His Spirit can fill TO SATISFACTION. In an age where we are so in touch with beepers, email, cell phones, we still feel so incredibly empty. Why, because, nothing or no-one can satisfy our emptiness. That is why we can become so driven or obsessed with our blogs, emails, etc. because we are trying to fill that void with the temporal. Beth says "Few conditions place us at greater risk than emptiness". Isn't this true? How many of us make poor decisions when we feel empty, simply because of our need to feel different?

Proverbs 13:12 -Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

3. The Pouring Forth: FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - 2 Corinthians 3:5-6

"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant---not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

And this is what I desire my blog to be: a spilling out of the Spirit to edify, to encourage, expose, comfort, enlighten. I see this in many of the other blogs I check out on Christian Women Online and Laced With Grace. I can thankfully rest in His competence, spill out, and leave the rest to Him.

Father, I pour my life out to You. Cleanse me of any toxic stuff taking up space where You should be. Pour Your Spirit into the void and fill me to overflowing. Spill out on to this blog, on to my family, on to my community, on to my country, on to the world. May all I encounter taste of Your Fruit. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.