Fill 'er Up

 

“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”

—Ephesians 5:18

Patrons at gas stations didn’t used to pump their own gas. Instead, they stayed in their cars and let the attendant on duty “fill ’er up.” Every service station provided full service. Full service meant checking the oil level, cleaning the windshield, checking the air pressure in the tires, and filling the tires with additional air if necessary. Once you drove away, you felt that you could travel safely until your fuel level once again hovered near empty.

As Christians, God gives us the seal of His Holy Spirit when we turn to Him for forgiveness from our sins (Ephesians 1:13-14). And, as we live out the Christian life, the Holy Spirit continues to fill our spiritual “fuel tank.” Like empty vehicle gas tanks, we need that “filling” in order to travel through this life living for Christ. None of us has the ability to faithfully serve Him without the intervention and help from His Holy Spirit.

Have you ever noticed one of those yard inflatables that has lost air and droops over and looks half dead? Sometimes, after a particularly difficult time of spiritual warfare, I feel like one of those lost air inflatables when I come to God asking for a “fill-up.” On our own, none of us has the strength, the grace, the power, the energy, or the wisdom we need. In fact, God purposefully gives us tasks and circumstances for which we need His help. Without His divine aid, we are rendered useless.

How does God fill us? If we allow His written Word to soak into us, He gives us direction and faith in His ability to live through us. If we ask Him, He will govern and empower our way with the filling He wants to provide. One of my favorite hymns puts it like this:¹

Jesus, Thou Joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, Thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.

______________________

1 Bernard of Clairvaux. Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts. Public Domain.

 

 

Not an Easy Game of Telephone

 

“Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.”

—Joel 1:3

Nearly everyone has played the “Game of Telephone.” A simple phrase gets secretly passed from one person to another until the last person proclaims it aloud. To the enjoyment of everyone, the secret phrase has often drastically changed from the original whisperer. The game seems more fun, the more outrageous the change.

When the Gospel of our Lord passes from one generation to another, we should aim at accuracy above all else. We all know people who come from a long line of faithful Christians, but who may have heard a twist to the story that changed them into doubters or cynics of the faith, or even deserters from the faith. Other voices get into the “Game.” In fact, one who sows lies joins the circle and, before long, what the the last “hearer” receives completely disavows the truth of the original message.

How do we keep the children of this generation from those who would try to influence them away from the Truth of the written Word of God? Parents can’t always prevent their children from hearing wrong voices. However, if they have carefully orchestrated whom their children hear the most, and find ways to introduce them to winsome Christian friends, this generation can carry on the faithful truths of our great Christ-centered heritage.

When I taught elementary music, folk songs became the “fodder” of my curriculum. Not only did they supply the musical elements I taught, they also provided students with the “mother tongue” of their heritage as Americans. Scripture is the “mother tongue” of our Christian heritage. Our children need to hear faithful preaching and faithful teaching. They need to know faithful Christians in the church and observe their lives of service and devotion to Christ and His Kingdom.

Children need to see and hear people who have made the Christian life a firm foundation for their personal lives and whose devotion they can emulate. They need to learn the songs and hymns of their Christian heritage.

At the end of Moses’ life, recorded in Deuteronomy 31, he wrote a song and instructed the Israelites to teach it and sing it as a testimony of God’s work. Similarly, Psalm 78:1-6 speaks of writing parables to teach the next generation. Excerpts of those verses say:

I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old … We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord … he commanded our forefathers to teach their children so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Not only has God given us the means to teach the next generation, He can give us the courage, wisdom, grace, and all that we need in order to do so. Let us pray for this generation of children and for those who not only begin with the message of Christ, but carry it on throughout their lifetimes.

 

 

Joy

 

“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.”

—Malachi 4:2

I could hear the squeals of delight as Jamie came down the hallway. In these first few days since he had learned to walk, he had the time of his life. Jamie had come to kindergarten in a wheelchair. Eventually, he learned to move beyond his ability to crawl, and through much therapy, began to use a walker.

Another year had Jamie walking with braces and crutches. And, then came the time, somewhere in the middle of his second grade year, when Jamie could walk on his own. He acted much like an ecstatic baby who had just learned to walk. Everywhere he went, the same joy and laughter accompanied him.

I remember thinking that when God makes us new creatures in Christ, our first days of “walking in the Spirit” seem like that of an ecstatic toddler. We walk in joy, for we have been healed from the bondage of sin. But, like Jamie, after we have walked perhaps somewhat unsteadily in this new life for awhile, the novelty of it wears off, and we start to behave like all the others around us.

Human nature causes us to forget our early joys. In Revelation 2:1-7, the risen Jesus gave the Apostle John words to send to the Church in Ephesus. After telling them the good things about their church, Jesus says this:

Yet, I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

I don’t think our Lord intended for us to ever lose the joy of first love. He wants us to walk with Him every day in delight and gratitude, just as we did that very first day of our walk with Him.

Take time today to reflect on your new life in Christ. Remember your first excitement in following Him, and the freedom that kind of joy brings. Others will notice the difference Christ has made in your life. As you traverse the hallways of your life, may laughter and gladness accompany you!

 

 

Faded

 

“I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. ”

—Jeremiah 2:2

As a teacher, I always looked forward to the first day of a new school year. Summer came to school on the children’s faces and gradually faded into fall. I remember those pink cheekbones and glowing tanned arms and legs. Yet, without any advanced notice in another month, the sun’s influence on their complexions faded, just as their first intentions to behave and please the adults around them faded, as well.

God notices the glorious joy of new Christians. Luke 15:7 speaks of the rejoicing in heaven whenever a sinner repents. The parables of Jesus in Luke 15 speak of the “Lost Sheep,” the “Lost Coin,” and the “Lost Son.” In each case, the “finding” of these lost ones brings great celebration.

God also notices when the attitude of that one who once took great joy in the early relationship with Him drops off to a routine, or to the place of a forgotten “experience” at summer camp, or to a no-longer-remembered particularly blessed time of the Holy Spirit’s movement in a congregation.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus speaks through the exiled Apostle John—imprisoned on the island of Patmos—to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. This is the land now occupied by Turkey. In each instance, Jesus commends those in each Church for various aspects of their faith. Then, Jesus continues by speaking bluntly about those things in each Church that distress Him.

In Revelation 2:2, 4-5, Jesus speaks to the Church in Ephesus with these words:

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance … Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

I often wonder what the Apostle John would write, if today he wrote to report Christ’s pronouncements to our current churches. Perhaps Jesus would say:

“You share your love with the less fortunate, and I like that. But, some of you work out of obligation, rather than from your hearts.”

Or, perhaps Jesus would declare:

“I enjoy the fellowship among your people and the strong sense of worship in your church. But, I don’t see you sharing the Gospel of Christ with others in the way that I intend you to share it.”

Or, might Jesus even state:

“You have obviously endured great suffering. But, You don’t pray corporately or personally like I’d wish you to pray.”

Now, let us please translate this example from a corporate church setting to our own personal relationships with the Savior. Has the personal bond we once had with Christ faded? Has this bond that once produced overwhelming joy become dull and lifeless? If so, what does Jesus, through the Apostle John, offer as a remedy for this lost first love? Jesus says in Revelation 2:5:

“Remember the height from which you have fallen and repent. Do the things you first did.”

Remember … Repent … Do …

Has our love for Christ and His church faded from the glowing beginning that we once experienced when we first came to a saving knowledge of Him? I urge each one of us to prayerfully remember when we first experienced the glorious awareness of His deep love for us. Let us humbly repent of our “backsliding” and begin again to do those things that pleased our Savior so much and, in turn, gave us so much joy. Said another way: “Don’t let the “Son”-shine fade!”