SCRIPTURE
“And afterword, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Joel 2:28-32
SPOTLIGHT
In the 1960s, General Foods produced a coffee product called “Brim.” The catchy tag line associated with this brand was, “Fill it to the rim with Brim.” When ordering any beverage, be it coffee or soda, everyone likes getting a full cup or glass. When it is filled to the top, you know you have received your money’s worth.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached his first sermon following Jesus Christ’s resurrection and ascension. The 120 people in the Upper Room had just experienced what Jesus Christ promised before He left earth. Christ had commanded, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:4,5,8). The believers obeyed Christ, and the Bible says, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4).
In his first sermon, Peter explained that the 120 believers were not drunk, but overflowing with God’s presence and power as the prophet Joel had stated many years before. Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32. In actuality, the Day of Pentecost was the beginning of Jesus Christ filling believers with power over the rim with Him.
You and I are God’s vessels that need to be filled with God’s presence and power on a daily basis. You and I need to be filled with His Divine love in order to be able to forgive, or express the Fruit of the Spirit which includes, patience, kindness, self-control, etc. (Galatians 5). You and I need to daily pray, “Fill me over the rim… with Him!”
The poster expressed it so well. There was a picture of a little girl who was looking up to heaven and saying, “Dear God, if I give all my love away…can I have a refill?” The little girl’s expression, was not one of doubting whether God would give a refill, but instead one of expectation.
Often, we don’t realize how much God wants to re-fill us with His love. We forget that He can. Or maybe we ignore that He really wants to. Perhaps we even doubt if He can really give us enough love for this new situation. Maybe we think that we have to be in church. Of course, in the past He has proven himself time and time again. We forget that and quickly become drained of energy. We go about living in our frustrations with family members, friends who have caused us hurt, or obnoxious fellow employees. We brood and breed a brooding attitude among those around us. All this time, all we have to do is to admit that we need to be filled over the rim with Him. We need the Fruit of the Spirit which can only come from the Holy Spirit anointing. All we have to do is expectantly request from God that He refill us with His presence and power.
I encourage you to pray not only for a refill, but an overflow. Don’t settle to be filled to the rim…with him. Pray that your life will be so filled with His love that it will splash over and onto those you meet. Just like on the day of Pentecost. Pray to be filled over the rim with Him!
SOMETHING TO DO
1) Do some reading about the Holy Spirit. Begin with Acts 1 and 2. Then find a book about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
2) Listen to a sermon or a podcast about the Holy Spirit.
3) Talk to someone who you know exhibits the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Ask how he/she stays filled over the rim with God’s presence and power.
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Fill my cup, Lord Jesus Christ, I lift it up for You to fill it. I need Your presence and power in my life in a fresh way every day. I do not just want my cup to be filled to the rim, but to be filled over the rim….with Him. AMEN!