Filling the Void

November 8, 2017

William and I were having the conversation in the car yesterday about things that have taken place since the Empowered production ended.

It is wonderful when your children get old enough and their faith is strong enough that you can have good discussions with them about Christ.

We were both kind of lamenting the fact that the production was over. We spent several months basically doing an in-depth study on the Holy Spirit and the book of Acts. That last week of production was filled with encouragement, prayer, Bible reading, worship music, and allowing the Holy Spirit work in us and through us on the stage. It was one of the most exciting and powerful things I have ever done.

That was the mountaintop.

Now it is over, and the danger is to fall back into some old habits that I had before the production. To forget the things that the Lord taught me. To not walk in the power of the Holy Spirit that I know lives in and can do amazing things in my life and touch others. I do not want to stop walking in that power, but I feel a lot of spiritual battles going on in my life since the production ended.

William expressed the same thing. It is almost like we are under attack to forget all the things that he has taught us in the past few months and discourage us. I feel all the old feelings of inferiority and the fear of man rising to my mind again. I don’t want to ever go back to the way I was before Empowered. I have tasted what it is like to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and to let that power overflow to touch those around me. I don’t want to take the glasses off and have everything lose focus and go blurry again.

So that is what William and I were talking about in the car. How do we continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit? What can we do against the attacks of Satan to discourage us and cause us to not take what we learned during Empowered and walk in it?

I have been thinking about this ever since Empowered ended and I think that the Lord has given me a clear answer. I told William that what happened is there is a void that is left from the encouragement, scripture, prayer, and worship that we did during Empowered. The temptation is to fill that void with things that do not help grow my walk with Jesus. So, what do we do to fill that void?

First, we read the scripture. Not just read it but immerse ourselves in it. Study it. Look up words and commentaries. Devour it and desire it more and more. Read the gospels, especially, to learn about Jesus.

Second, prayer. Not just at meals. Not just when troubles come. It should be a way of life. Something that we are doing every minute of every day. To pray for people when the Lord puts them in our heart. To put forth a real effort to have a vibrant prayer life. For me, that means getting up early and getting in my prayer room. I need to use my prayer journal and write. Writing out my prayers is what is key for me to have a consistent communication time with God. For others, it may look entirely different.

Third, fellowship with others. I need people in my life who have gone through things that I have gone through. People who are going to love me and encourage me. That is so important. We were never meant to live this life alone. Titus 2 commands us to seek out others who are going to train us and teach us and then to take that information and help others.

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. ² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ³ Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. ⁶ Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, ⁸ and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”

The fourth thing is what God has been working on my heart this week. I seem to be seeing it everywhere. It may just be because it is the month of November.

THANKSGIVING

This month is a great month to be focusing on being thankful. There are all kinds of devotionals going on this month and bible studies. I am working through the one with Revive Our Heart 30 day gratitude challenge. I started reading it to the kids today. The Lord has just revealed to me that gratitude and living a life full of thankfulness is a necessary part of walking a vibrant walk with Christ. There are so many verses that talk about living a life full of thankfulness. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is Colossians 3.

¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

I love this passage. It commands us to be thankful and to give thanks to God. We need to live a life that exudes gratitude.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” What a passage. We cannot neglect the fact the God wants us to cultivate gratitude and thankfulness in our lives.

Psalm 9:1-2 says,

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

That has been the missing ingredient for me these past few weeks. I think for a while. I took part in the one thousand gifts challenge twice now and I loved it. I don’t remember why I stopped. I want to start again. I told William that I want to come up with 250 things I am thankful for these next few days while he is gone. I asked him to do the same. It is so important to do this. It is vital.

So, this week and hopefully this whole month I am going to be focusing on cultivating a heart of gratitude. I hope to fill the void from Empowered and being a part of a cast that is encouraging and praying for one another will be filled with scripture, prayer, fellowship, and thanksgiving. Because it will be filled and I want to make sure that the void is filled with things that are going to help me grow closer to the Lord, not further away.