Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice (Ephesians 4:31).
When prophet Elijah instructed the widow to bake a cake of bread for him, knowing that it was her and her only son’s last meal “that we may eat it, and die” (1 Kings 17:16), she obeyed.
Later, when prophet Elisha instructed the widow to “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere—empty vessels; do not gather just a few” (2 Kings 1-7), she obeyed.
In both scenarios, it required an emptiness of some kind—nothing left to prepare a meal or nothing in the “bank” to pay debts. That nothingness indicates “emptiness”. In their state as widows with children, all they had was a quiet trust in the Lord. The answers to their prayers were found in the prophets—true men of God who stood unshakable on the solid foundation of God’s word as spoken to them and delivered to the “empty-hearted”.
When your soul finds its way to God’s love, it yearns to know what that love is all about. That soul longs to be in the presence of the Lord, because, in His presence, there is abundance and fullness of joy. Living in abundance first begins at the soul level where the reasoning of the mind meets the emotion of the heart and they (mind and heart) agree with God to allow Him to take control over what is blocking the natural flow of abundance in your life.
Abundance is supposed to be a natural occurrence in the life of a Christian for Jesus affirmed that I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10b). But only an empty vessel can be filled. That vessel is your soul. What is it filled with? And how can it be emptied?
You may be experiencing hard financial times, or a sickness, or a fear of “tomorrow”. You may have lost a father or husband or child. You may be facing the mountain of rejection or severe adversity or persecution for clinging to living a life of righteousness. The list of tragedies and various ‘goliaths’ in the life of a Christian may challenge our faith in God, the Father, because we just cannot understand “why?”
However, through all life’s adversity, we all have a choice to make: Either to trust and obey the will of God for our lives as He refines us into the image and likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ; or to allow our hearts (our vessels) to become full of bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking. God cannot come into a heart with no space for Him to in-dwell.
Just as a law of physics says that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, in the same way, the Bible says that No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [ego or self] (Matthew 6:24). If you live to please the passions of your flesh which wills to serve its ego (the “I”, “me”, the selfish inclination), then you cannot be empty to allow God to fill up your life with His infinite abundance.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
NOW OPEN UP YOUR
EMPTIED HEART TO RECEIVE AND EXPERIENCE
THE GOODNESS OF
THE LORD IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING!
© 2021 by Patience Osei-Anyamesem.
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Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Take My Hand Inspirations
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