Filled With The Message
What are you so filled with that it spills out onto others?
Verse of the Day
‘Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.’
Today’s Devotional
What is the message of Christ? It is a message of love, forgiveness, salvation, grace and sacrifice. It is a message that upon hearing it and believing it, should fill up our minds and hearts to the point that it spills over into our actions. The word “fill” that is used here is the same word that was used in the Old Testament when the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and again after Solomon dedicated the temple. The presence of God was so all-consuming that the priests could no longer remain. So I ask myself, does the Gospel of Jesus fill me to the point that everything else is crowded out?
With this message of Jesus filling our lives, it should drive us into relationships with other believers. Those relationships should be edifying, encouraging, holding each other accountable, and always ready to listen and then point toward love and truth. Building these kinds of relationships is one of the actions we are to be driven to because of the call of Christ on our life.
The next action mentioned here is spontaneous praise and gratitude. There are no rules in how we are to sing out to God. There is no formula. God will accept a sincere song of praise from your heart, no matter the circumstance. The key is not any certain setting or formula, the key is the posture of our hearts. Does the sacrifice of Jesus drive me to my knees in praise? It should.
The last action listed in today’s verse is gratitude. God desires a thankful heart. Not just because he wants and deserves our gratitude, but because having a consistently grateful attitude is what is best for us. Look at this research from a secular source, psychologist Karen Young:
“The more grateful people are, the greater their overall well-being and life satisfaction. They’ll also have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, better sleep (and better waking). They’ll be more alert and more generous, compassionate, and happier. Grateful people also have a greater capacity for joy and positive emotions.
Gratitude is an acknowledgement that something meaningful has been done for us. It’s an open-hearted, deliberate recognition of the generosity of the giver.”
She mentions later in the study that consistency is key with gratitude. It’s not one-and-done. It’s a habit that must be cultivated until it becomes part of who you are. When that happens, the benefits are astounding and far reaching. So let’s be filled with the Gospel, driven to Godly relationships, full of praise and overflowing with gratitude. That’s what the message of Jesus should look like in our lives today.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Do you feel as though you are filled with the message of Jesus to the point that everything else is crowded out? What does or would that look like?
How can you build the kind of Godly relationships mentioned here?
How comfortable are you with spontaneous songs of praise?
Last, make it a goal to write a heartfelt gratitude list every day for a month. Are you willing? (This is a great way to start a practice of journaling if you are just beginning.)