Fullness can be a difficult feeling to describe. Is there a difference between being full and being satisfied? Perhaps, such a question is worth consideration for the time we are living in where satisfaction has been easy to come by and fullness has; at times, been even easier to achieve. Society developed an adept ability at inundating humanity with a smorgasbord of distraction. Creating satisfied people is not the goal of the world, rather it is filling an individual up with corruptible things that will perish and have no worth in eternity. We have been filled with ambitions, we have been filled with motivation, we have been filled with desire, we have been filled with entertainment, but often these cravings are not spiritual; rather, they are ambitions for more wealth, they are motivations for prestige, they are desires rooted in individualism, and entertainment focused on fallen proclivities over finding time to host the presence of God. In a sense, one can become satisfied with the presence of God in their lives on Sunday and strive during the week to be filled with the smorgasbord of “gray areas” in their lives throughout the week. However, in our current circumstance it has become apparent that “gray areas” have no power to help a person stand. Sure, a few weeks ago maybe your “go-to” coping skill was Netflix, YouTube, or a videogame, but where is their power to fill you up now? Looking back in this way can help us understand what meaningless things were at work populating our lives with distraction. However, now is a perfect opportunity to turn our attention away from being filled with powerless things and become more than satisfied in the Spirit by seeking to be filled to the brim and running over. We see a power inherent in being more than half full when Jesus entered the wilderness in the Gospel of Luke.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Luke 4:1

The question to ask oneself in this verse is if one can be truly led by the Spirit in the wilderness when one enters it without being full of the Holy Ghost. Consider how important guidance by the Holy Spirit is. The Spirit guided Paul who was shipwrecked, stoned, and hungered. Was Paul’s life full of hardship? Yes. Was Paul’s life blessed? Yes. Did the Holy Ghost change the definition of what it means to live? Yes. Jesus and Paul exemplified Matthew 16:25

For whosever will save his life shall lose it: and whosever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Laying down one’s life for the sake of Jesus is how Paul both died and lived. Today we will hear a similar call during the tragedy surrounding the current state of the world: Will you lose your life to save it, or will you save your life to lose it? Without being full of the Holy Ghost you will not have direction in how to lose your life for the sake of Jesus because the carnality and wickedness of the heart will always lean into self-preservation. This is not to say we should abandon being our brother’s keeper by spreading illness, but it is to say, that an excuse of powerlessness will be just fine for the flesh to lead you into selfish living. However, today is a day where God desires us to be led of the Spirit in the wilderness not to save our lives, but to lose them (in selflessness) that we might truly live. When you are full of the Spirit, God will lead you into wilderness places where you will experience the transformation of leaving behind satisfaction and entering a fullness with God where life eternal has filled your being.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:4-5

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness Matthew 6:21-23

The question is are you looking for comfort today in distractions and medical breakthroughs in the world, or is your eye being directed by the Holy Ghost to a wilderness where God will change you? If you are full of the Holy Ghost, God will show you how to surrender your life in order to find life that is the light of men. When you are full of this light, this Holy Ghost, your eye will be single in vision and directed by the Spirit in the wilderness place.  Darkness and light are not equal in power; rather darkness is simply the absence of light. Darkness is so much different than light it cannot comprehend it. A comparison would be if a candle were lit in a hurricane. The winds could blow all they want, but light is so different from darkness the winds will never be able to make the candle flicker. When you are full of the Holy Ghost darkness will try to stone you, it will try to make you feel starved, it will try to make you feel shipwrecked with no hope of rescue, but you will arise, you will be filled by the Word of God, and you will know where your help comes form. Today we are in a wilderness situation, but we are not without hope, it’s time to pray like the next second is the moment we will meet him in the air. We need to take inventory of what can be sacrificed, we need to evaluate what we have been giving to the kingdom of God. We need to consider our relationship with God and how long it’s been since we actually experienced change. If you are not changing you’re not walking in the wilderness and that’s the place God wants to lead you through, but you have to be full of the Holy Ghost. So, today, let’s get full of the Spirit. Let’s remember the outpouring in the upper room and the birth of the church. Let’s be Apostolic and remind ourselves that living in the Spirit was never about saving our own lives/soul, but about surrendering it to the God who loved us enough to die on a cross for our sins. Let a renewed call to repentance and consecration arise so the wilderness will be a place where your life will not be lost, but rather be given for the hope of truly experiencing the life that is the light of men. Be full today.

by: Bro. Blake Byers