Is there really a half full and a half empty? I understand the whole pessimist and optimist mindset, and how our outlooks on things vary, and they do; but pessimism and optimism are both choices. But that's not really the goal of this entry, though.
Ask yourself this question; are you full? Are you empty? I've been studying the book of Acts, and I came across chapter 6 and verse 5, which reads, "And they chose Stephen, a man FULL of faith and of the Holy Ghost..." Then I noticed verse 8, "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." I began to think of some things by now, and I began to search for another verse with the same connotation and came across verse 55 of chapter 7, "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." I think you know the keyword in all of these. I got to thinking, I like looking down at gas gauge and seeing it on F versus E! I like coming out of a restaurant full, as opposed to coming outside and saying, Where are we going to eat next? I like the word full! In this passage, the word full describes a man by the name of Stephen. We don't know much about Stephen, but we do know that he was full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, full of power, and full of good works. Now if we compare him to another man in scripture, it will astound us! As I searched for other men that were full, I came across a man, who, if we lived next door to him, we might peep our head out and envy a little, as the Bible described this man as being full of just about any physical possession you could get your hand on. He describes his life in this way in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 2, "I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Here was a man full of earthly possessions...but at the end of his life he says this, "It was all vanity. Now the word vanity means nothing. In essence, Saul was full, but he was also empty.
The first thing that I began to ponder as I looked at the lives of these two men, Stephen and Solomon, was that Full indicates Empty! Now there's an interesting oxymoron. There's a lot more truth than meets the eye to that statement. Now, as I write this, I know that YOUR gas tank is full. You may be thinking, No it's not! I'm telling you right now, it is full! It is either full of gas or full of air. Because the gas tank can't be full of gas and full of air at the same time. Now I want you to stay with me. I want you to apply this idea to what the Bible says about Stephen being full of faith. If Stephen was full of faith, that means he was empty of doubt. Do you see what I'm getting at? You can either be full of faith, or full of doubt. So as you start your Tuesday, or whatever day it was that you read this, let the Holy Spirit be your fuel gauge. Let the Holy Spirit determine whether you need to be filled or not. I conclude with this; life is not a sprint...it's a MARATHON, and if we try to run this race full of doubt and empty of faith, we will never reach the finish line.
Is there really a half full and a half empty? I understand the whole pessimist and optimist mindset, and how our outlooks on things vary, and they do; but pessimism and optimism are both choices. But that's not really the goal of this entry, though.
Ask yourself this question; are you full? Are you empty? I've been studying the book of Acts, and I came across chapter 6 and verse 5, which reads, "And they chose Stephen, a man FULL of faith and of the Holy Ghost..." Then I noticed verse 8, "And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people." I began to think of some things by now, and I began to search for another verse with the same connotation and came across verse 55 of chapter 7, "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." I think you know the keyword in all of these. I got to thinking, I like looking down at gas gauge and seeing it on F versus E! I like coming out of a restaurant full, as opposed to coming outside and saying, Where are we going to eat next? I like the word full! In this passage, the word full describes a man by the name of Stephen. We don't know much about Stephen, but we do know that he was full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit, full of power, and full of good works. Now if we compare him to another man in scripture, it will astound us! As I searched for other men that were full, I came across a man, who, if we lived next door to him, we might peep our head out and envy a little, as the Bible described this man as being full of just about any physical possession you could get your hand on. He describes his life in this way in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 2, "I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." Here was a man full of earthly possessions...but at the end of his life he says this, "It was all vanity. Now the word vanity means nothing. In essence, Saul was full, but he was also empty.
The first thing that I began to ponder as I looked at the lives of these two men, Stephen and Solomon, was that Full indicates Empty! Now there's an interesting oxymoron. There's a lot more truth than meets the eye to that statement. Now, as I write this, I know that YOUR gas tank is full. You may be thinking, No it's not! I'm telling you right now, it is full! It is either full of gas or full of air. Because the gas tank can't be full of gas and full of air at the same time. Now I want you to stay with me. I want you to apply this idea to what the Bible says about Stephen being full of faith. If Stephen was full of faith, that means he was empty of doubt. Do you see what I'm getting at? You can either be full of faith, or full of doubt. So as you start your Tuesday, or whatever day it was that you read this, let the Holy Spirit be your fuel gauge. Let the Holy Spirit determine whether you need to be filled or not. I conclude with this; life is not a sprint...it's a MARATHON, and if we try to run this race full of doubt and empty of faith, we will never reach the finish line.