Filled with…

Aren’t we filled with joy this morning?

Aren’t we excited to tell others about what He has done for us?

Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!
Psalms 126:3 NLT
http://bible.com/116/psa.126.3.NLT

Hasn’t He done amazing things for you, too?

He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
Psalms 18:16-17 NLT
http://bible.com/116/psa.18.16-17.NLT

Can’t we see the difference in our lives?

Aren’t we filled with joy?

Don’t we remember the cords of death that once wrapped around our necks?

The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the Lord ; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.
Psalms 18:4-6 NLT
http://bible.com/116/psa.18.4-6.NLT

He has heard our cries and He has delivered us from death. We have so much to be grateful for.

For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:8-20 NLT
http://bible.com/116/eph.5.8-20.NLT

Or maybe everything that I’m talking about seems foreign and far away and unbelievable?

Maybe you are seeking,  but you have not yet found an answer to your persistent knocking at the door of the Lord?

Or maybe you are curious, but not so much as to actually seek the Lord with an open mind and surrendered heart?

My hope is that He will draw you closer,  friend. My hope is that you will know Him who loves you. He is not far away,  friend. Listen for His still,  quiet voice, and hear Him calling you. He does want you to come home. He does want you to wake up. He does want to draw you closer.

Come,  enter through the narrow gate,  and walk this narrow path with us – and sing His praises today of an abundant life, filled with His presence.

For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.
John 6:44 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.6.44.NLT

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.14.6.NLT

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8 NLT
http://bible.com/116/mat.7.7-8.NLT

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. ”
John 3:16-21 NLT
http://bible.com/116/jhn.3.16-21.NLT