What are you absorbing? A sponge will absorb whatever it touches, and it will be overloaded with whatever it is immersed in! It will not stop until it is full or there is nothing left to soak up. If there is ANY moisture near it… it will draw that moisture into itself. When you look at it, the sponge seems to be very comfortable with the weight of so much wetness… that is until the slightest pressure is applied. Then it presents no resistance, hesitation or reservation in freely and liberally releasing whatever it’s been soaking in. Touch a full sponge and you will see its contents. Squeeze it and you will get wet with what it’s been filled with.
People are like that too. They may think they’re empty, but all day every day like a sponge they’re soaking and absorbing what they’re touching. It only takes the slightest of pressure to display what a person has been exposing themselves to. How they talk, what they look like and how they act when squeezed all serve to confirm what they’ve been soaking in. Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts, but bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. Your words show what has filled your heart. [Luke 6:45] Ephesians 5:18 explains that we can be filled (continuous tense) with the things of the world to the point where when we are pressured all that comes out is wickedness and selfishness ……. or we can be filled (continuous tense) with the Spirit of God to the point there when squeezed ALL THAT COMES OUT OF US IS JESUS!
Our reality is that LIFE IS A SOAK AND A SQUEEZE!
In this life nobody can control what will squeeze them, but each one can determine what will come out when they are squeezed. This is the testimony of the born-again life:-
‘I am FULL of God, and I will remain FULL. Squeeze me and you will find out! Therefore ‘other things’ cannot tempt me. Where would I put it?… I am already FULL. And because I am already FULL there is no lack, emptiness or want in me to fill! I’m full! This sponge is already satisfied! You see… I’ve submitted… yielded… surrendered… and given up all my emptiness to God so that He can keep me ever full. It was my choice to allowed all of heaven to fill all of me! This is my story… I’ve become a sponge for Jesus! And now that I am FULL… there is no room for anything else.’
The definition of FULL is quite simple: To contain as much as possible; to remain at that capacity and to have no empty space to spare. Something that is FULL has no room for anything else. If it had space for something else, then by definition, it cannot be called FULL. The bible teaches that a person cannot be half-full with God.
If you’re not FULL… you’re actually EMPTY!
Anything beyond full is called OVERFLOW! That means when we are continuously filled by God, we are not being topped up… we are at the point where what flows into us is what will flow out of us. Squeeze us and Jesus comes out! Look at us living in God’s OVERFLOW and you will see rivers of living water streams from our life! A Spirit-filled worshipper lives at the point where the SUPER of God is ALWAYS bigger than the natural of man. When Jesus said YOU MUST BE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT… He meant there should be so much of God in a believer that there can be no room left for anything else! Be filled with Him and let Jesus come out at the slightest ‘push in’ of the world.
This is an all or nothing situation. It’s the room or vacant space people leave for other things that cause them to breakdown… drift away… pollute their hearts and separate them from holiness. It is the other things they absorb that come out when they are pressed or challenged that reveal they’ve not been with God. That’s why it’s God’s desire that people not only be baptised on the outside with Him but also be filled on the inside with Him. This leaves no room for anything else to spoil or corrupt them.
You absorb what you touch… Worshipping God fills you with awe, wonder and thanksgiving!
When you want more faith than doubt… get around faith!
When you want more joy than depression… get around joy!
When you want more hope than despair… get around hope!
If you want more goodness, kindness and love than lack… get around God!
You absorb what you touch… take hold of the hem of His garment… and see His power fill you!
We are sponges… so be a sponge touching God!
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [Ephesians 3:14-19] T̳h̳i̳n̳k̳ ̳a̳b̳o̳u̳t̳ ̳t̳h̳a̳t̳ ̳f̳o̳r̳ ̳a̳ ̳m̳i̳n̳u̳t̳e̳:-- That means everything that flows out of your life and everything you do with your life should never be without THE PRESENCE OF GOD on it… over it… and out of it!
O God, you are my God, and I long for you. My whole being desires you; like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land, my soul is thirsty for you. [Psalm 63:1] You are a sponge...
💧but for who???
💧Who/What are you allowing yourself to be overcome by?
💧What is it you talk about MOST when you meet with friends or strangers?
💧Where is your water coming from? Is it heavenly living water or natural earthly water? [John 4:7-15]
My prayer for you today is that you would be a sponge for God that is ready to release Jesus whenever anything pushes against your life! May living waters flow like a mighty river from your deepest and innermost parts where the Holy Spirit lives! My hope is that you would soak up everything coming out Father’s heart and that you would be ready at any moment to release that fullness to your world.
May your day be ENCOUNTER filled and heaven rich. Soak Him up!!!
Devotion by Nico Smit
'JUST BE A SPONGE FOR GOD' Published on 4 July 2024. Find this and other publications on: nicosmitblog.com
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