Many a time we find ourselves full of anxiety, worry and confusion. We feel so full of our own issues in life that we find our hearts burdened and it becomes difficult for us to connect with the Holy Spirit.
But the Lord teaches us a simple method in Psalm 23 on how to empty ourselves and allow the Lord to fill us.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.
I wrote out the entire Psalm because my first point is about seeking the Word of God, for God’s Word always has the final say in our lives, not the world.
And secondly, let’s look at the second part of Verse 5:
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Now wait a minute, weren’t we just talking about emptying our cups before the Lord? How then can it run over?
The cup in this Scripture can refer to many things from our finances, to our health, relationships, and even personal capacities.
But the perspective I want to share with you today is about our hearts.
.
Only when we have emptied our cups, our hearts before the Lord, can he;
1. Anoint us with OIL
This is the fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. John 14:17 tells us that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in us.
But for many people, the Holy Spirit is only with them, because when you are filled with so many things that are of the flesh (including worry) the Holy Spirit cannot be in you, because He is as gentle as a dove, and cannot dwell in anything that is unclean or disturbed.
Pouring ourselves out to God allows the Holy Spirit to pour Himself into us.
2. Our heart overflows with the Holy Spirit
John 7:38
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
After emptying ourselves, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit’s anointing. This is the part where the Spirit doesn’t just dwell with us, but also in us.
And this requires time, as the Lord needs to work in our hearts, in our personalities, our characters, our lives. Only as we start to decrease and Jesus starts to increase (John 3:30) will we become more like Him, and be filled with a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit just like Jesus was when He was on the earth.
The more the Holy Spirit pours Himself into us, the more we manifest His Presence in our lives.
I pray that as you continue to seek the Lord in Prayer, in the Word, and in Worship, may you find rest in the Holy Spirit’s comfort, and grow stronger each day in His Grace.
