Pour Out, Pour In, Pour Forth

What an amazing blessing the Beth Moore Bible Study is. I especially, especially love the video segments. I am ahead in my study workbook, but a little behind on the video portions. So I watched the second video session today, and WOW!
I would like to share my notes with you from what I learned and focused on this afternoon. Most of what I will write, is what Beth Moore said, verbatim. So, instead of quoting it and giving credit back to her every sentence or so, please just know that these are the words that she said.

As you know, the study is about being filled with the Holy Spirit. But did you know that in order to be completely filled with the Spirit, we need to do a lot of extra work on our part. Yes, the Spirit comes into us when we become Christians, but He can't fully overpower us and use us, unless we let Him. So, this is how we do it, ready? You should be, because boy, is this stuff so true and exciting.

First, you need to begin with Pouring Out, with confession. Yes, we know we are to confess our sins. But, this is more than just a two second, Lord, forgive me of my sins. That isn't going to cut it. Beth Moore explained how we need to Pour everything out of us. EVERYTHING.

Look at Psalm 62:8, "...Pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge."
This means you are to bear your soul. If it is something that concerns you, then it concerns Him. Pour out your most intimate details. Where have you blown it with your mouth, mind, actions? What makes you anxious, worrisome, fearful? What concerns you? What frustrates you? Has someone hurt you? Get it all out. It is key to get it ALL out!!! If you are struggling with a craving for anything, anything at all...a craving that isn't for Him, a craving that is in such an overabundance, then that is something unsatisfied within you. Then, you need to let God know, so that He can fill it up. This can be a number of things. It could be something that the flesh has been desiring that you know is bad, but it has such a hold on you. Maybe you feel like you aren't getting the love from your spouse you need. Whatever it is, God has to know, so that He can fill it for you. Tell Him where you feel empty.

Once you have poured forth your heart to Him, then you need to be sure to really realize that He has forgiven you. **1 John 1:9**
In fact, you need to actively accept that as truth. Speak it to Him. Acknowledge to Him that you know that He has forgiven you. If you don't do this, you may pour everything out, but still go on living the day like you are unforgiven. Living like that can lead you to feel guilt, constant guilt and it can become an idol, taking you away from being completely filled with the Spirit. "Rise up and walk." Don't live like an unforgiven person. Once you have poured out and accepted forgiveness, you are now seen as completely pure before Him.

Now, you need to allow God to pour in.
We want God to change the desires of our heart. We want God to be our delight. This is a process, but pray every morning, for God to be your delight, your satisfaction. Allowing God to change your desires will have a huge impact on your day to day living.
You could say to Him, "God, give me that desire, greatest love of my life, to want to know you, be with you, love you beyond anything else. I want to delight to do your will. Become my longing, God."

Ask Him to also invade your subconscious as well, to invade your dream life. Ask Him to fill every crevice of you. You want to be so filled that even if you have spontaneous decisions, even if you lose control, it is a Godly passion in which with you do it.
**Matthew 14:22-31** Look at how Peter just didn't even think, he just stepped out of the boat and began walking to Jesus. Those are the spur of the moment type decisions we want to be able to make. If we are going to be a fool, we may as well be a fool for Jesus instead of a fool for ourselves.

We have been created to be full, to be satisfied. That desire for that feeling of fullness is why so many of us possess so much. We put hope into the next relationship, the next purchase, the next meal. But it will all leave us unsatisfied. It will leave our hearts sick. Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
God is what fulfills us. His Spirit is what fulfills us. When we leave ourselves unsatisfied, when we go in search of the next thing we hope to have satisfy us, we put ourselves at a great risk. Ephesians 5:18 tells us that Few conditions place us at greater risk, than emptiness. We will start trying to feed our flesh with things we shouldn't. Whatever we feed will be what fills us. You can only eat up what you choose to feed on. Nothing that sin can give us is worth what it can take from us.
In Ephesians it says not to fill up on wine, but to be filled by the Spirit. Most people filling themselves with alcohol do it to feel differently. And what's ironic is what they are looking for is usually love, joy, PEACE....are you starting to see that what they are looking for is the fruit of the Spirit? That is why we should be filled with that instead.

Now that the Spirit has been poured in, you can now pour forth.
Look at 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ..."He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant." When you are filled with the Spirit, you can minister to the body of Christ and to the lost world. You don't have to be a student of theology, God will make you competent to do the ministering.

One of my favorite worship songs has lyrics that say, "Here I am once again, I pour out my heart for I know that you hear. Every cry you are listening, no matter what state my heart is in. You are faithful to answer....... I'm longing to pour out my heart...."
What's funny, well not funny, but anyway...I have sung this song to Him many times. I close my eyes in worship with my hands stretched up to Him and I sing these words. But honestly, I can only think of three times in my life where I have completely poured my heart out to Him. I am a talker and I love to tell everyone else in the world what is going on in the depths of my heart. But out of my 13 years of being a Christian, I have only poured it all out to Him three times. That's very sad!!! But I can say that the three times I did pour it out to Him, He listened, He filled and He fixed. But my goal now, is to pour it out every day, so that I can feel and know what it is to have the COMPLETE fullness of the Spirit. Let me encourage you to do the same. Oh, and try if you can to do it first thing in the morning, because it won't just change your life, it will change your day!