Cleanse.Fill.Pour. -What does it mean?

Cleanse. Fill. Pour.


Is it a water purifying system? Is it a method of doing the dishes? Is it? Well...the answer is no. Cleanse. Fill. Pour. is a way of life. Honestly, I believe it is what we as believers in Christ are called to do-daily, hourly or for me sometimes moment by moment.


I just got back from Chicago and I need to cleanse! Here's the thought-we all as parts of the Body of Christ, are all vessels of some sort. Vessels that the Lord has ordained to use (Ephesians 2:10 and 2 Timothy 2:20) What kind of vessels does He want to use? Cleansed. Clean. Holy. Not rocket science but you know what? We live in a "dirty" world...and I'm all flesh and blood. After my tense drive back and forth to O'hare and hours of waiting and roaming in a crazy airport. After a rather crabby security guy, I'm rather stinky...spiritually speaking. Annoyed would be another word. So, what do I do? I need to cleanse.


What I mean is: I need to acknowledge how stinky and sinful I really am. So that I can be clean. Cleansed. Why?...because we are all Pouring. For crying out loud, I'm a mother! What else do we do? Even if you are not a mother...as women, we are always pouring out, into something. Well, when we are dirty vessels, no matter what we fill up with...we pour out dirt with the pouring. Get the thought? Cleansing is a really, really important part of the process.


Filling is important too. What is the easiest thing for you to fill with when you are empty? Me? Definitely a good snack! Just kidding, although that may be true on a particularly crazy day (by the way, I did pass up the pretzel store at the airport!) What I do NEED is to be filled up with the Lord, His Spirit, filled with His Word....Filled with faith. So what do you fill with? Are you filled with what comes naturally, things like the stuff of life or busyness or fear? Or do you consider that you need to be filled with Him and His Word? Filled with the Spirit? (Ephesians 5:18)


Finally, the pour. I absolutely love how the Apostle Paul looks at his life of pouring. He poured out to others, yet he understood that his pouring was not about Him. It was about the One Who poured out first. Jesus. Check out Philippians 2:1-17 and connect the thoughts of Paul's exhortation. Verse 17, "but even if I am poured out as a drink offering". The "drink offering" is hardly even mentioned in the Old Testament...if I could simply sum it up, it was almost like a afterthought. (OK, nothing is an afterthought to God but it certainly wasn't a "big" offering) Anyway, Paul likens his service- his pouring out to other people's faith, he calls it a "drink offering" - an afterthought. WOW. That is some kind of perspective...from the Apostle Paul! I think he understood, it wasn't about him. It was all about HIM. Jesus.


Cleanse. Fill. Pour. a way of life for the disciple of Christ. What are you pouring your life into? Me? Honestly, at a good moment...Him and then I'm overwhelmed by life again. But I'm learning the cycle...cleanse early and often with Him and others...fill, not just in morning devotions but all day... and pour. Pour out to Him for His glory, what He has cleansed and filled me up with. It's all about Him and He has a work to do in you and in me.