Our cups

What’s in your cup?  If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then God has ordained that you are now the temple of the Holy Spirit; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple is holy, which temple are you?”

So what is holiness? Is your cup continually being re-filled with the Holy Spirit or is your vessel being filled with the things of the world? Being “holy” simply means “being set apart for only God’s use”. An example of this would be the temple service ware consisting of bowls, cups and utensils. These cups, if you will, were only to be used in and for the service of God in the temple by the temple priests. They were not to be used for common use by anyone and so they are “set apart” for only God’s use.

The fact is that all of us fill our cups with all manner of filth. While we are suppose to be “set apart” for only God’s use we tend to give our enemy much too much room in our cups. Instead of being in a state of holiness, we tend to defile our cups with the dirt of the world. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, God commands us “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

Have you been quenching the potentially powerful work of the Holy Spirit in your life? In Acts 2:1-4, we watch as God fills the apostles with His Holy Spirit. In fact, they spoke in other languages that they did not already know so that everyone present was able to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ in their own language. The eye witnesses describe this event, “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, of fire, and one sat upon each of them.” Acts 2:3. So are you on fire for God or have you quenched the fire that He put inside of you? 

Let me ask you again, so what are you filling your cup with? We make choices every minute of every day. The choices we make can either be Godly choices or ungodly. As we pour sin into our lives, God warns us that we can grieve The Holy Spirit living inside of us. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30. What you fill your cup with will have a direct influence on whether or not you will be “set apart” for God’s use, whether or not God will act upon your petitions or even accept your sacrifices.

Keep in mind that I am not talking about a believer’s position or salvation regarding eternity. Jesus Christ has redeemed us by paying our sin debt, past, present and future, when He died on a cross over 2000 years ago; nothing can change that. What I am talking about is the present condition of the contents in our cups. God so desperately wants to help us. He wants us to choose to fill our cups with blessing, to choose to set our cups apart for only His use.

David wrote in the 23^rd psalm “You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” Oil is symbolic of the presence of the Holy Spirit and here we have David proclaiming that his cup was filled to overflowing by God. 

We were all once cracked cisterns full of sin and incapable of holding water, but now, Jesus has healed us and we are capable of being filled with the Holy Spirit if we so desire. If we make godly choices as often as we can, our cups are available to be re-filled with God’s goodness and mercy. 

Surrendering our will to God is the first step towards empting our cups. As we continue to yield to Him He is able to fill the new room we have made in our hearts. Soon the Holy Spirit’s presence becomes a strong influence on our lives that helps guide us through the muck and mire of this world.

God only wants the very best for us. He desires our entire heart, soul and mind. The bible states that we are more than conquers when we are being led by Jesus Christ. The old things have passed away and we become new creatures in Christ. Let us live in Christ to our full potential by allowing the Holy Spirit to rule in our lives. This exciting journey can only begin as we choose to empty our cups and be filled by His Holy Spirit.