I'm Full
Posted by Annette Burrell, March 7, 2023
Have you ever said the words “I’m full” after eating a meal? Most of us have—especially during a holiday. We see the meal spread out before us, and we have a hard time deciding what we want. So, we get a little bit of everything. Then, when someone asks if we’ve had enough, we hear ourselves say, “I’m full.” Or, better yet, “I’m stuffed.” God wants us to have that same delight in Him. He doesn’t want us to feast on just a few samplings of Him.
He wants us to experience all His fullness.
Just over ten years ago, I had a Holy Ghost moment. I was at a Christian concert, and through worship, testimonies, and the living Word, I felt the Holy Spirit descend upon me. I had received Him in my heart since the day of my salvation, but I had not made room for Him to abide there. Some months later, in Sunday School, other classmates were in a deep discussion of what the scriptures said about defending the gospel. The words were going right over my head. I hardly understood anything they were saying. I felt so out of place and embarrassed that I could not contribute to the discussion.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3:
Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
Ouch! That hurt, but it described me to a “T.” I may not have understood the physics being taught in the apologetics class, but I understood that I was a mere infant in Christ. Very soon after my realization that I was surviving on “spiritual milk”, I began to hunger for more. I enrolled in a Bible study and started my journey toward the fullness of God.
Jamie Adele Wood says in her Bible study, Flourish:
These Christians were acting and living just like the world and, therefore, could not understand or digest the spiritual riches of God’s Word.
In my case, I was chewing on bits and pieces of God’s word mixed in with what the world savors. I was missing out on the spiritual riches of God’s Word. The more I read and studied His word, the more I saw His love for me.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.
The first three verses of 1 Corinthians are often left out of sermons or teachings on God’s love, but I like to read them and reflect on where I once was. It’s not out of shame or regret as Satan would have me think. It’s a gentle reminder of where I could be again, if I reverted to my worldly ways. Milk does not fill me up, nor does it satisfy me anymore. I need meat.
My desire is for the fullness of God.
The fullness of God is the totality of everything God is.
The fullness of God is His complete nature. It is who God is, Jesus in the flesh.A deep dive into His attributes would help us to understand more of His fullness. That’s a challenge for us for another day.
Isaiah 61:10 says:
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Psalm 37:4 says:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
My delight is in the Lord today. I will feast on God’s word. I am satisfied. I will never be full. I will never be stuffed, though that is my desire; to be in God’s fullness.
How about you? Are you hungry for more of God? Do you long to be in the fullness of God? I know I do.
Blessings my sisters!
Annette Burrell is an author, speaker, and singer/songwriter. Through Annette’s years of being a public servant, and her devotion to studying the Bible, God has equipped her to lead women into His presence, and share with them how they can grow in Christ. Her passion is learning, sharing about the Heavenly realms, and God’s plan of protection for us as believers.