Emptying the Cup: Making Room for What Matters
A practical Christian study of “Emptying the Cup: Making Room for What Matters,” with clear application for faith, relationships, and everyday life.
Emptying The Cup
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The principle
There is a great peace and an abiding joy in knowing that we are carrying out the good deeds for which God has saved us. We are working through personal issues, trying to get better, so that our Lord can will and work in us to his good pleasure.
And so as we get here to the end of 2020, it's mid-December, as this episode releases, we only have a few left before the calendar turns over.
The deeper lesson
But let me ask you this how are you going to be filled up with all of those great things for God if there is something else taking up space in the cup? Or in the case of the Christian, if there is someone else in the middle, someone else where God should be.
The snowman in the coffee mug illustration is not totally unlike the imagery that Jesus used in Matthew chapter 23 when he was talking about the Pharisees.
What it changes
What if for just a moment I took the snowman out of the cup, I just removed all of these carnal feelings, and God, if he were to absolutely take over my body, I'm not saying that he does this, I'm saying if he did, you became a vessel controlled by him, and he looked at this same situation, he was in this exact conversation, he was dealing with this exact same trial, except with a complete measure of the Spirit's fruit. At that point, I can put myself right back in the situation faced with the temptation or struggle, and I will know exactly what to do.
When my spouse and I get into this argument, when I'm tempted towards this immorality, when I'm stuck in traffic, I don't know what I'm going to do.
Live it today
Whether we're talking about sexual lust, immorality, fornication, adultery, or maybe even things like jealousy and envy, youthful lusts are self-serving pursuits that are not of God, and all they do is answer the immature calls of our flesh. What if the next time that started to creep in, I stopped and said, wait a minute, that's about me and not the spiritual me.
And here I am trying to fill myself up with God through prayer and worship and Bible study, but I am allowing myself to dwell in the middle of this cup with all of my fleshly desires.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where do I see the problem or opportunity described in “Emptying the Cup: Making Room for What Matters” in my own life?
- 02What Scripture or spiritual principle in this study most needs my attention?
- 03What one specific change can I make this week to put this teaching into practice?
Prefer listening?
The original episode player is available near the top of this article, so you can listen without leaving the page.