How Is Your Cup?

We all know Psalm 23. It’s usually quoted at funerals.

I memorized this Psalm from the King James Version when I was younger (that was the only version available to me at the time), and in that version verse 5 states, “My cup runneth over.” I used to think this was a bad thing. I thought that it meant you had too much and you were wasting it.

That’s not what it means, though. It’s talking about how God takes care of us and gives us so much goodness and mercy that our cup overflows.

What It Refers To

One commentary I read (it came with the Blue Letter Bible I downloaded to my android phone for free from the Google Play Store) talks about how Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38, NASB)

Living Water

Christ is that living water. If we ask Him to be our Saviour, He will give us that water. And, we want to fill our lives with so much of Christ, that He overflows from us. We want that water to spill over so that it is available for others, so that we can freely give to others what Christ has given to us.

Being in daily communion with God – reading the Bible, praying, devotions, etc. – will help to fill our cups.  Fellowship with other Christians will also help fill our cups.

Caution

But, I want to add a word of caution: don’t let your cup run empty. That’s what will happen if we don’t spend time with God. It will also happen if we don’t take care of ourselves, and if we avoid fellowshipping.

I know, from my own experiences, that when I don’t spend needed time with the Lord, when I work too much and don’t get enough rest, not much flows from my cup. It also happens when I give to much of myself and I don’t take needed “me time.” When this has happened, I have had times when my cup has been bone dry!

It’s not a good feeling.

And I’m certainly not able to be productive for the kingdom.

It’s important to take care of all aspects of our lives – physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. One really does affect the other.

Encouragement

My friends, let me encourage you to make sure you are taking good care of yourself. Make sure to eat properly, get some exercise (something I know I need to do more of myself), take care of your mental and emotional health. And definitely make sure to spend time with the Lord.

Make sure you are being poured into, so that your cup will overflow for others; so that the streams of Living Water spill over from your life.

It’s Not Really A Guest Post Per Se…

I have a post over on the website for Apple Blossom Ministries! It’s called, “5 Steps to Help Study the Bible.”  I’d love for you to visit there.

I’d also love for you to come back and let me know how you study the Bible. Do you have any steps to add? What are you currently studying?

The Armour of God – Part 4

16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:16-17, NASB)

Shield of Faith

These last three items complete our armour: the shield, the helmet, and the sword.

When I think of shields, I tend to think of something like what is used in the Captain America movies – small round shields. In the case of the Roman soldiers, they were not small and round. They were long enough to hide behind. They were doused in water to help extinguish the firy arrows that would be shot from their enemies. When a row, or group, of soldiers held their shields in front of them, they were blocked from the attacks.

I remember one of my professors in university talking about one type of formation they would use. It seems to me he called it a turtle – or something like that. He said that the soldiers on the outside of the formation would hold their shields so as to protect the group, and those in the middle would hold their shields overhead, providing shelter from arrows or whatever was being used to attack them.

The shield is protection, and keeps us safe from the enemy’s blows. And, this verse says that you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one – that should be comforting to know, that we can (with our armour) do this! We aren’t doing this using our own power, but with God’s help. He has provided us with what we need for the battle.

Helmet of Salvation

The helmet protected the head, and most of the face. Our head is important because it houses our brain. This piece of protection in the Armour of God is used to protect our thoughts and thinking.

All too often, if we aren’t focused on Jesus, our thoughts can

 be easily led astray and we think about things that we shouldn’t – whether we think bad thoughts of others, improper images, or we conjure up ways to get back at someone else. We need to train our minds to not go there, to not think of such things. Having the helmet on will protect us from when the enemy whispers those bad and negative thoughts to us.

Sword of the Spirit

Of course, our sword is the Word of God – the Bible! We use scripture to stand up to the enemy, to lean on, to find strength in, and to reflect on the promises of God.

When Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness, Satan came along to tempt Him. Satan knows scripture too, so it’s not just a matter of being able to quote it, but using it as a weapon. When Satan tried to tempt Jesus, he quoted Scripture, but the thing is, Jesus (obviously) also knew scripture too, and He used that to counteract the enemy.

That’s what we need to do as well.

Don’t just simply memorize verses from the Bible to be able to quote or to appear knowledgeable or smart because you know so many of them. Use them in your battle. Find scripture that can fit with whatever situation you are going through and when the enemy attacks you in your weakness, fire back at him with the Word. Use your sword!

Praying these items

When I am praying on my armour, and I get to these items, I say something like, “Father, I put on my shield of faith. Help me to use it to extinguish the firy arrows and darts the enemy flings at me. I put on my helmet of salvation to help protect my thoughts. Help me to think about Godly things and not to be negative in my thinking. Help me use the helmet to protect me from the listening to the lies of the enemy. Lord, I take up the sword of the Spirit, which is your word. Help me to memorize your word and use it in battle.”

As I’ve said before, there is no magic formula to pray on the armour, but we do need to make sure to put it on daily. If we are doing God’s work, Kingdom work, then we are going to be attacked. Satan wants to keep us down and he’ll stop at nothing to do so.

My friends, I encourage you not to give up if you are going through a spiritual battle. Put on your armour and remember that you have it on (even if it means praying it on several times a day as a reminder). You are protected, you are doing good work. Lean on others through those rough times, but most importantly, lean on God.

See the other posts in this series:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Ah, I See You’re Back!

I have been on vacation with my family for the last week. It’s been a much needed time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation.

Recently, I submitted a piece for the True Wellness Project, a part of the Well Christian Women blog, and while I was away, my article was published on their site.

I’d love for you to read my submission and then come back and leave your thoughts on what you read in the comment section here.