If you've never been to this meeting, you should ask to be put on their emailing list. We have a good time!
There was a great group of ladies from my home church that was there, but a few didn't get to make it. So I told them I would post my notes here at Thimble Thoughts.
The theme for the meeting this year was All Filled Up. We heard wonderful lessons from Angie Buff, a very sweet lady from there at Cornerstone, Mrs. Cindy Owen, who never fails to deliver lots of laughter and good food for thought from the Word, and Mrs. Frances Simpson, the Pastor's wife of Brother Ronnie Simpson of Bright Light Baptist in Concord, NC.
Mrs. Dana and the ladies at Cornerstone worked tirelessly on this meeting. They do every year. It was very much a blessing, and very much needed!
Since the theme was All Filled Up, I chose to do an acrostic on the word full. F-U-L-L.
Luke 5 says that when Jesus told Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his NETS for a draught, Simon was not faithful...or FULL OF FAITH. He said in verse 5, "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing; NEVERTHELESS at thy word, I will let down the net."
We see here that Simon is of little faith because Jesus told him to let down the NETS (plural). But Simon only let down the NET (singular). You know the rest of the story...There were so many fish they broke the net! And that's when it happened for Simon Peter. He realized his little faith and he dropped to his knees and cried, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
When I read those words, the Holy Ghost began to squeeze my heart to tears because I was not faithful...or full of faith...during that time when my mother was in the terrible facility she was in and I could not understand why He wasn't getting her out of there. But He sent conviction on me when I read this passage. It was a sin for me not to trust my God. The God of Heaven and earth. The God who created the sun, moon, and stars.
Was moving my mother such a difficult task for Him? No. But my lack of faith in Him sure did get in His way. Are you faithful...or full of faith...in the very God that holds your breath in His hands?
U--ULTRAPOWERFUL. That's right. Full of Power! There's really only one way to be ULTRApowerful and that is to be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost! When you are filled with Him, you have the power to overcome and face the trials and tribulations that Satan throws your way.
Where does spiritual power come from? I can tell you where it doesn't come from. It doesn't come from the world. And it certainly doesn't come from unbelief and lack of faith. As a matter of fact, it's the exact opposite. In order to be ULTRApowerful, we must believe in the One who fills us with His power.
John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them gave He POWER to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name!" Once we believe and become that child of God, Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive POWER, after that the HOLY GHOST is come upon you:" With that kind of power, you can pray a marriage back together, a wayward child home, an overdue bill paid, the devil off your Pastor's family and your mother out of a terrible nursing facility!
Not only do you have the power of prayer, but you also have the power of praise!
Remember Paul and Silas? They were bound in prison when they began singing praises to the LORD. God turned their situation around because of those praises. The prison guard was about to kill himself, thinking Paul and Silas had fled, but realizing they were still there, he fell down on his knees and got saved!
There is POWER in praise. Are you ULTRApowerful? Being ultrapowerful means you can overcome adversity and face the trials that meet you and greet you on a daily basis. But you will never overcome anything unless you are filled with the power of the HOLY GHOST. And in order to be filled with that power, you must accept Christ as your Savior.
L -- Ladleful. When I think of a ladle, I always picture Charles Ingles standing at the saw mill sipping from a ladle at the water bucket. When I think of a ladle, I also think of a cup. I Corinthians 10:21 says, "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils." What is filling your ladle? Are you drinking of the fountain that never runs dry? Is your ladle filled with that sweet, refreshing water that only comes from God? Or is your ladle filled with the pond scum of the world?
The woman of Samaria took her water pot to the well that day. Both she and her pot were dry on the inside. But the Bible says when she left there to tell others what had happened to her, she left her water pot. Because who needs the water pot when you can walk away with the well?
How powerful you are in the Lord depends on what your ladle is filled up with. Do you have a ladle full of things of the Lord? Or are you dry on the inside from things of the world? Are you taking a ladleful of Christ everywhere you go? Or are you dry inside and continually seeking the things the world can never offer you. Like peace, love, joy, forgiveness?
"Fill my cup, Lord, I life it up, Lord, come and quench this thirsting of my soul, Bread of Heaven, feed me 'til I want no more, fill my cup, fill it up, and make me whole."
L -- Lifeful. I thought this was a made up word, but it's not. It really is a word. And simply means full of life.
Are you full of life? Are you full of ETERNAL life? If you're not saved, you're not full of eternal life. You're full of death. See, for the sinner, eternal death brings judgment, it brings punishment, destruction, contempt...an eternal, fiery Hell.
But for those who are saved, we are full of life, ETERNAL life! John 3:15 says, "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
With that, comes redemption, reward, joy, purpose, inheritance to everything Heaven holds for the believer, and best of all, salvation from an eternal, fiery Hell.
Are you full of life today? Have you given your heart to Christ? We're not promised tomorrow, or even the next five seconds.
All of these things tie together. In order to have eternal life, we must have faith in the One who gives it to us. When we have faith in Christ, we become ULTRApowerful to overcome the things of the world and the adversities we face in life. And when that happens, we are filled up to overflowing with a ladleful of Christ to pour out onto others who need Him.
Are you FAITHFUL, enough for Him to hold your heart and see your from this life to the next?
Are you ULTRAPOWERFUL, being filled with things of the Holy Spirit?
Do you have a LADLEFUL of Christ, overflowing within you?
Do you have a LIFEFUL of eternity inside of you?
