Latest / The Daily Word / August 21 – What Are You Filling Your Cup With?
Transcript
- Cory Barnes: Well, hello and happy August twenty-first. Pastor Jenny here and we are in First John chapter two. And I'm gonna jump right in for us today, with verse fifteen. First John chapter two, verse fifteen says this do not love this world nor the things it offers you for when you love the world. You do not have the love of the Father. in you. I'm gonna keep reading, just gonna read this whole section. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away along with everything that people crave, but anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. This verse fifteen really stood out to me because I'm thinking about a cup. And if I'm at a restaurant and I'm like, hey, I'd love some Dr. Pepper, it's one of my go to's. I typically try to drink coffee or water at home, mostly water, but I'm gonna have a cup of coffee in the morning. But when I go to a restaurant, I do enjoy me a good Dr. Pepper. And so if I ask that waiter or waitress to bring me Dr. Pepper, and I go to take a sip and I go, This is Diet Coke. That would be extremely disappointing if and when they fill my cup up with Diet Coke. And so when I read this scripture, I kind of at first thought like, wow, this seems harsh. Do not love this world nor the things it offers you. That doesn't seem harsh. I think a lot of us are kind of familiar with that concept, but it's the back half that seems like, whoa. It says, For when you love the world, you do not have the love. of the father in you. That part seems like, whoa God, like where's the room for like a little grace or mercy? Like what about you know I mean we do live in this world, so is there any room here? because when it goes on to say you know I understand that it says the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure. A craving for everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. So does that mean if I have any pride in achievements, any pride in my possessions? if I enjoy any th physical pleasure, if does it mean if I enjoy any of these things, that the love of the father's not in me at all? Like at first glance it it can feel that way. But then Let's thinking on it a little bit more. This is why it's important when we're reading the scriptures to really not just like read it real fast and go like, whoa, that seems harsh, or whoa, you know, sometimes we can take it on the opposite end and be like, Wow, that seems so good. we can take some scriptures we really love instead of like really re you know, digging into them, studying them, looking at the original language. So, let took a deeper dive and said, Okay, Lord, what are you really saying here? So when we really take some time to unpack this first scripture and think, love loving the world it's when it says do not love this world, nor the things it offers you. For when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you, I thought, okay, I'm beginning to understand a little bit more. Because if I bring my cup and say, I want to fill it. with the things of this world instead of the things of God, instead of my if I say, Lord, fill me with what you have to offer, fill me with some Dr. Pepper God, and instead go to the world and say, Give me that Diet Coke, then my cup can't be filled with both. Listen, I do not like to mix two sodas together. Yuck, gross. That's disgusting. Now I know some kids like to do that. Mm, don't recommend. so for the sake of this illustration, let's keep our sodas independent and pure. But that's what the scripture's saying. We can't have both. We can't have it both ways. And so either you've got your pure diet coke or you got your pure Dr. Pepper. And so either you're focusing your attention on what the world has to offer you, or you're focusing your attention on what God has to offer you. And it says at the very end, it gives us the key, anyone who does what pleases God will live forever, meaning as we live a life wholly surrendered to the Lord in obedience, that's what's going to give us life and life everlasting. It's not the pursuit of the things of this world. but what I love about Jesus and giving our life to him, because the scripture tells us this too, that whoever would lose their life will actually gain it. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. God does give us good things. God does not withhold things from us. And so that's what I think is amazing about following Jesus. It's not that he even withholds things from us. But when we get caught up in trying to pursue f specifically, like what it's even showing, when we're when we're craving physical pleasure, when we're craving what we see when we have lust of the eyes, lust for anything, when we are, you know, seeking achievement, when we're seeking, we just gotta have then the stuff. And that the stuff being it could be the next thing. You know, I just can't wait to, you know, I'll be so much happier when I get a boyfriend, when I get a girlfriend, when I get married, when I get the house, when I get kids. It's always gonna be the next thing. Possessions is not always about an actual physical possession. Maybe it's just getting to that next phase in life. You're always looking to get the next thing. You're never satisfied. Our satisfaction has to come first and foremost from our relationship in Christ. God has given us everything we need to to live this life. So all that we need is found in him and we have more than enough to live, be and do what he's called us to. because as verse seventeen says, this world is fading away, along with everything that even we crave, which is interesting to me that it would say that. so those cravings and desires as we even lay those down, even those cravings and desires will pass. We can submit those wholly and fully to him. So, if you've learned anything today, maybe it's that I love Doctor Pepper. I don't know. But hopefully it's that you've recognized we can't love this world and love like and have God's love in us and that is something that we have to reconcile. And so Holy Spirit would you reveal and show us today are there any ways in which I'm allowing the love of this world, the love of things, to reside in my heart, in my mind? To consume me? Have I allowed any areas of my life to be hardened or to creep in? Would you would you soften me? Help me to see because I want your love to live in me and flow through me. So, God, we come before you and we open ourselves up. Would you purify and clean, cleanse us from the inside out? Would you remove Any lust of this world, any desires for the things of this world. And Lord, we replace that with a hunger and a thirst for you, so that Lord, your love can live in us and flow through us to the world around us. Lord, we want to know you and we want to be known by you. We want the world. To know that you love them. And Lord, it's through us having communion and relationship with you and your love living in us and through us that the world will know you more too. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.