What Fills My Cup?

What Fills My Cup?

Scripture: Matthew 12:34-37; Ephesians 3:16-19; Colossians 1:9-10

Good morning, Strangers Rest. Jesus said in Matthew 12:34-37, “(34) Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (36) But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Since I have been here I have had the opportunity to get to know some of you more than others. One such person that I have grown to know is Sis. Norma Dickinson. I began getting to know her when I visited her in the hospital. It was during those visits that I learned more about her faith, her love for Christ and her joy. No matter how bad she felt, when we sat there talking she would at some point start smiling and laughing – even when she was in pain. Once when she was in the emergency room she asked me to leave because her laughter was increasing her pain. I am mentioning this because all of us have heard Sis. Norma says, “I am so full!” When she says this she is often a little emotional as she tries to contain what is trying to spill out from her. We heard her say this as recently as last Sunday when she introduced the guest speaker. “I am so full…” I asked Sis. Norma what she meant when she made the statement because I wanted to be certain before I spoke about it in this message. She told me that when she says this she is so incredibly happy – happy to the point of wanting to shout. When she says “I am so full” she is saying she is filled and overflowing with happiness – with joy. The title of my message this morning is “What Fills My Cup?” For the purposes of this message, when you hear me say cup please understand that I am talking about my heart. Now I will not be speaking to what is filling your cup - I will be talking about what sometimes fills my cup versus what God desires for it to be filled with. This will become clearer in a moment.

A few weeks ago, my wife sent a text message to the family that burned within my heart. You know how you can read something and then the Holy Spirit begins to show you how that message is for you? Well, that is what I experienced when I read that text message. As I said, the message you are going to hear this morning is not about you, but it is my conversation with God about what fills me. I do not want any of you to leave here today thinking I was talking about you. Now if some of what I say applies to you then that is between you and God and I recommend you address it with Him. But today, for what it is worth, it is all about me. Let me start by reading the message credited to “Barbara O’Neill Health Tricks” to you.

“You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shake your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? “Because someone bumped into me!!!” Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea. Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out. Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It is easy to fake it, until you are rattled. So, we have to ask ourselves… “What’s in my cup?” When life gets tough, what spills over? Joy, gratitude, peace, and humility? Anger bitterness, victim mentality and quitting tendencies? Life provides the cup; YOU choose how to fill it. Today, let’s work towards filling our cups with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, resilience, positivity; and kindness, gentleness and love for others.”

As I read this message, I began to look at myself. I thought about things I have experienced throughout my life and how I responded to those situations. I reflected on my growth through the years but then I hit the wall. You see that wall represented areas where my current responses continue to not always be what they should be based on what is filling my cup. In truth, my responses represent exactly what fills my cup and therein lays the problem. Strangers Rest, when some of you bumped into me and what filled my cup spilled out on you, I apologize if what came out of my cup caused you any pain. When I look at my cup, I realize that it continues to be filled with some things that should have been poured out before I got here. Remember what I read from Matthew chapter twelve? Jesus said in verse thirty-four, “(34) …. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Our hearts are our cups and just like that cup from the illustration, when we are bumped or shaken, whatever is within our hearts will come pouring out. Jesus said what is residing in our hearts will come out and I am a living testimony that this is true.