Are you full to the brim?

In John Ch.2:1-11 Jesus went to a wedding and when he got there they complained because they had ran out of wine. Mary asked Jesus if he would do something fix the problem, Jesus told them to fill 6 water jars to the brim, then he would provide wine. When they obeyed, even though it didn't make sense, the water turned into wine. Jesus was showing that when do all that they can do in obedience and faith in God then he can do the miracle, but until we have done what we need to do then Jesus wont move. How much do we want our miracle? Are you filled right to the brim? The 6 water jars representing the number of man and the vessel, the water representing the flesh and the wine representing the Holy Ghost, Jesus says that the Holy Ghost is the new wine. So when man's flesh does all it can do in their vessel, Jesus can do the miracle and change the situation. 

Without the water their would have been no wine provided. Jesus could have done it any other way but he chose that way. We can relate this to salvation and until we obey his word, with repentance- turning from our sin then turning to God, getting baptized in the name of Jesus in emersion by water which represents the flesh then Jesus blood washes our sins away, he will give us the gift of the Holy Ghost and comfort us. But God cannot start to change our lives until we do what needs to be done. Jesus's whole ministry was by the power of His word, he always spoke and things happened, when Jesus spoke everyone listened.. 

Jesus never spoke in the synagogues or temples, he always went to the streets and homes and ministered. We know that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In order for miracles to happen their needs to be faith, which means you need to hear the word of God first. Are you full to the brim? We cannot sit back and hope for the best, it will not get done. Jesus told us so many times that he would not leave us comfortless, that the Holy Ghost would direct us and keep us. The word of God will direct us. You can either use your mouth for good our bad. Make sure that you are encourage the people in the household of faith. When we listen to God's voice then we are filling ourselves the brim and God will do the overflow. Then we can go into the next realm. When we repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost he will change us, it is a process. 

As long as we listen to His word, staying submissive. God just wants a willing vessel that he can use, If God can use 6 stone water pots and turn the water into wine, or take clay and heal a blind man's eyes or when Jesus spoke to Lazarus when he was dead and said Lazarus come forth. Jesus chose to do many miracles in many different ways, there wasn't a certain thing he had to use to heal someone. Or a certain person he had to use, anything willing he used to perform miracles. When you make yourself a willing vessel he can use you to do 'greater works.' Not just similar, but GREATER! We just have to obey God and he will take the impossible and make it possible. he will do the work. Sometimes he might require a sacrifice out of us or get us to do something out of our comfort zone, but God always does everything on time and perfect, so whatever His will is, let it be done in obedience and in order. Everyone has a place in the body of Christ, no matter how young or small. You are never too old or too young to do a work for God. 

Jesus started his ministry at the age of 30. So you are not a failure at any age. We have all been called to a greater purpose. It all depends on what voice we are listening too. When we don't listen to the voice of God or shut his voice down, the only voice left is our voice and satan. Without even knowing it we become closer to this worlds standards of right and wrong and we become desensitized. The enemy has desensitized our minds from sin. Our minds become in a spiritual bondage that we cannot get out of. The devil only steals kills and destroys. He wants to take away our time with God. In John ch. 14:6 Jesus says "I am the way the truth and the life." When you've seen Jesus you have seen God the father. God's spirit can be one with us, he will cleanse us and change us into a better person. How sin can take us away from listening to God's voice Are you spiritually free? John 8:32 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Well what is the truth, the words which God has spoken.

He continued to say that when we walk in sin we are slaves to it, we are in a spiritual bondage, because that sin is controlling us. When we are listening to other voices of this world then we cannot be free because God is not our leader or number one in our lives. Our brims cannot be full because we aren't doing the things that God has asked of us. Which means we are filling our vessels up with other things.

Is our 'water pots' empty?

Is it filled with dirt? It is rusted? Are we continually having a flow? Do we have it filled with pride, lust, gossip, lies, in-puritys? 

What is your vessel filled up with, what do you allow in your mind to control your day? We live in a world where you can do whatever pleases you. You can get yourself physically in bondage by getting into prison or getting spiritually in bondage by turning from Jesus into sin. The only way to be truly free is having a surrendered life to Jesus with nothing else holding onto you having first place in your life. A couple questions to ask yourself to know if you are spiritually free or not is when you awake, do you think about prayer or the word as your first thing to start off your day? 

Do you constantly care about what others think of you? Do you fall into back temptation even when you've prayed.. 

Some of these questions might be able to easily tell if you are in a spiritual bondage. Bondage doesn't just have to be in sin. It can be any sort of idol in your life that takes up more time than God and demands your time without you even knowing it. Distraction can take away your time with God. Why cant we spend more time with God? When he simply even asks for 10 minutes, we cant even give him 5, but we can give our media 2 hours. It makes sense though because our flesh doesn't want to die to itself everyday. SO, if there's any way we can avoid it we will. But once we are in a consecrated life unto the Lord than we don’t act if prayer is a chore. Jesus is calling us to walk with him, its more than just a daily checklist.

If it is than that's another sign that you're in bondage. Jesus paid the price for us so that we could be free, so we don’t have to turn to the things of this world, they will just fail us and they take our time and energy. A few examples that might be taking up your time and controlling your world could be, media, phone, friends, work, finances, television/Netflix, shopping, church (crazy to think but you can actually forget to pray and read the word while spending all your time running around for an event or what not, this is usually not a huge problem in this category, but it can be), etc. All these things can affect us negatively and let control us. 

Just like human beings can too. Some relationships are controlling and demand every moment to focus on them. Our God is a jealous God.. and he wants to protect us and spend time with us. So the truth will set you free.

In John chapter 8, we see that Jesus tells the Pharisees that if they committed sin that they were a servant of sin, then goes onto say that the truth will set them free. 

How does a person know they are walking in sin unless they read the word or are told? Once they are told they can be set free by the truth, no more spiritual bondage. So many Christians these days are living in spiritual bondage, by the lack of prayer in their life. 

The connection with God is silenced, so they do not see miracles and growth in their life. They are completely desensitized and deceived by the lies of the devil. I believe that God wants to take this church to another level, but we need to be fully surrendered to his will and our lives to be consecrated to Him. Preparing the way for him, making sure that we are using that power that is within us. When we use our excuses God cannot work in our lives. It is a daily walk with him, as he perfects us because of His spirit inside of us. God will use someone else or something else if we are not willing and do not let God use us. Love for others will set you free in your walk with God. The devil likes to accuse and say you did something and twist the truth so that you may not see truth. When you don’t listen to the voice of truth it is not of God. You will become a servant to whatever you let control you in a harmful way.

But Jesus says we are friends not servants. John 17:17-19 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." 1 John 1:5-10 "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John 2:3-6 "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeper has his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know that we are in him." ... Jesus goes on to say that we need to walk as he has walked and to love one another as Christ loves us. This world will know us by our love for one another. We are all apart of His body, we are brothers and sisters in the Lord, why do we let things so easily set us off track? When we know that listening to lies will not bring us closer to God, it only sets our minds in a trap or spiritual bondage, then we cannot be free because we aren't listening to the truth. Jesus blood washed us clean. So How can you mix darkness with light? The closer we get to God the more Love we will have for each other because God is love, 1 john 4:16. 

We will then look past the silly things that don’t matter like certain traditions and move past it and accept each other for who we are. We need to work together in unity because there needs to be a flow in the church. If God asks of our church to do something but we cant all agree then the miracle and growth cannot happen because our water pots are not full. It is our faith that will bring healing and deliverance and growth. It is a full body's work, it takes all of the man in the church to do it, one pot can't just stand alone. It needs all flesh working together in what we can do to bring the glory to God in the end. We are His hands and his feet. Some things like Traditions can set you in bondage, setting in one way and nothing else. We need to learn to have a balance and to listen to one another and try a new way of doing something, because it could be God wanting it done a certain way and the way you've always done it, is just not working. 

It's like some people wanting to be baptized in different ways, the only way in the bible is the right way which is in the name of Jesus! 

So ultimately until you have the blood applied onto your life you cannot be free. Freedom is much more being able to wake up and freely read the bible and drink your coffee. It is a freedom that says nothing of this world negatively controls me. Jesus has His way in my life. For the people that say well religion is bondage. Well yes just following after rules when your heart is not in it, is bondage. But a relationship with God, as he leads you and helps you grow, is not in bondage because your not following after a checklist. 

Your life is fully connected to God. We all need to be set free from the chains of this world of depression, oppression, doubts, fears, anxiety’s, and cling to what is Godly and true. God said that he will never leave us or forsake us. HIS word will stand forever, our words will pass away but His words will never. 

He is the word John 1:1, so God will never fade away, he was here before time and he will be here after time. He is the beginning and the end the first and the last. There is none besides him, HIS WORDs will stand forever, His ways are higher than ours. When he speaks we listen and we will see growth in our lives and be set out of our bondage to this world. Why is it that when fleshly things demand us of our time, we right away have there attention, well it's because we were made of flesh and so we will always have that temptation and pull towards sin. We've gotta die daily and seek God with all of our heart. God has called us all out of the world, to be separated. I remember when I was younger, I used to become scared of many things, my anxiety's were at a high. I was in fear of many things in my life. Once I realized I was hurting deep within, I realized why I was acting so scared of everything. The bondage I was in had eventually left once I was set free because I realized what was holding me in bondage in my spirit. The truth had set me free. 

No matter who you are or what you are struggling with, Jesus is a deliverer and can set you free.

Just like if someone had a alcohol addiction they wouldn't be able to stop unless they realized their problem. God is calling people closer to Him, he wants us to step out in faith and believe that we can do greater works. The blessings will reign down when you walk in obedience. We see in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve never obeyed God and they ended up cursed. There disobedience took away there spiritual freedom in their daily life. There are so many examples in the bible where sin binds people and separates them from God. Even the Israelites wandering in the wilderness was because they were bound by complaining and which made them never hear the voice of God. Jesus tells us to harden not our hearts and enter into his rest which is in the seventh day. I think this is significant to the 6 water pots, because when men did everything they could Jesus performed the next step. Jesus was the seventh vessel. In Hebrews ch.4:3-12

"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on the wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest." 

Jesus was saying when we obey and do the works we need to do, he will provide and we can enter into the same rest that God did. Then in verse 6 he goes onto say that some never entered into rest because of their lack of belief, which goes back into having faith, faith comes from listening to the word of God. In verse 7 he said to listen to God's voice and harden not your heart! Then you will be able to rest. In verse 10, For he that entereth into his rest he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from this. Verse 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. We need to not harden our hearts, unbelief is just disobedience to his word. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." God knows exactly what we are thinking and knows the intent of our heart, we should express what we are feeling inside, and give our all to Jesus. In Hebrews ch.4 to sum it up Jesus wants us to walk in faith and obedience so that we can enter into his rest. He desires great things for us, but it is important what we think about and say because determines how our lives will plan out. 

Jesus wants us today to be able to rest in him but before we rest we must work in the kingdom of God. If you feel worn out, it just means you are almost to your resting state. You are almost to your miracle. 

Keep the faith, keep listening to his voice.