Broken Zippers

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Overflowing

Just want you to know, you are more than I could have ever asked for in a daughter. Your love for people and the Lord is like none I have ever seen. Thank you for being so honoring and faithful with the precious blood of Christ. With your smile, your big brown eyes, your beautiful teeth, those socks on the outside of your pants, well . . . you’re a walking backpack crammed full of the gospel, love, forgiveness, and mercy of Jesus, and it is falling out of every pocket, and you’ve basically broken the zippers!!! You don’t belong in a locker, and you don’t belong in a corner, you belong on a stage! God needs you and trusts you with His most precious creation . . . people! I love you, sweet Emma Mae.

I received this text from my outstanding daddy a couple of hours before I was about to go speak at a conference, and it is definitely one of the best text messages I have ever received. It not only left me feeling so uplifted but spurred me on to uplift others, too.

Jesus came so that we may have everything in abundance, more than we expect—life in its fullness until we overflow (John 10:10)—and this is a gift that we have in relationship with Him. To be overflowing in life is to be overflowing in Jesus, and to be overflowing in Jesus is to be overflowing with the characteristics of who He is. Our zippers will be busting off from being so full of Him!

All the Fruit

I love how Galatians 5:22-23 says, “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, AND self-control” (NLT, emphasis added). Not “OR.” God doesn’t give us the instruction to pick and choose what fruit we feel like bearing, but He says that when we are living by His Spirit, this is the fruit that we will bear. We cannot experience the fullness of God if we are not willing to fully give ourselves to Him. The Lord does not settle on us; therefore, we cannot settle on ourselves. He has given us His whole Spirit, and to only see a little bit of who He is, is to miss out on all that He has for us.

We are called to be like a backpack that is crammed full, overflowing, with zippers that are breaking. This is such an exciting image of how God has called us to live—overflowing with His Spirit. When we truly give our lives to Christ and pick up our cross to follow Him, the Holy Spirit does not enter our hearts partially, but He is fully there to help us and show us and live through us fully. In John 15, Jesus promises that when we remain in Him and He in us, we will bear much fruit. Therefore, it does not make sense to wake up and decide that we are going to have joy but not patience today. We wake up in the Spirit, meaning everything of the Spirit belongs to us, and we are called to walk in Him, so let us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

Poured Out

Of course, we do not walk in the Spirit perfectly, and there are characteristics of the Spirit that are not as easy to embrace, but this is not an excuse for us to not embrace them. If we were made in His image, imagine the abundance we will experience as we choose to walk in all that He is. If God has called you to it, it is going to be beautiful, and He will help you get there and experience the abundance of all that it is.

God looks at you and says that you are more than what He could ever ask for in a child. He chose you, and He wants you. He gave you your beautiful smile, and He gave you the lovely eyes that you have, and He came so that you may be crammed full, overflowing, busting at the zippers with His life and with the fruits of His Spirit. You were not made to be in a corner or in a locker but to be the light of the world. He has called you to the stage, and on this stage, He wants to overflow your cup (Psalm 23:5) so that you can pour into the lives of people around you that have yet to experience the power of the overflow.