Fill My Cup Lord

Created by Carole Weaver

'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.' Psalms 23:5 (NKJV)

Ever so often we need times of refreshing. In the hot noonday sun of Samaria a Jesus Christ sat by the well. By and by a Samaritan woman came to fetch water and to refresh herself of thirst. Jesus Christ engaged her in conversation of thirst and much quenching water. Jesus requested this Samaritan for a drink, which surprised her because Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans. 

As she delivered water to Him, Jesus told her that He will give her living water and after drinking she will never thirst again.

"Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I will give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling stream within them, giving them eternal life." John 4:13-14. (NLT) 

Like this woman, we are at times physically and spiritually dehydrated. Those of us who have gone for long route marches, know what it is to feel thirsty. We long for the water bottle decanter of ice cold water. That is physical thirst and in a way it indicates to us what it feels like to be profoundly deprived. 

But there is also a spiritual deprivation and a profound craving, a spiritual thirst. That spiritual thirst, only God can satisfy. 

'As the deer longs for streams of living water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.' Psalm 42:1-2a (NLT)

'When the poor and the needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them. I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.' Isaiah 41:17-18 (NLT)

This is the living water that Jesus said He will give that Samaritan woman, the living water that will quench us until we will never thirst again. 

 

 'Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." John 4:10 (NLT)

That living water will satisfy us in two ways. Firstly, it will be our salvation, the forgiveness of our sins and the restoration of a broken relationship between God and us. We will have streams of living water deep within us.

'Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart." John 7:37b-38 (NLT)

After the miracle of the loaves and fishes, feeding five thousand, Jesus said to believe in Him and He will give us the bread of life and living water. Jesus is our enduring satiation from hunger and thirst.

'Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35 (NLT)

Secondly, the living water will be our spiritual refreshment. In this earthly life, we will face trying and difficult times. In times like these, we can be physically and spiritually drained, sapped of our energy and there can be no inspiration for living. Sometimes we feel as though we are an empty tank, depleted of vitality.

Spiritual refreshment is the restoration of strength, vigour and liveliness. It is a relief after suffering and grieving. We need the living water to refresh us! 

'I will pour out water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.' Isaiah 44:3-4

Our strength will be renewed,

'But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.' Isaiah 40:31 

An unknown writer (Ref 1) wrote this poem, 'Fill My Cup Lord.'

When I am tired and weary

And I have lost my zeal,

Fill my cup Lord;

For I long to do Thy will.

When I get discouraged,

And my spirit needs to be renewed

Fill my cup Lord

So my soul may be rescued

When I am tempted by

Satan and one of his schemes,

Fill my cup Lord

So that I may see Your light as it brightly beams.

When sickness and sorrow

Comes my way,

Fill my cup Lord

For I know you're in control and they'll not forever stay.

Now, when I've resisted any

Temptations to do wrong,

You've filled my cup Lord!

For you abide in me and I in you; You've made me strong.

Like the woman at the well

I was seeking

For things that could not satisfy

And then I heard my Savior speaking

"Draw from My well that never shall run dry"

Fill my cup, Lord

I lift 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

There are millions in this world

Who are craving

The pleasures, earthly things of gold

But none can match the wondrous treasure

That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord

Fill my cup, Lord

I lift 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

Here's my cup, fill it up and make me whole 

So my brother if the things that this world gives you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray— 

Fill my cup, Lord

I lift 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

Here's my cup, fill it up and make me whole 

'Fill My Cup, Lord,' fill it to the brim and overflowing. May my cup 'runneth' over.  

Lionel

Ref 1 https://slife.org/fill-my-cup-lord/

Come To The Water

On the Road to Damascus

“The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing” Zephaniah 3:17

The search for God is vividly described in Psalms 69:2-3, 

'I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the flood engulfs me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for God.'

Many understand the sensations of hunger and thirst as basic needs of the body. Others, however, hunger and thirst not for food and water but desire emotional, intellectual and spiritual nourishment. Still others crave for moments of spiritual ecstasy as vividly portrayed in the sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini of St Teresa of Avila in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. 

Ecstasy of St Teresa of Avila 

St Teresa described this experience, "I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying."

Neuroscientists studied the ecstasy of a religious experience, through studying the excitation of different parts of the brain during deep meditation. An article in the New Scientist entitled ‘In Search of God’ described scientific experiments by Andrew Newberg and Eugene d’Aquili during which eight meditation practitioners underwent brain imaging. These neuroscientists noted a relative deactivation of the parietal lobe that regulate attention and self awareness but the limbic system which regulate emotions became activated. Apparently the same findings will occur for Tibetan monks as for Franciscan nuns, indicating that whatever the religious beliefs, there is a common pathway in the brain for the ‘touching God experience.’ 

Skeptics have used these findings to argue that God has no real existence, that the presence of God is actually just a result of chemical induction of brain functions. On the other hand, one can argue that God made and designed us so that we would have the neuro-ability for this interaction. Blaise Pascal said, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator made known through Jesus.”

The Cliffs of Solva, Wales

The hunger and thirst for a special relationship with God is a natural yearning because we are created in God’s image. The wonderful news is that while we search, God reaches out to establish a warm and personal relationship with us. 

“The Lord your God is with you. He will take great delight in you; he will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). 

St Paul, thought that he knew God. He was so adamant and bigoted in his belief that he strenuously persecuted the Christians. However, while steeped in this activity of searching out Christians to persecute, Christ found Paul instead. It was a spectacular and vivid visitation on that road to Damascus. Later, Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi about this unsurpassing find 

'But whatever gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ.' Phil 3: 7-8

 

Jesus offers to all of us the same privilege of a relationship with God. He admits us into this special relationship on the condition of our faith and belief in Him. For the religious mystics amongst us, we can indeed delve into the realm of the limbic system activation when we meditate. But be it as it may, this experience profound or ordinary, only occurs by the grace of God; a gift we receive which we do not deserve. 

The prophet Isaiah wrote, 

Come, all you who are thirsty, Come to the waters. Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.' Isaiah 55:1,6   

And Jesus said come to the waters

Stand by my side

I know you are thirsty you won't be denied

I felt every teardrop when in darkness you cried

And I strove to remind You 

That for those tears I died

You said You'd come and share all my sorrow

You said You'd be there for all my tomorrow

I came so close to sending You away

But just as you've promised

You came there to stay

I just had to pray

Your goodness so great I can't understand

And dear Lord I know that all this was planned

I know you're here now and always will be

And Your love loosed my chains

And in You I'm free

But Jesus why me 

Jesus I gave You my heart and my soul

I know that without God I'd never be whole

Saviour You opened all the right doors

And I thank you and praise You

From earth's humble shores

Take me I'm yours.

Jesus said, 

'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'

Lionel

People Hearing Without Listening

"The days are coming," declares the Sovereign LORD, "when I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD." Amos 8:11

Amos is also known as the prophet of doom. Living in the 8th Century BC, he was the first to have accurately foretold the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel. He lived in a period of relative peace and extreme wealth for both the Kingdom of Judah and Israel. However, beneath the affluence, the two kingdoms were morally corrupt and spiritually destitute. Amos warned of an impending 'Day of the Lord' when God judgement will descend but the people would not listen. 

In Amos 8:12-13, he wrote "Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. In that day the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.” He warned of the danger of a famine of the hearing the words of the Lord. This may well be the case also for our times 

It is not that there are no bibles. The Bible has been the a best seller for centuries. Each Christian household usually has more than 2 bibles of differing translations. At times and places where the Bible was banned Christians have been known to smuggle bibles into these countries. This happened for China in the 1960s-80s until we realised that more bibles are being printed in China than in any other country in the world. 

It is not a famine of preaching and preachers either. Today many sermons can be downloaded from the Internet. We can search for sermons or Christian writings by key words. There is such a deluge of material that people tend to ignore or simply gloss over them. 

 

It is not that there are no churches. In Singapore, there are more church attendees today than at anytime in our church history. Unfortunately many flocked to churches attracted by the entertainment mode preaching or by lively praises and not for true worship. It seems we have no time nor patience to listen to God's words being preached if we cannot be entertained. Given the competition for attention in advertisements, entertainment, internet in an info-deluge world, dull preaching is given no time of day

These are circumstances similar to Amos' days. At that time, a pseudo-religiousity was introduced by King Jeroboam. 1 Kings 12:25-31 recorded that Jeroboam set up the trappings of religiosity and false religion in Bethel and Dan. He made idols, ordained priests and set up his own holy calendar but lacked the religious truth. In the same way we look for the trappings of religion today not the truth within. 

Is there something plastic in our spirituality that we listen and yet not hear, hear and yet not listen? Is there a famine in the midst of plenty? We may end up be searching for God’s words but at all the wrong places and we will not find Him. Amos warned that there is going to be an unquenchable thirst which can be dreadful. 

Let us turn to the discourse between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:7-13. This woman saw that significance of the water from that well was attached to popularity of Jacob. But she could not see beyond the mere cult popularity of Jacob to the significance of the water she was drawing for Jesus. 

What did Jesus offer? Jesus taught her that there is a NEW water which He shall provide. This water will be a cure for thirsty people. Jesus, the Living Word of God, provides water that shall make us never thirst again, the drinking of which will well up to eternal life. 

So often, Jesus would preface his preaching with, "He who has ears, let him hear." Jesus the Living Word brought us Wonderful Words of Life, it will do well for us to listen.

 Sing them over again to me,

1. Wonderful words of life;
   Let me more of their beauty see,
   Wonderful words of life.
   Words of life and beauty
   Teach me faith and duty;
   • Refrain:
     Beautiful words, wonderful words,
     Wonderful words of life;
     Beautiful words, wonderful words,
     Wonderful words of life.
2. Christ, the blessed One, gives to all
   Wonderful words of life;
   Sinner, list to the loving call,
   Wonderful words of life.
   All so freely given,
   Wooing us to heaven;
3. Sweetly echo the Gospel call,
   Wonderful words of life;
   Offer pardon and peace to all,
   Wonderful words of life.
   Jesus, only Savior,
   Sanctify forever;
4. 
   

Let's strip away all forms of religiosity, which are false and come back to Jesus the Word of Life. Come back to the Fountain whose water when we drink, shall never make us thirst again?

Lionel

Updated from previous article published June 2006