“You’ll never finish that!” My brother in law’s words sounded like a challenge. I was trying a new pizza and though it was personal sized, it was loaded. The toppings were piled higher than the crust and by the first bite, I knew I wouldn’t be taking any home. Loaded with veggies and spiced with a mango habanero sauced chicken, I’d found a new favorite thanks to a kind waitress’s recommendation. I savored every last bite.
I’m full is a loaded statement. With nearly twenty subentries in the dictionary, I could express having enjoyed a satisfying meal, my grandmother’s age, my Anna’s heart’s capacity for love, Thomas’s new maniacal laugh, my hips, the state of my car when packed for our beach trip, my daughter in law’s pregnant belly, and especially my own heart as we begin packing to return home. Each piece of laundry I fold holds a freshly made memory from my week with my family. They send sparks from my fingertips to my brain and my heart simultaneously. I am full.
Likewise, God’s revelation of Himself is completely expressed through His creation, His Word, His Spirit and His Son. Scripture is ripe with phrases meant to express Jesus as fully God and what this means for us, His image-bearers. Sometimes God’s Word may feel segmented in the reading, but I promise you, if you will only heed the advice of the prophet Jeremiah and seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him- all of Him- because the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever. (Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 29:29)
”He is the divine portrait, the true likeness of the invisible God, and the firstborn heir of all creation. For in him was created the universe of things, both in the heavenly realm and on the earth, all that is seen and all that is unseen.
Every seat of power, realm of government, principality, and authority—it all exists through him and for his purpose!
He existed before anything was made, and now everything finds completion in him.
He is the Head of his body, which is the church. And since he is the beginning and the firstborn heir in resurrection, he is the most exalted One, holding first place in everything.
For God is satisfied to have all his fullness dwelling in Christ. And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again!
Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself.
He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence.
And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored, if indeed you continue to advance in faith, assured of a firm foundation to grow upon.
Never be shaken from the hope of the gospel you have believed in. And this is the glorious news I preach all over the world.“
Colossians 1:15-23 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/col.1.15-20.TPT
”Your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us by living in the light.
He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son. For in the Son all our sins are canceled and we have the release of redemption through his very blood.“
Colossians 1:12-14 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/col.1.12-14.TPT
”Beware that no one distracts you or intimidates you in their attempt to lead you away from Christ’s fullness by pretending to be full of wisdom when they’re filled with endless arguments of human logic.
For they operate with humanistic and clouded judgments based on the mindset of this world system, and not the anointed truths of the Anointed One.
For he is the complete fullness of deity living in human form. And our own completeness is now found in him.
We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us.
He is the Head of every kingdom and authority in the universe!“
Colossians 2:8-10 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/col.2.8-10.TPT
Knowing Jesus as Lord opens the Way to God. Our fullness is found in Him alone. He promises His followers complete peace and fullness of joy. (John 14:27, 16:24) He is our eternal reward and the purpose in our existence. (Genesis 15:1, Ephesians 2:10) He is. When God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush and Moses asked whose message he was delivering to the people of Israel, God answered with the verb of being in every tense. I am who I am. I will be what I will be. He is the one who was and who is and who is to come. (Exodus 3:14, Revelation 1:8, 4:8)
”So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.
Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.
Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions.
How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!
Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.“
Ephesians 3:14-20 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/eph.3.15-20.TPT
”Those who are loved by God, let his love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love.
Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of him.
The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love.
The light of God’s love shined within us when he sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him.
This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.
Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life!
No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us.“
1 John 4:7-12 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/1jn.4.12.TPT
I may be on the road again tomorrow but in Christ, I am already home.
A Fitting Reply 