The Cup

The Cup…

One evening while sitting by the campfire, along with a group of others, Grandfather was holding a cup. An empty cup, he said, how do you get rid of its emptiness? There’s only one way, you fill it.

He then went over to the well and filled the cup with water. We have successfully removed the emptiness, he said with a slight smile, not by focusing on the emptiness or by concentrating on removing it. We removed the emptiness simply by fulling the cup with water. A Simple solution, yet profound, even revolutionary when you apply it to life.

How did God accomplish salvation? By removing evil from the world? No, by His presence, by coming into the world, by becoming God with us, Immanuel.

By pouring water into the cup, I said.

Exactly, He didn’t take away our problems or remove them from the world. He did something better, He gave us the answer. He poured the answer into the world. You see, salvation is not the absence of sin. It’s the presence of God. Salvation is not the removing of the world’s darkness. It’s the shining of God’s light into the darkness. And by the light, the darkness is driven away. Salvation is the incarnation of God. It’s His presence. It’s the Immanuel solution. So what does it reveal?

You don’t overcome darkness by focusing on the darkness. You overcome the darkness by focusing on the light, I replied.

Correct, and you don’t overcome sin by focusing on sin. You overcome sin by dwelling not on sin but on God. You overcome emptiness by dwelling on His presence. You solve your problem, not by dwelling on the problem, but by dwelling on the answer, by being filled up with the answer.

You overcome sorrow by the presence of joy and hate by the presence of love and evil by the presence of good. Try this secret and it will change your life. Overcome the absence by the presence of its opposite. It is as simple and as deep as pouring water into the cup, the Immanuel solution.

Apply this to your everyday life. Overcome the problem with the Answer, the bitterness with Forgivness, hate with Love and evil with the Good.

How will you fill your cup?

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed