To be emptied, so we can be filled by His Spirit

A vessel cannot come full or half-empty to the work. We must empty ourselves, our egos, our pride, our self-righteousness, our self-dependency, our arrogance and come completely empty, so that we can be filled by His Holy Spirit and gifts. Often God does this through the painful process of refining us through trials and tribulations. As a true follower of Christ, we must go through sufferings, for without them we cannot be emptied. To understand how we can be emptied, we must first understand that Man is a trinity.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

-1 Thessalonians 5:23

The human spirit is the deepest part of a person. By means of this innermost part, we can communicate with God in the spiritual realm. No other creature was created by God with this third part.  

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

-John 4:24

Our soul perceives things in the psychological realm. In fact, in Greek—the original language of the New Testament—the word for soul is psuche, which is also the root word of psychology. This is where the conscience of a man is.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

-Luke 9:26

Our body contacts the tangible things of the material world using our five physical senses. The body is the visible, external part of our being, and it contains the soul. Our soul is the vessel containing our spirit.

God starts with the Spirit, He connects with us in the Spirit, but desires to be able to commune with us and have full control of us through the soul and body as well.

It’s a constant struggle between the flesh and the spirit, as the verse tell us, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Is your soul (your thoughts and emotions) being influenced by the Spirit of God working with you through your spirit? Or are the things of the flesh controlling your soul? Think about it! Where do worries come from, why do we have a bad day? Because we’re letting the flesh influence our soul. God connects only with the Spirit.

We cannot connect and have a relationship with God and be emptied of ourselves without being filled by the Word of God and prayer. Even with the Word, our minds can receive it and it does not profit us, unless we surrender and let the Holy Spirit saturate our souls and into our spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can bring enlightenment to our spirits through the Word.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

-Hebrews 4:12

Prayer guide: 

Be encouraged to pray for you (your flesh) to decrease, and for the Holy Spirit to increase in you. For the Word of God to saturate you and be like a two-edged sword that divides your soul and spirit.