How Are You Filling The God Shaped Hole In Your Soul?

Have you discovered the “God shaped hole” in your sole?

You may not realize it, but we are each connected to God deep in our soul; His Love is wired directly into a repository in our hearts. He plants that connection in us before we are born and it remains for eternity whether we notice it or not.

We can feel this connection resonate inside us as a warm feeling when we observe someone doing a selfless act; Like a fireman running into a burning building to save someone. We can feel it when we are deeply moved by a love story playing out in a movie or we hear a wonderful piece of music. We can feel it when we experience a sense of awe as we admire the milky way spread across a dark sky, or feel the tranquil beauty of a sunrise or sunset, or the calm and peaceful feeling as we watch a waterfall or the waves on the ocean or the flow of a babbling brook, or the ripples spreading on a quiet pond.

Many folks do not recognize this connection. The activities of daily life tend to keep our focus on other things, urgent things, earthly things – What do I need to do today? Where do I need to go? What do I need to wear? What am I going to eat? Who am I going to see? What do they think of me?

How do you choose to fill the God Shaped Hole?

The God Shaped Hole in your soul yearns to be filled. If you choose not to fill it with God, you will fill it with something else. Some folks completely emmerse themselves in work and try to seek fulfillment there. Some try to fill this hole with things; money, fancy cars, houses, collectibles, etc. Some folks try to filll it with hedonistic persuits…pleasure and excesses in this life. Some try to fill it through building personal power, using and abusing people for thier benefit. Some try to hide from it and excape it through alchohola and drugs. Many eventually come to realize none of these approaches can fill this God Shaped Hole. Sadly, they only figure it out after they have caused severe distress for themselves and those around them. This is recoverable if you discover it and change course in time, but the longer you wait the more of a mess you are making. The really big problem is if you never figure it out and change course; You are stuck with what ever you have put in your God shaped hole for eterntiy; Eternity without God will not be pretty. You have free will to choose, but your choices have consequences.

If you do not yet have God filling your God shaped hole, there is no time like the present. Some folks find it useful to acknowledge thier God Shaped Hole, your connection to God. Pause for a moment and push all of these earthly distractions aside. Take time to look outside of yourself, notice the beauty of world all around you: The sky, the landscape, the water, the plants, the animals, the people. Take a deep breath and reflect on it. Tune to the feelings deep in your heart. your inner most feelings. Let yourself be moved to a place of appreciation for the beauty that is all around you, and you will begin ot sense this connection.

Once you have found the connection, we can tune in to it. Find a quiet peaceful place, sit comfortably, close your eyes, quiet your conscious brain, allow yourself to drift to that place where you appreciated the beauty around you, reflect deeply in your heart. Ask why am I here? What is my purpose? You will sense that you are part of something bigger than yourself, You will find your heart longs to be closer to something outside of you, something transcendent. God has planted eternity in your heart; If you took this exercise seriously, you will have just found the God Shaped Hole in your soul.

Recognizing that you are connected to eternity can go a long way towards opening your mind to being willing to acknowledge and then explore the spiritual side of life and fill that God Shaped Hole in your soul with God.

Have a great day!

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Supporitng Scripture

You have a God shaped hole planted in you

“… He has put eternity in their hearts….” Ecclesiastes 3:11

You must take the inititvie in order to find him

“… seek, and you will find…” Matthew 7:7

God knows your heart, and you will eventually get what you deserve

“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10.

You need to seek Him, find Him, and serve Him with all your heart….or there are consequences

“…know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9

Are you putting on Jesus? (or just pretending to be a Chrisitan?)

Do you get up every morning and “put on Jesus”?

“… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)

Some people pursue Christianity just so they will know the secret password to get into heaven someday. Some people say the sinner’s prayer and then continue on with their sinful life assuming they are all set. Some folks adopt selected Christian rules and rituals where they are convenient and fit into their current life. All those folks are missing the primary expectation of true Christians, to become “Christ-like”; To live your life differently now as an investment for glorious returns to come in heaven. Folks not pursuing transformation in this life will be more than a little disappointed in where and how they end up spending eternity.

When we are serious about it and “Put On Jesus” every day, People should be able to see Jesus operating in us and through us:

1) Subordinate your self-centered interest and focus your energy on God and His Kingdom

2) See others as valuable children of God and help them pursue their divine purpose

3) Be a bright light in an otherwise dark world through our consistent behavior and attitude

4) Don’t let sin against you become sin inside you

As this starts to happen you will begin to see God’s will being done on earth as it already is in Heaven.

Supporting scripture points:

We are all born as sinners into a fallen world.

“… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

We all face the death penalty for our sins.

“… the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

Jesus paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.

“… he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

He purchased our debt, the least we can do is give Him our life, the life he paid for.

“…you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

He is merciful and will gladly forgive that debt if we truly repent of our sins and follow Him.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

In return for following Him, He promises a better life now in this world and even greater glories in heaven.

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you (the choice of) life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

You are promised eternal life (Salvation) if you confess your sins and genuinely accept Jesus as your Lord.

“…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

You are saved by God’s grace based through you position in faith (belief and commitment to action), not by any specific things you have done or results of your efforts.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Faith is built by acting on your beliefs; do you just talk about believing, or do you actually walk the talk. If you are not actually living according to Christian beliefs (loving God with all your heart, subordinating your self-centered interests, loving others more than yourself, actively repenting and turning from sin, seeking ways to use your gifts to serve others) your faith is dead.

“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (James 2:26)

How you live your life really matters. You will be held accountable for every word you speak, and every thing you do. So make good choices.

“But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”(Matthew 12:36)

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)

We as believers are called to use the Holy Spirit inside us to live a life transformed.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind….” (Romans 12:2)

We are part of the body of Christ; We are His arms and legs on earth.

“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

We are commissioned to continue His work here on earth.

“… As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21)

We are asked to “put on” Jesus Christ – embrace Him, be like Him, imitate Him

“… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)

“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked”. (1 John 2:6)

My prayer:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for loving me and never giving up on me. Jesus, I thank you for the work you did for me through the cross; you are the author and finisher of my faith. I am committed to follow you and pick up where you left off. Jesus, I thank you for my water baptism, I went down with you and all my sins, and came up in you washed clean and born again. Lord I thank you for establishing a direct connection with me via your Holy Spirit; He teaches me, guides me, and convicts me as I work to follow you. I thank you for helping me as I transform my mind and begin to see things the way you see them. I thank you for helping me transform my heart by rooting out all the self-centered agendas I got from this fallen world. I am committed to truly loving you with all my heart, and loving others as myself. I ask for your continued help as I strive to imitate you, to cloth myself with you as I get up every day, and become your Love in action for others. Guide me to live my life as a shining light in the darkness, and to act in ways that serve as a beacon for your kingdom, to bring glory to you and to the Father. I ask this in Jesus Holy name. AMEN.