“…that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things –“ Col 1:9 AMP
“…that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” Eph 3:19AMP
Pleroo (G4137) – to make full, fill up, to fill to the full
It is in our being made full that we can fulfil our destiny in Christ Jesus!
Back in 1998, my husband and I made our first trek to the Promised Land… Israel. As we toured the Temple Mount and the excavated grounds underneath the western wall, we arrived at the outer facing of what was believed to be the old “Holy of Holies.” Internally as a space it was unavailable, but on the outside the Jewish people would place prayer requests on small bits of paper in the cracks between the large hewn bolders of the Temple wall proper.
It was in this moment that God first showed me revelation of prophetic truth… in a very real sense, He “filled me.”
In other words, He “plerooed” me – brought to realization prophecies concerning the Jew and the Gentile being made one body.. Ephesians 2:14.
In a flash, the Lord showed me the image of Hebrew language being read from right to left. And conversely, English, which is read left to right. These two entities, these languages, these words came together in one binding, like bookends of the same book. Joined in the center, which is Christ – it is “(bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord…” Eph 2:21
In 1992, the Lord first “filled me” with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit…. I had been in discipleship with a women solely for the purpose of receiving this Baptism, this filling. At the time I received, the Lord “Pimplemied” me, G4130. I was filled, and so what was to be fulfilled in me began to come to pass, to be confirmed.
I was the poster child for “difficult to receive” the Baptism. I had all the head learning, but the manifestation of being immersed into the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ took many many times of my submission before Him. I was afraid, and locked up, highly reserved and controlled in my own soul. It seemed like a test of performance that I was doomed to fail over and over again. Being released to the Lord was difficult for me.
On this particular night, my husband, who was an Air Force Officer, was TDY, the kids were asleep in bed – I had no distractions. But the Lord is so so good! He saw my difficulty and made a way. He actually presented for me a visual picture of a ticker tape of what to begin saying… It was like a phenetic language aid… and as I forgot myself, and my fear, and focused solely on Him and His goodness, it was like I could put my hand into His and step off…
He then filled me, upon me, over me, a cascading of His Presence which diffused throughout my very soul. If He were a fragrance, you would have detected Him in all my thoughts, my emotions, and even throughout my will. In that moment, I was completely His… wrapped and covered in a divine fabric … I was endued, fully clothed in Him.
Again, the word is pimplemi (Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:9). I was filled with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is different from when I was saved and the Holy Spirit became resident within me in my spirit. This was Jesus My Lord taking the Holy Spirit and immersing me into the overwhelming Presence of Him. This was a different experience from salvation.
Years later the Lord continued to expand me in understanding as I began a new venture of discipling other believers. The Lord showed me an astounding thing! One of the great, foundational Scriptures for discipleship is Luke 6:40. As I launched this new discipleship group, the Holy Spirit opened my understanding concerning the significance of discipleship and how it is unique among training methods: how it is different from Sunday School, small groups, special presentations, and how it even excels pulpit ministry.
Luke 6:40 reads as:
A pupil is not superior to his teacher, but everyone [when he is] completely trained (readjusted, restored, set to rights, and perfected) will be like his teacher.”
Being Made Perfect!
There are many renderings between various translations for the concept of being completely trained, or made perfect. The word is: katartidzo – G2675. It reads as:
– to render, to fit, sound complete
– to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair
– to complete
– to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust
– to fit or frame for one’s self – prepare
– ethically: to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what he ought to be
So basically, to be discipled aligns you to a place, a Person… where you will be mended and repaired of what has been broken. It will outfit you (like an explorer or one having special clothing needs like a pith helmet or khakis – or like the clothing of the enduement of the power of the Lord). You will be strengthened, perfected, and made what you ought to be!!!
You will be made like your teacher – Your Lord, Jesus Christ.
No other ministry can compare with this. It is why we are called to make disciples of all nations. That is the mandate for the church and every believer in the Lord. It is where and how we reproduce spiritually, and bring the life of the believer into the perfection of Christ.
But guess what? If you haven’t first been “filled” yourself, first in salvation and the Presence of the Holy Spirit living in you, and then secondly, filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit – actually enduing you with power from on high, you won’t have what you need to do the job…
Like one person said, “How can you teach me about Israel if you haven’t ever been there???”
How can we begin to foster new believers into the perfection of Jesus Christ if we ourselves have not been filled???
Can you truly say you are sold out and submitted fully to the Lord and yet not be filled?
Can you testify even of the lifechanging power of the Lord, without being filled?
Would not that be the very condition that 2Tim 3:5 warns us all about? To hold a form of religion but deny and reject and be a stranger to the power of it?
I will tell you, you cannot be perfected in Christ if you refuse His infilling at every level…
May the Lord overturn every lie and fear and distortion of the enemy that wars against and exalts itself against the true knowledge of God and His provision of “filling.”
Insolomonsporch's Blog 