Broken Bread and Spilled Out Wine

Broken and spilled out - Just for the love of you, Jesus
My most precious treasure - Lavished on thee
Broken and spilled out - And poured at your feet
In sweet abandon - Let me be spilled out - And used up for Thee

(Lyrics by Bill and Gloria Gaither)

Over the past three months of my life, Jesus has allowed me to come to the end of myself. I have suffered great emotional, physical, and spiritual pain; due to my own unwillingness to heed the prompting to sit at His feet. I had become so busy as a Pastor's wife, mom, grandmother, daughter, friend, mentor, Sunday School Teacher, Women's Ministry Leader, and Executive Director of a shelter ministry for women and children in crisis; I barely had time for a 10 minute devotion every day. I thought none of the people I loved or the areas of my service could do without me. Well, God reminded me, quickly that they can.

You see, Jesus told His Disciples, in Luke 22:19-20, that His body would be broken and His blood poured out for them in the new covenant. Then, in 2 Corinthians 5:14(b)-15(a), Paul tells the church of Corinth that, "Christ died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves". Therefore, we are to be willing to be broken and poured out. Our lives are no longer our own. We are to be motivated by the love of Christ and His death to give of our time, our talents, our resources, to sacrifice, to be uncomfortable. However, it is today that I recognized the importance of being careful of the source that I am pouring out of. I must make sure it is Jesus and not me.

Unfortunately, we can become reliant on our own natural abilities and energy, that will allow us to continue in service for a while, but then they run out.  Christ is the Wellspring of Living Water that never runs dry, we are not. We must drink, each day, from His Living Water; through prayer and the Word. Not just a blanket prayer and a short morning or nightly devotion but deeply abiding in prayer and the Word. That means we may have to give up our favorite television show or time reading our favorite book (even Christian books do not take the place of the Word of God). It may mean we get up earlier or go to bed later. Whatever, it takes.


We must be willing to abandon our wants, our desires, our possessions our time in order to share the gospel and disciple others. In that sacrifice, we must include many hours to dwell in the Word and pray. This renews our mind and refreshes our Spirit. We tread in dangerous areas when we get empty and we are pouring out of ourselves. We will become drained.

I want to be broken and spilled out for Jesus, not broken and burned out. When I am "used up", I want it to be for the glory of the Lord; not that I was too stubborn to "give up" my desires and to sit at His feet. I thank the Lord for this time He has given me this week. He continues to renew and refresh me each hour of each day. It is not an easy journey. I am a stubborn child and at times, it takes a great deal of heat to burn away the "me" to allow more of "Him". If you are reading this, my prayer is that God would use my journey to minister to your heart. Maybe you are feeling weary in your body, mind, or service to the Lord. If so, check the source. Isaiah 40:28 reminds us, "The everlasting God ... faints not, nor is weary." Don't give up, just go to the Source.