Last Sunday morning we continued our series, “A Beautiful Collision” at HHC.  That morning I shared about our “Life Bucket” (you can watch or listen to the message here).  You see we all have an invisible bucket in our life where we collect and store certain characteristics.  We get these characteristics from our experiences, other people, and from God.  We are ALL on a journey in life trying to collect as much “God stuff” that we can in order to honor God and impact others in this life.  It is SO important that our bucket is full of life, love, faith, compassion, forgiveness, gentleness, trust, hope, joy, peace, patience, kindness, purity, encouragement, endurance, etc… When we “collide” in life with circumstances, others, and just “things” whatever is in our bucket will SPILL out.  Whatever is in us WILL come out of us.  Hopefully it is a beautiful collision and not a brutal catastrophe.

I didn’t have time to completely unpack HOW we get things in our bucket.  I believe there are really 3 major ways we fill our bucket.

1. Experiences = In life we will experience the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Through these experiences we either become better or bitter.  If we choose to learn from these experiences we will become better.  But here is the catch…just going through experiences does NOT mean you will learn from them.  Think about it…how many people do you know that have gone through experiences but never learn and are destined to keep repeating them? Just going through an experience doesn’t mean much if you don’t take intentional investigation of WHAT you LEARNED because of it.  So we have to make sure we turn our experiences into something that will better us and help us become more like Christ.  If we don’t learn from our experiences we will be destined to repeat them and potentially become bitter if those experiences are rough.  Don’t be like the children of Israel who wondered around the desert for 40 years repeating the same mistakes.  Learn the lessons through your experiences that will fill your bucket with life.

2. Others = We also get a lot of characteristics from the people we surround ourself with.  You can tell a lot about someone by the company they keep.  If I was to see the kind of people you are close with I will be able to tell you where your life is going.  It’s the old saying…”Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”  We tend to become like the people we hang with.  God created us for community, so naturally when we are in community with others we feed of each other…good or bad…it goes both ways.  That is why your friends are SO important.  I know we are called to reach those that are in need, but I am talking those who are your inner circle of friends.  These people need to be people that lift us…I call them LIFTERS.  Don’t hang around SIFTERS…those are the people that just drag you down into the sifted bottom of the barrel.  Don’t let SIFTERS throw up in your bucket, and trust me they WILL.  They throw up negativity, unbelief, doubt, streSSSSSS, goSSSSSSSSip, SSSSSSSlander (can’t say ALL that without sounding like a SSSSSSSnake, which SSSSSSSounds like SSSSSSSatan).  Reach out to those in need and show them the love of Christ, but make sure you have an inner circle of friends that can pour LIFE and “God Stuff” into your bucket.

3. God = Obviously we get the REAL goods from the source of it ALL, GOD.  If we are not spending time with God we miss it ALL.  And not just time when it comes around, but making INTENTIONAL time to spend with Him.  When we draw close to God He whispers the secrets of His heart to us.  We draw close enough to hear His voice clearly.  When we collide with God He pours His life into us and it flushes out the darkness.  Our bucket truly becomes FULL when we let God pour into us.  Don’t let pride, laziness, apathy, fear, worry, doubt, unforgiveness, sin, etc… keep us from receiving His overflowing presence.  Thankfully when we collide with God, He shows us the junk in our bucket and will throw it out as far is the east is from the west.  The only catch is we have to seek Him and collide with Him.  So don’t just wander around in life, GO AFTER HIS HEART.  Seek the Lord and you WILL find Him.  He desires to pour out His life into us.  Let’s collide!!!