Finding Full and Overflowing Life in God's Presence

The Christmas season brings with it a deep longing for home, connection, and belonging. Yet many people find themselves asking the same question that 5-year-old Madeline asked Santa: "Am I on the good list or the bad list?" This uncertainty about where we stand with God reveals a deeper spiritual hunger that no external solution can satisfy.

What Does It Mean to Be "Inside" God's Family?

The very first word in the Bible is the Hebrew word translated as "in" - which also means "inside" or gives us the picture of a house. From the very beginning, God has been calling us inside His family, inside His covenant, inside His kingdom.

This isn't about physical location but about spiritual position. The Hebrew word for "heart" represents what controls the family or what controls the inside. The word for "son" comes from a Hebrew word meaning "the man from within the house." God's entire plan centers on bringing us inside where we belong.

Why Do People Feel Like Spiritual Outsiders?

Too many people struggle with feeling like spiritual foreigners - illegitimate and not truly belonging. This creates a desperate search for connection that often leads to destructive patterns, much like emotional hoarding where people cling to anything rather than believing there's something better available.

The famous actress Anne Hathaway once said, "Loneliness is my least favorite thing about life." Mother Teresa called loneliness "the most terrible poverty." This universal human experience points to our need for meaningful connection with our Creator.

How Does God Address Our Deepest Needs?

Isaiah 9:6 gives us the Christmas promise: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Notice that the government - God's kingdom - rests on Jesus' shoulders. This isn't about earthly political systems that can barely fix roads and bridges, but about the kingdom of God that makes royalty out of its citizens.

What Does "Peace" Really Mean?

When the prophecy calls Jesus the "Prince of Peace," it means nothing lacking or missing after He deals with the chaos. This is the kind of comprehensive wholeness that no earthly system can provide.

Where Can We Experience God's Fullness Now?

Psalm 16:11 declares, "In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Many people assume this only applies to heaven, but the context proves otherwise.

The same psalm talks about God providing refuge and protection (verse 1), holding and maintaining our "lot" - which includes real estate, investments, and life-altering decisions (verse 5), and giving counsel that brings peace during difficult nights (verse 7). These are clearly earthly experiences.

What Makes a House a Home?

A home without God is lonely, conflicted, unsafe, hopeless, and joyless. It doesn't matter if it's an apartment or a mansion - without God's presence, there's no real peace. The Hebrew word for "father" tells us that the father is the strength or leader of the house, responsible for making sure the inside is full and overflowing.

How Do We Enter This Life of Fullness?

Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by and through me." The key question isn't just that Jesus is the way, but where is He the way to? He's the way to the Father.

When Jesus brings you to the Father, you hear those beautiful words: "Welcome home, daughter. Welcome home, son." This is how you live full and overflowing - inside God's family with strength and direction.

What Role Does Honor Play?

Honor is essential to experiencing God's kingdom. Jesus couldn't perform miracles in His hometown because of their dishonor and unbelief (Mark 6:5). Honor attracts God, while dishonor repels Him. Faith honors God, and believing in Jesus is the ultimate act of honor toward our Creator.

How Can We Live in God's Presence Daily?

Jesus promised in John 14:23, "If a person really loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him. And we will come to him and make our home with him." This isn't about a future heaven - it's about the Creator of the universe living with you right now, 365 days a year.

In God's presence, life, love, joy, and peace permeate the atmosphere so that you're never alone. Great miracles happen and gifts appear in His rest. This is what it means to live on the "inside track" - always having access to God's strength and provision.

Life Application

This week, choose to honor Jesus as the star of Christmas rather than getting caught up in traditions and charades that distract from the real message. Make a conscious decision to believe that God wants to make His dwelling place with you right now, not just someday in heaven.

Start each day recognizing that you're not an outsider to God's kingdom but a beloved child who has been welcomed home. When loneliness, fear, or discouragement try to convince you otherwise, remember that the Creator of the universe has chosen to live with you and in you.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I trying to fill my life with external experiences instead of allowing God's life to fill my every moment?
• Do I truly believe that God sees me as His beloved child, or do I still feel like a spiritual outsider?
• How can I honor Jesus this Christmas season in ways that go beyond traditions and actually strengthen my relationship with Him?
• What would change in my daily life if I truly believed that God's presence brings fullness of joy and that I have access to it right now?

-Dr. Stephen Marshall