In 3 days I will be full and overflowing with Christmas ham and turkey and dressing and mashed potatoes. Yes I am hungry. But this is not the full and overflowing I am talking about.
“Now Zachariah his father was filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and brought deliverance and redemption to His people! And He has raised up a Horn of salvation [a mighty and valiant Helper, the Author of salvation] for us in the house of David His servant– This is as He promised by the mouth of His holy prophets from the most ancient times [in the memory of man]– That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred; To make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself], That covenant He sealed by oath to our forefather Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly In holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives. And you, little one, shall be called a prophet of the Most High; for you shall go on before the face of the Lord to make ready His ways, [Isa. 40:3; Mal. 4:5.] To bring and give the knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness and remission of their sins. Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit [us] [Mal. 4:2.] To shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace. [Isa. 9:2.]”
Luke 1:67-79 AMP
http://bible.com/8/luk.1.67-79.amp
What does a person do when he is filled and overflowing with the Spirit of the Holy God? Well, that said person doesn’t moan and groan and rub their bellies while complaining that their self indulgence led to overindulgence. A spirit filled person does what Zachariah does! A life controlled by the Holy Spirit of God sees as God sees, thinks as God thinks, speaks only what God says to speak, and worships as one who is so thankful for all that God has done. The Holy Spirit of God always glorifies the Son of God. A Spirit filled life will always glorify the Son of God also. A spirit filled life will speak with the creativity of God! There is amazing Hebrew poetry contained in this passage. The names of John, Zechariah, and Elizabeth are all found in this verse. “He has shown us mercy” or “God’s gracious gift” is found in the name John. “He has remembered” is the name Zechariah. “His holy covenant” is the name Elizabeth.
Full and overflowing with God’s Spirit, Zachariah sees God as who He really is, Our Hero-God! Our Hero-God came to set us free from the desecration of our sin. I feel I need an exclamation point after each sentence. Zachariah being full of God’s Spirit sees the truth of what God is doing. The Son of God is yet an embryo in Mary’s womb, but Zachariah knew with this birth of Jesus, God was paying the compensation of all of our faults. And he knows God looks at us through Grace colored sunglasses. He speaks of the tiny fetus growing in Mary and sees in this vulnerable state a Horn of Salvation for Israel. Jesus will become our mighty and valient helper. With the babe wrapped in Mary’s womb living in Nazareth, our Covenant keeping God was fulfilling His promise to Father Abraham. Then Spirit-filled Zachariah took his son in his arms and spoke over John all that he would one day become. A forevrunner to Salvation, one who would one day turn the hearts of Israel back to God!
Then Zacariah saw as the prophets of old foresaw:
“to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.””
Luke 1:77-79 NIV
http://bible.com/111/luk.1.77-79.niv
Zachariah saw The Light that will dawn breaking open our darkness.
That my friends is what a person filled and overflowing with the Spirit of God does. I wanna live like that!!!
Zacariah gives me hope. God still uses him even though he silenced him for several months but in Gods perfect timing He opens Zacariahs mouth and the prophetic words come pouring out. When I look back on my life there have been so many times I wish God would have silenced me it would have saved a lot of heartaches. So that’s a new prayer for me, to be silent when I should be silent.