Refueling Your Spirit: Don't Run On Empty

God designed us to need regular refilling from His Spirit. Using a car running low on gas as a powerful metaphor, this message explores how we all run empty and need to return to the Lord for a fresh fill-up. Whether through worship, prayer, Bible study, confession, or forgiveness—taking the cap off and turning toward God allows His Spirit to flow into our souls. The encouraging truth: we can't run on someone else's spiritual gas, but we each have direct access to the Source. When you feel your tank getting low, He's waiting to fill you again. --- Good morning, everyone. This is Wednesday, August the 5th, 2026, and I welcome you to today's edition of Camino Chronicles. [laughs] So I'm driving along, and a bell goes off in my car, loud enough to get my attention e- even though I'm listening to the radio. And then a red light appears on my dashboard, whi- which I quickly see is a warning light about being almost out of gas. [laughs] Some folks call these red lights idiot lights, because only idiots wait long enough for them to show up. But, but wait, there's more. First of all, I actually have a gas gauge in my car, which I was obviously ignoring. [laughs] Secondly, here came the loud bell, whose only purpose is to get my attention, since I wasn't paying attention. Then third is the red light. That comes on when you're trying to figure out what the bell is for. All three of these things trying to get your attention. But wait, but wait. Then there is the fourth thing. There is an actual gauge on my dashboard which shows me not just how much gas is in the tank, that's the gas gauge, but there's another, another little gauge there that tells me how many actual miles I have left to drive on that tank of gas. If you've been counting, you'll see I actually have four things [laughs] all trying to help me not run out of gas. [laughs] Now, my next thoughts are, of course, how far is the gas station that I wanna use? Now, because I'm frugal, or cheap as my kids would say, I wanna get to Costco or, or even AM PM, because I don't wanna spend 40 or 50, 60 cents more per gallon at the pricier stations. Now, if I risk it, and I lose, and I run out of gas because the other ... the station I want i- is 10 miles away, and I only have gas for five miles, well, then I find myself either walking or hitching a ride with a friend using his gas. Hmm. Now, the spiritual metaphors here are so many, and I, I trust you've been seeing them ahead of me. But to get us on the same page, just, just think about that time when your spiritual tank was full, when you felt close to God, and you were enjoying life with Jesus. You were even out helping others. I mean, maybe you got filled up at a worship service with some good Bible teaching. It just spoke right to you. That was cool. Or maybe you got filled up at a home Bible study, where God himself came off the page and blessed your heart. That's so cool. M- maybe you got filled up at a prayer meeting, where someone who didn't even know you prayed that prayer [phone chimes] that was just for you. And, and the Spirit of God was strong, a- and you left empowered in faith. Oh, hallelujah. Or, or maybe you were just listening to some Christian music, going to work, a- and the Lord set up your day for amazing grace to flow from you to others. Oh, so very cool indeed. However it is that this filling happens, it is so wonderful. A- and it's so needed. In, in Matthew 5, Jesus tells us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled. Hallelujah. Examples of that are in Acts chapter 9. Ananias tells Saul that it was Jesus who has sent me that you might receive your sight. That's the healing part. But he goes on to say, "And be filled with the Holy Ghost." In Ephesians 5:18, it says, "Be not drunk with wine," which is excess, "but be filled with the Spirit." Uh, the truth is, God wants us to be filled with His Spirit. A- and if we go to Him, He will fill us if we open the tank. Hmm. God knows that when we get full of Him, we go do the things that He wants us to do. A- and in so doing, we begin to use up the spiritual gas that He provides, such that we need to be refilled. Oh, look, this, this is such a great example of how the Lord works. Whether you look at the vehicle, you, or the gas, the Spirit, or the destination, the mission, or the miles per gallon used based on the speed or the range or the hills, it, it just, it just all makes sense. If the spiritual bell is going off, you need to get refilled in your spirit. If the red light goes on, you need to pay attention or, or risk running out of power. Every Camino, that is every path, every road traveled, will take some energy. And you and I are just limited in how much we have in our tank. But we can get filled up again, fueled up again. We can turn back to the Lord and ask Him for more of Himself so that we can go do what He wants us to do. Worship and prayer and Bible study and singing, I mean, even things like fasting and meditation, even things like forgiving someone and, and things like confession, all these things can begin to fill the spiritual tank. But here's the deal. [laughs] You can't get the gas in the tank if you don't take the cap off. And you can't get the gas in the tank if you just put the hose in and you don't turn the pump on. Now, here's another deal. Do take the cap off, do put the hose in, and do squeeze the handle and turn on the pump, and the flow of God's Spirit will happen to refill your empty soul. Wow. The reality is that we all need to be refilled. Now, how often may depend on how much your soul is being called upon to believe. How fast you're running toward empty depends on how much of you is being used. But the fact of faith is, and I love that little phrase, the fact of faith. The fact of faith is you're not alone. God is with you even if you run empty, and He's just waiting to fill you up again if you let Him. I said earlier, if I ran out of gas, I could just call a friend and let him take me somewhere, and I could run on his gas for a while. That's where my little spiritual example breaks down, because you and I can't be filled with somebody else's spirit. We can't run on somebody else's power. We need the Lord ourselves, each one of us individually, personally. And it, it's just a fact of life that we might run out of gas, but it's a fact of faith that if we return to the Lord, ask Him to fill us, and let Him fill us, He will do it. Wow. God bless you today, and I'm asking Him to bless you with a full tank of His Spirit so that you can go and tell others how to be filled. Amen. Have a great day today. Walk them with Jesus. Pastor Skip out.