Die Empty...Die Full

Die Empty…Die Full.

In this episode, we explore what it means to truly finish well—to pour out every gift, every calling, every ounce of purpose placed inside of us. Looking at the lives of David, Jesus, and Stephen, we see a powerful pattern: they did not leave this world holding back. They lived fully surrendered, fully spent, and fully aligned with God’s will.

David fulfilled God’s purpose in his generation. Jesus declared, “It is finished,” having completed everything He was sent to do. Stephen, even in the face of death, stood full of faith, full of the Spirit, and full of forgiveness. None of them died clinging to untapped potential—they died empty of self, yet full of God.

This episode is a call to live with intention and urgency: to stop delaying what God has placed in you, to stop shrinking back, and to stop carrying gifts to the grave that were meant to impact the world. You were not created to live half-hearted or die full of regret. You were created to be poured out.

Die empty of what God has given you.
Die full of His presence, His purpose, and His glory.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Woman in the Word, the podcast where we dive into scripture, ask real questions, and walk through the Bible together, one honest conversation at a time. I'm Felicia Parker, I'm your host, and I'm so glad you're here. So whether you're new to the Word or you've been studying for years, there's a seat at the table for all of us. So grab your coffee, open your journal, or put on your walking shoes, and let's get into it. Hey, happy woman in the Word Wednesday. I'm so excited that you're joining me today as always. And I'm looking forward to this conversation. I pray it is thought-provoking, and like the title states, we are to die empty, but also die full. So let's go ahead, let's jump into it. I heard it stated like this so many times that the richest place in the world is the grave because of all the ideas, the inventions, the creativity that has died when that person died because it was never fulfilled. And I find that so interesting that so many of us keep what God has given us locked inside of us, and we don't answer the call that God has called us to. Acts chapter 13, verse 36, and I'm gonna read the second portion. It says, After David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors. And I find it to just be such a thought-provoking heart check life challenge for me, and I pray the same for you, is that he did the will of God in his own generation. He did what God had created him to do, he lived out the purpose of his life in his generation, and once he was finished, then he died. Meaning he didn't die with so much still left in him, but he did what he was called to do, and then he died empty, empty of the potential, empty of the gifts, empty of the talents, empty of the ideas, because he did what God had called him to do in his generation. And my question right out the gate is are we walking the road that will lead us to the place where David got to, which is, hey, at the end of our life, it says, Felicia lived out the will of God for her life in her own generation. Put your name in it. Have you lived out or are you living in the way that your life at the end of it will say that you lived out the will of God for your life in your own generation? And I thought this was interesting to talk about because in a in a world today where we see so many people trying to be copycats of so many other people, I'm wondering how many gifts are truly be being fulfilled and walked out and revealed and exposed to the world, and how many people are just being a counterfeit to what's already been placed on somebody else's life. I shouldn't want to be what you've been called to do and walk in that, and you shouldn't want to walk in and do what I've been called to do and walk in that. I've been graced to do what I've been called to do, and you've been graced to do what you've been called to do. And God desires for us to do what He's called us to do in our generation. So we are here for a reason on assignment. And the sooner we can get to being about the Father's business, the more opportunity we have to pour out everything in us and leave it here in the world. Now, if we are not leaning into what God is saying, because now we're leaning into what social media says, what the news says, what our friends say, um, what well-meaning family members say, they may say, Oh, no, you should do it this way, or I saw this person and they were successful at that. You should try that, or you should go to that school, or you should major in that major, or you should get this career, or you should marry this person, or you should live in this place. If we are not leaning into the voice of God, we will miss what his will is for our life. And the last thing God desires for us to do is miss him while listening to everything else. Because at the end of the day, we are responsible for what we have been called to do and what we did with what we've been called to do. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to get to heaven and have to say, well, you know, I kind of thought about it and I would have loved to fulfill the will of God in my generation, but whatever that but is that has you held up right now from doing what it is that God has called you to do, I would ask you to submit that to God, whether it be but fear, but money, but connections, but whatever it is that's getting in the way of you beginning or continuing to walk in the will of God for your life, I'd say give it to God so that He can help you and so that at the end of your life we get to hear both for myself and for you that they did the will of God in their own generation. Hey, I just wanted to take a quick pause in our conversation and introduce you to uh the lover of your soul if you have yet to meet him. I would love to lead you in the prayer of salvation. So if you'd repeat after me, that'd be awesome. Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I'm in need of a savior. I confess that Jesus is Lord and I want him to be the Lord of my life. I believe that you raised him from the dead to rule and reign for all of eternity. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me with the precious blood of Jesus. I thank you, Lord, for dying on the cross just for me. In Jesus' name, amen. Hey, if you just prayed that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of God and just say congratulations. So, as we continue on this journey of basically writing our own obituary, right? Going from the end of our life and working backwards, let's jump into the book of Revelation, chapter 20. And I thought this was so interesting, y'all, when I read it. Mind you, I've read it before, but it hit different this time. Revelation chapter 20, verse 12. It says, I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the book of life, and the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. So there's a book up there that is the book of life, where the names are written in it. There's also another book, and that book is where all the works that we've been called to work are recorded. And when I was praying through this, I was like, Lord, have mercy, Jesus, help me so that I don't miss what I'm supposed to be doing. And the way God gave it to me in prayer was there will be two columns listed, the works you were supposed to work and the works you actually worked, and they will be measured against themselves. And that just hit me so hard because I think sometimes we can get so busy in doing good things, and we can get so busy in thinking we are working certain works, but if it is not what God has called us to do, it's for not. There is a scripture in here that says, at the end of our life, when when all things can pass away, whatever will be burned in the fire will be burned. The only thing that will last is what is eternal. And if we are not careful, we will sit here and build a house out of straw or anything else that's flammable, but to the natural eye, it'll look amazing. And we will say, Wow, look at the works I've worked, look at the things I've done. And then when God sets holy fire to it because of judgment day, that thing will burn up and it'll be non-existent. And I don't know about you, but I don't want to work the works my whole life, and I get to the end of it, and I stand before God, and I have to give an account for what I was called to do, and there is nothing that matches up between the works I did and the works he called me to. It states in Ephesians 2 verse 10, for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, and y'all lean in so we can do the good works he's planned for us long ago. What good works did he plan long ago? They're written in the book. They're written in the book that he refers to in Revelation 20. So the good works that he says he's pre-arranged for us to walk in, those have been written down before we ever showed up on the earth. And he says, Oh, you know what? Felicia is going to be on the earth during this period of time, and these are the works that she is supposed to work so that the kingdom can be fulfilled in her generation. On September 19th, 2026, women will gather at the UNLV Student Union Ballroom for a powerful day of connection, encouragement, and renewal. The gathering 2026. There's a seat waiting just for you. And if I miss it, I will miss the fact that I have been created to do good works that have already been prearranged for me. And if I think I am the master of my life, the controller of my boat, and I'm going to, you know, take us wherever I want us to go. And, you know, I'm going to pick this job and marry this spouse and move to this place and do all these things without seeking the one who has created me to do these good works. I'm going to tell you this: my life is going to be an epic fail. Meaning, my life will be an epic fail in the view of the kingdom. It may look good on earth. I may have, you know, a nice family and a nice job. And I have, you know, the beautiful home and I take two to three vacations a year and I get all the things. I do all the things. But to heaven, I am not doing what I was created to do. I'm not walking in the things that I've been created to walk in. And so really, I want to call us to more time in prayer with God. More time seeking his face to know what it is that he's created us for. We have been created to do the works that he has prearranged for us to do long ago. And we need to seek the one who has already written them down in the book so that when we show up at the end of our life, like it says, when we have done the will of God in our own generation and we show up, we see his book and what has been written is exactly like what we did with the time that we had here because we sought the one who wrote the book, who wrote the assignment. It's kind of like if you go to school and uh the teacher gives you an assignment in English class and you turn it in and you've done math problems on the English test or the English assignment, and your teacher's like, wait a minute, you are totally in a different class giving me work from a totally different subject. We don't want that to be our life. We don't want that to be what's written in the book. We want to show up and say, hey, Ephesians 2.10, it said I was created for these good works. I show up and I say, hey, praise God, the good works that you prearranged for me. I spent time in your presence to where I was able to lean in and hear the quiet whispers of heaven to say, turn right, go straight, make a left, don't go there. Actually, don't go to that school, even though that's your heart's cry to go to that school. No, go to this school because there will be connections. There will be your husband. There will be opportunities or open doors. We never know what it is, but I what I do know is the one that holds my life in his hands and who has written my story before I've ever lived a day, like it says in Psalm, that is God. And that is the one who has the book in heaven with all the good works recorded. And that's who we need to be leaning into today. So if you're leaning in more to your own thoughts, more to culture, more to your feelings, more to you know, fear because of past failures or trauma, whatever it is, I would say turn that over to God and begin to seek him, the one who has written out your life, the one who has everything recorded in heaven, seek him. Spend time with him and allow him, like it says in Jeremiah 33, 3, ask and I will show you wonderful things that you know not of that is to come. He's basically saying, Hey, all those good works you want to know about, all the things I want you to walk in, all the things I want to do on the earth, ask me. Spend time, seek me, and you'll find me, like it says in Jeremiah 29, 13. Hey, when you seek me, you'll find me. When you seek me with your whole heart. So when we come with a heart posture of saying, Hey, daddy, I want to know what you have in store for me. I want to know how you want me to walk this thing out, I want to know how you want to use me in the earth, he says he will begin to reveal those things to you, and then you will begin to understand the good things that God has prearranged for you before you even showed up on the earth. If we want to look at our hero, our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords, he gives us a great example of what it looks like to die empty of assignment, to die empty of purpose, to die empty of the call that has been placed on their life. And we can jump into John chapter 19, verse 28. Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill the scripture, he said, I'm thirsty, verse 29. A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips, verse 30. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, It is finished. Then he bowed his head and released his spirit. Y'all, did you catch that? Jesus said in verse 28, it says Jesus understanding the assignment was coming to an end, that he had fulfilled his assignment, and then he spoke the words, it is finished. Three words that will forever change our eternal home, our eternal longitude and latitude of our lives is when he said, It is finished. Because when he finished his assignment, he gave us the baton to begin our assignment. And y'all, I want you to hear me. Jesus knew his assignment was finished. He spoke and said, My assignment is finished. And then he hung his head, he was buried, raised three days later, walked the earth, spent some time talking to folks, and then he ascended to sit on the right hand of the Father. And y'all, I want you to hear me. Jesus let us know that when his assignment was finished, it was finished. There was nothing else he could add to it. There was nothing else more he could do because he had done what he had come to do here on the earth. And one thing I think that I wrestle with sometimes is feeling as though I need to do more. Oh gosh, I need to do more than that. That can't be it. You can't be calling me just to do that. You can't be calling me just to be a stay-at-home mom or just to be, you know, a podcaster or just to be a Bible study teacher or or just a, you know, a chauffeur for my kids and a housekeeper for my family. It can't be just a, but I want you to understand that whatever the assignment is on your life, whatever the good works that God has prearranged with you for you before the foundation of the world, it's enough. And when you're finished, the assignment has come to an end. You too will be able to stand and say, Oh my gosh, in heaven, you'll hear, oh, the will of God has been done through Felicia's life and her generation. The will of God has been done through Mary's life and her generation. The will of God has been done through Sam's life and her generation. But I just want you guys to know that even Jesus shows us what it looks like when an assignment has been completed and he even had an assignment on his life. And when he fulfilled it, he said, It is finished. And when he echoed those words, it is finished, y'all, our assignment began. And it has not stopped until God comes back home. And we are just a relay runner of that assignment, which is to go into all the world and create disciples. That's the call. And the way in which we do that is the unique way in which we've been gifted. If we go back to Ephesians 2, verse 10. Those good works that he's called us to, that's the unique way in which we create disciples. That's the unique way in which we show the world what heaven is like. That's the unique way in which we show up and the world gets to see God. But if we don't take the baton that Jesus handed to us when he said it is finished, we won't get to work the good works that God has called us to. We won't receive the words that are written about David that they did the will of God in their own generation. And then when we stand before God in heaven and we have to give an account, our works won't line up with the works that He created us to do. What if your faith wasn't just surviving, but flourishing? Woman in the Word is for the woman who wants to grow deeper in scripture, walk boldly in purpose, and stay rooted even in dry seasons. This is more than just a book, it's a journey. Woman in the Word, flourish in your faith, walk in your purpose, and do it in your own style. Grab yours today on Bards and Noble, Amazon, or check the notes in the link below at woman.in the Word. So we know now how to die empty. Empty of assignment, empty of purpose, fulfilling the thing that God has placed on our life, working in the good works, and fulfilling all of that. But now let's switch gears and let's talk about what it looks like to also die full. I want to jump into Acts chapter 7, verse 54. And this is where Stephen has been preaching the gospel, and the people are not pleased. They are so upset that they um become infuriated by his words. And that's what we're gonna pick up. It says in verse 54 the Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen's accusations, and they shook their fist at him in rage. Verse 55. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand, and he told them, Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand, verse 57. Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they stoned him, verse 59, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He fell to his knees, shouting, Lord, don't charge them with this sin. And with that, he died. Y'all, I want you to hear me. He died full of faith. He died full of the Spirit of God. He died full of love, even though these people were stoning him to death. He died full, y'all. And the only way we can die empty, but still die full is when we stay connected to the source, the source of all things, the source of everything, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, our Savior, our sacrifice. We've got to stay connected to God and his word. We've got to stay connected to what he is saying through the scripture so that we can die empty of what he's called us to do. And so that we can die full of him with our eyes on heaven, like Stephen. And as our days are closing in, we can say, Oh man, I see that the heavens have opened up and I see, I see Jesus, and I'm on my way to meet him. And Lord, whatever I'm going through in this in this world, it can't compare to what I'm about to experience. And it says that Stephen, even in the midst of going through what he was going through, he said, Receive my spirit because my assignment is done, Lord. I've done what you've created me to do. I work the good works. I'm coming up to give my account for the works that are written in that book in comparison to what I did here on earth. And it says, full of the Holy Spirit, he was keeping his eyes on heaven. And that's how we die full. We keep our eyes on heaven. We don't get our eyes off of heaven and turn our eyes to our accusers. We don't get our eyes off of heaven and turn our eyes to our bills. We don't get our eyes off of heaven and turn our eyes to what's going on in the news or somebody else that you know is doing better than us seemingly in social media, whatever it is. We keep our eyes on heaven and then we stay full of him, his presence, his spirit. And then we can say, you know what, Lord, I've done what you called me to do. I've worked the good works. Now here, receive my spirit. That's what I hope is said of us when our life comes to an end. That we both died empty and that we died full, and that we did the will of God in our own generation, and we can stand before God saying, I've worked the good works that you had planned for me long ago. Thanks for hanging out with me in the Word. I hope it encouraged your heart and gave you something to carry into the rest of the week. If it spoke to you, share this with someone who might need it too. And hey, don't forget to follow or to subscribe so you don't miss out on what's next. Until then, keep showing up, keep listening, and let his word lead the way.