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The Effort of Rest part 5

12/31/2017 19:21

The Effort of Rest is, well, actually resting. And that can be hard. Because we, as a species, seem to find it much harder to do nothing than to do something. Anything. Usually the wrong thing. And I know there's a expression that says, "More is lost by indecision than wrong decision." But the BEST decision is to let love guide the way. Always. Because love never fails. And, listen, that does not mean that love gets YOU everything you want. If you've ever truly loved someone--with that giving everything you have and everything you are, laying your life down for your friend kind of love--you know that no matter how hard you love someone... people are going to do what they're going to do. And they aren't always--or even possibly ever--going to do what you want them to do. Now watch this (and this has been one of the hardest things for me to wrap my brain around ever since I became a father): Sometimes you have to let people make their own mistakes. Even when you know better. Even when you've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Even when you KNOW what's going to happen. Sometimes you have to try very hard to do nothing. Because you can't force your will on anybody. Again: people are going to do what they're going to do. And while you can--and should--be there to help and support... if you're in my circle I can almost guarantee you've heard me say, "I've got your back"... that doesn't mean that you can--or should--stop people from being who they are. That kind of control really doesn't exist. And its certainly not something that love (or the God who IS love) is interested in. How do I know? Because according to 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT), Love "...does not demand its own way..." Love never fails. Because love endures. When people aren't ready to accept love... love loves anyway. Not by shoving itself (HIMSELF) down anybody's throat... but simply by being there when its (HE'S) needed. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, right? The name of the Lord is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. Whoever calls on LOVE will be saved. Because love is our savior. When we were sinners, and had nothing to offer God, He showed His love for us by giving His life for us and give His life to us. He didn't demand anything from us. The Law demanded perfection without being able to produce perfection. That's why Jesus nailed it to the cross--because it was contrary to us. Against us. All the Law could do was point out what was wrong with us. Jesus came to show us what is right with us. He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He didn't say, "Get right or get left." He didn't say, "Shape up or ship out." He said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." He said, "I love you, I love you, I love you and I can't stop loving you!" He wanted us to have His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life, and He knew we couldn't earn it. So He gave it to us. HE finished the work so that we could enjoy the fruit of His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. He did the work so that we could rest. And the Effort of Rest is to STOP with the works and labor (that don't work) and BELIEVE that the work is finished. Believe that we CAN rest. Rest... Holy Spirit directed activity. Rest... loving with the love that we are loved with. Receiving and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it!

The Effort of Rest part 4

12/30/2017 20:25

I really believe the hardest part of rest--the part that requires the most effort--is believing that its available. And not only available, but that it has already been given to us. We don't need to get it. We can't earn it. All we need to do is receive it and release it. And therein lies the key: We receive it BY releasing it. Because rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And, like I always say, the Holy Spirit only ever directs us to do one thing. Love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The ultimate truth of the universe that goes like this: God is love and He loves you. And the Holy Spirit leads and guides us into that truth by testifying of our true selves. By testifying of Jesus. Telling us who we really are by telling us who Jesus really is. And who Jesus really is--who we really are--is God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's the truth of the matter. God loves you. No matter what. And He is pleased with you. Not because of what you do, but becauses of who you are. Because of who HE is. Which, again, is love. So when we talk about Jesus living inside of us, what we're really talking about is LOVE living inside of us. The very thing we spend so much of our lives, our three T's (time, talent, treasure), trying to get is the very thing that we've always had. We just didn't know we had it. That's why we tried to get it. That's why its so hard sometimes to believe that we have it. It doesn't make sense to the carnal mind that we can be loved for no other reason than that God IS love. It seems like love is something that must be earned. But the truth is, it CAN'T be earned. It is freely given... or it isn't love at all. Because love IS giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are without expecting to get anything at all. Laying your life down for your friends. But you can't do that from a place of lack. You can't do that if you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to get something. Because you can't give what you don't have. You can't give love until you know (and believe) that you ARE loved. The effort it takes to rest is being still and knowing that God is God. That God is love. That God loves you. Knowing it with a knowledge that passes knowledge. Not head knowledge... but heart knowledge. Unshakeable foundation knowledge. Building your life on the simple truth that you ARE loved knowledge. And staying right there no matter what. Standing on the Rock and knowing that you cannot be shaken. Setting your affection on things above, and not on things on the earth. Walking by faith and not by sight. Giving what you've got instead of trying to get something you (think you) haven't got. And, again, that's the key to the whole thing. Because, again, you can't give what you don't have. So when love becomes charity and you act in love it proves that you believe--at least on some level--that you ARE loved. It is the very best (possibly the only) way to receive that gift you've been given. By sharing it. Giving it away. And, in that way, experiencing it. Living Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting HIM live it in you, and through you, and as you! Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing!

The Effort of Rest part 3

12/29/2017 19:21

Its hard to believe. Hard to believe that someone--ANYONE, much less God Himself--would be willing to die for us. I always thought that was a pretty noble thing when I thought about the Secret Service. Like, you KNOW your whole job is proving that someone else's life is worth more than yours. That's something not everybody can do. And that's for the President. The leader of our country. Somebody important. Let me say what I'm trying to say with Romans 5:7 (NLT), "Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good." In other words... its a big deal. Not something that is expected. Something special. Which makes the next verse even more mindblowing. "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners" (Romans 5:8 NLT). When we had nothing to offer God... He gave us everything. Everything He had. Everything He was (is). He finished the work that we could NOT finish. We tried to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows, but that wasn't the sacrifice God required. So Jesus sweated great drops of blood, redeeming us from that cursed dimension (and I always like to point out that God cursed the ground. Not the man). The point I'm trying to make is that the Effort of Rest is believing that we CAN rest. Believing that when we were at our worst, God still thought enough of us to give us His best. Not because He wanted anything FROM us, but simply because He loved us and wanted everything FOR us. He wanted the best for us. So He gave the best to us. He gave us His only begotten Son so that we might not perish but experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. And, again, He gave it to us because He wanted us to have it. We couldn't get it for ourselves, no matter how hard we tried. Under the religious law there is always one thing you lack. But look at Galatians 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Remember, Jesus died so we could die. And He rose again to life so we could live. Dead to sin (unbelief) and alive unto God (love). The Effort of Rest is believing that God loves you. Because when you know (and believe) the truth... it sets you free and makes you free. When you listen to the lie that the world is screaming in your face--that you have to do in order to be... that you're not good enough... that you have to earn every scrap and every shred--you end up running circles in that hamster wheel. Banging your head against the wall and only ending up with a headache. Trying to be someone you're not so you can get something you (think you) haven't got. And as exhausting, and futile, as that is... it "makes more sense" a lot of the time than listening to that still, small voice deep inside your heart that says, "I love you, I love you, I can't stop loving you. I can't do anything BUT love you. Because I am love. Because you are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!" That's the ultimate truth of the universe. That's the not too good to be true, but so good that it must be true Word of God. And faith comes from hearing that Word. What we see is what we be. What we hear is what we believe. See love. Be love. Hear love. Believe love!

The Effort of Rest part 2

12/28/2017 19:39

I think the hardest part (the part that takes the most effort) of rest... is getting over yourself. Getting to the point where you actually believe the good news of the gospel. Believing that you are who the Word of the Lord (which is Jesus, which is love) says you are. Because you have to believe it despite what things look like. You literally have to walk by faith and not by sight. But that's ok, because faith comes from hearing, and hearing from that spoken Word of God. Hearing that still, small voice inside that says, "I love you, I love you, I love you" with every beat of God's heart in your chest is what allows you to see past what things look like. Its the unseen things that we look at, the unseen things that are eternal, right? And listen to this: Truth is higher than fact. The fact of the matter may be that you've made some mistakes in your life. But the truth of the matter is that God's grace is sufficient for thee! Look at Hebrews 6:15 (NLT), "Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised." Now think about that for a minute. Did Abraham, in fact, wait patiently for the child God had promised him and his wife Sarah? Or did he slide over to his servant's tent in order to try to take a shortcut? But when we get to the New Testament, the New Covenant, we see that grace rewrote Abraham's story. He is the father of faith. Because dispite his shortcomings, he DID believe God. He just thought he had to help out a little bit. He just thought he had some work to do. He didn't realize that work was finished. He tried to make something happen. He tried to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. He tired works and labor. And works and labor don't work. Unless you're laboring to get into that rest. Which, again, means to make haste. Hurry up and knock it off, if I can say it that way. Stop trying to finish a work that IS finished. And don't worry about all the blood, sweat, and tears you've poured into it. Even if by trying to help you've actually (probably) made things worse. Don't worry about what's come before. What comes next is what's really exciting. Because when you do get into that rest--again, when you hurry up and stop working--that's when things start to flow. That's when you can stop trying to be someone you're not and just be who you are. That's when you can stop trying to get something you (think you) haven't got and just enjoy the gift of God that you've already been given. And don't get me wrong, rest is NOT inactivtiy. Rest is NOT sitting down and crossing your arms and saying, "I'm not doing anything else." (But, real quick, there are times when you SHOULD cross your arms and not do anything else. But I'll addresss that later.) Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth--the truth that God is love and He loves you--the Holy Spirit will only ever direct you to love. Pretty simple, right? The effort of rest is the maximum effort of love. Not trying to get anything, but receiving and releasing the love that you have been given. And, as I've mentioned, and touched on here, the hardest part (the most effort) comes in the receiving. Because the key to receiving... is releasing!

The Effort of Rest part 1

12/27/2017 20:09

The effort of rest. Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Well, let's spend a few days unwrapping this concept. Because (I've said this many times before) my pastor taught me to preach something until my heart is empty of it. And I can't, yet, get off this idea of maximum effort. As always, I believe love IS the maximum effort you can give--giving everything you have and everything you are. You literally can't give more than that. How could you? But while we're putting forth all of this effort... it HAS to come from a posture of rest. The effort is GIVING what we have, not GETTING something we don't have. If you're trying to get something, it doesn't matter how hard you try. You reach for the carrot, but the stick moves just out reach. There's always one thing you lack, when it comes to the man-centered, performance based relgion. And that one thing that you lack--and will always lack, when you're trying to earn something that can't be earned--is rest. Look at Hebrews 4:11 so I can build the foundation for this Rant series before I get too far into it. In the New International Version, "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience." And, yes, I did pick that translation because it uses the word "effort." The KJV has the even more taboo (at least in religious circles) word, "labor." Labor to enter into rest. Which makes it seem like we do the work, then we can rest. But that's the trap we fall into so many times: We try to finish a work that is already finished. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. There was never a time when the work WASN'T finished. And, yes, it took Jesus giving His life for us and to us on the cross for the manifestation and fulness of that finished work to come to light, but it was never in doubt. And it was never up to you to finish it. In fact, in the good old King James Version the word "labor" in Hebrews 4:11 is number 4704 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to use speed." Basically--hurry up and enter into the rest that is available to you. Stop trying to earn that gift that can't be earned. That gift that has already been freely given. That gift that must simply be received and released. And that, to me, is where the effort really comes in. Because God's love seems too good to be true. It really does. That someone would be willing to lay their life down for us... and not because they wanted anything FROM us, but simply because they wanted the best FOR us... that boggles the mind. We don't think we're worth it. Because I've been right there with me for the very worst things I've ever done. And you've been right there with you. We know what we're capable of, and it isn't always something to brag about. But even when it isn't, God love you. Unconditionally. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are. And because of who HE is. Because the work IS finished. And now we can rest in the loving arms of our heavenly Father. We can let God love the hell out of us, and then we can love the hell out of each other with that same love that we are loved with!

Two Men part 5

12/26/2017 20:04

First there was Adam. But REALLY... first there was Jesus. In the beginning was the Word (Jesus, LOVE), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. So this beast nature, this Adam mindset, is NOT our original setting, if I can say it that way. The problem was that even though we were made in the image of God... we didn't know what that image was. We didn't know what WE looked like, because we didn't know what HE looked like. Because it was dark. There was no light for us to see by. So we stumbled around in the dark, trying to get something we thought we didn't have. Trying to be someone we thought we weren't. It wasn't until the appointed time of the cross that God conformed us to the image of His Son. His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. On the cross the light of the world shined brightly. So that we could see clearly. See God clearly--not as a distant, angry taskmaster who was just waiting for us to mess up so He could get us... but as a loving heavenly Father who, on the cross, got us. And not in a negative way, but in the most positive way possible. On the cross Jesus drew all men into Himself. He planted Himself in all men. So that we could, in a sense, come out of Adam and into Jesus. Out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. The land that flows with milk (righteousness) and honey (revelation). The revelation that we ARE the righteousness of God in Christ. The relvelation... of Jesus. Who He really is, and who we really are. (Did I already say that? Because I'm gonna keep saying it.) So while in the eyes of God there are only two men that have ever lived... REALLY He has only ever seen us for who we are. When God looks at us He sees Jesus. And when He looks at Jesus He sees us. Because we are in Christ. Because Christ is in us. Its that Identity Crisis (my first Jesus book) that always gets us into so much trouble. Thinking we're less than. Believing the lie (which is sin, or unbelief) that says we have to do in order to be. That says we have to earn something that can't be earned. That says we are not who God says we are. And that, friends, is really what faith comes down to: Believing that you ARE who God says you are. Listening to that still, small voice deep inside your heart that tells you the ultimate truth of the universe--that God is love and He loves you. That the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That YOU are that Son that God loves, and is pleased with, and has given everything to. We have it all. God wanted the best for us, so He gave the best to us. Jesus didn't just give His life for us, He gave it to us. So that we could experience it as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. So that we might know the truth and let the truth set us free and make us free. There WERE two men, and they both died on the cross. Then ONE man--the Son of man, Jesus, the Lord from heaven--rose again to abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. And that's what we have because of the work HE finished. That's the life of love we can live by letting God love us and loving each other with that same love!

Two Men part 4

12/25/2017 19:31

Two men. Also known as two mindsets, if I can say it that way. Adam, of the earth, earthy. Tied to the earth realm, or the sense realm. Walking by sight, but stumbling around because in the beginning it was dark. The light of the world wasn't shining yet. The light that Jesus is. The light that we are. Jesus, the Lord from heaven. Bringing heaven to earth. And here's what I want to say today: "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). And what I want to focus on today is the word "set." Because, like I said, its a mindset. An attitude of gratitude. Or an attitude of lack. Living out of what you think you have according to what the world tells you you have, and working to try to get more (and, as always, I'm not against hard work. Paul said, "If you don't work, you don't eat. I'm talking about working WITH what you have instead of working FOR what you think you don't have). Or receiving the gift you've been given and sharing what you've got. Setting your affection, or your thoughts, on things above. The higher things. The high life. The abundant life that Jesus gave us when He gave His life for us, and to us. The days of heaven on earth. Ruling and reigning as kings and priests on the earth. Knowing who we are, and BEING who we are through that knowledge of Christ. Remember, you can't believe something you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. You know it, then you believe it. And that's important because what you do flows from what you believe. I think we have a lot of insticts, but I think one of the most powerful truths about humans is that we do what we learn. So much of our lives comes from learned behavior. "Why did you do that?" Because that's what I was taught. Or because that's what I saw someone else do. Monkey see, monkey do, right? Which, of course, is why that light we were talking about earlier is so important; what you see is what you be. When you see God clearly (as a loving heavenly Father), you be His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And, since we're kind of comparing and contrasting those two men, I want to point out that Luke 3:38 identifies Adam as the son of God. The difference between Adam and Jesus (both sons of God) is that Jesus KNEW He was God's only begotten Son. Jesus KNEW the love of His Father. While, even though Adam was absolutely loved by God, Adam didn't know it. He tried to eat a piece of fruit in order to be like God. He was made in God's image, but didn't know what God looked like. Didn't know what he HIMSELF looked like. So he tried to be someone else. When all God has ever wanted for us is for us to be our very best self. Not to try to live Jesus' life (nobody can do that except Jesus), but to EXPERIENCE Jesus' life as HE lives it HIMSELF in us, and through us, and as us. And we do that by LETTING Him live His own life. By setting our affection on the thing (singular, love) that really matters. By letting go of all that "stuff" that holds us back and holds us down, and letting the love of the Father come out of us as we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with!

Two Men part 3

12/24/2017 19:36

I mean, realistically, there's only the One man. The Son of man. Jesus. I've said a couple of times in this Rant series that the only two men who have ever lived (Jesus and Adam) both died on the cross. Jesus drew all men into Himself when He was lifted up from the earth on the cross. And then He died. Now people will say, "Jesus died so you can live." And I guess that's not the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. But the truth is: Jesus died so you could DIE. We needed the second death before we could have the new birth. The first death, of course, was when Adam ate from the tree of death and died. The second death was Jesus giving His life for us, and giving His life to us. So, in reality, Jesus did so we could die... and He rose again so we could live. Because it is Jesus who lives in us. It is Jesus' everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life that we get to experience as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. Certainly not Adam. And I think that's the trouble we get into so often--we try to be someone we're not. We try to follow in Jesus' foot steps instead of letting Him make His own foot steps with our feet. We try to be someone we're not so that we can get something we think we haven't got. And all we end up getting is frustrated. We bang our head against the wall and only end up with a headache. We try to fit a square peg into a round hole and we knock our edges off. We lose what makes us... us. Because God doesn't want religious robots. God wants you to be... you. The best you that you can be. The you that does those things that light your heart on fire... in service to Him. I'll go ahead and use myself as my usual example. I'm a writer. When I'm writing... I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. It just feels right. As hard as it is sometimes, writing gives me a sense of peace. But it wasn't until I started writing "Jesus books" or doing my daily Rants that my writing started to accomplish something. So, see, God didn't want to be someone I'm not. He made me exactly the way He wanted me to be. What God wanted was for me to be me... in Him. To do what I was made to do... in love. With love. For love. That's the biggest difference between the Two Men. The blood, right? One that cried out for vengeance, and One that brought forgiveness. One that tried to get, get, get... and One that only knows how to give, give, give. Because love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. God showed His love for us by GIVING His life for us when we were yet sinners. When we had nothing to offer Him, He gave us everything He had. Everything we would (or could) ever need. Simply because He loved us. Simply because He wanted us to have it. God wanted us to experience His (again) abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. So He gave it to us. He got rid of everything else so that only love remains. Because only love matters. Letting God love us and loving each other with that same love. Receiving and releasing (and in that way experiencing) the gift that we've been given. That's what the cross was all about. That's what this life is all about. That's what Jesus (God, love) is all about!

Two Men part 2

12/23/2017 19:52

In the eyes of God, there are only two men who have ever lived. The first Adam (man's representative before the cross), and the last Adam--Jesus. And here's the difference, "You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24 NLT). See, Abel's blood spoke of vengeance. That idea of this angry, vengeful God--as seen through an angry, vengeful humanity's perspective--is what gets us into a lot of trouble sometimes. Especially when that's what we present to others in order to try to "scare them straight." We don't seem to realize that it is the GOODNESS of God that leads men to repentance. Seeing something BETTER than what they thought they had. Which, actually, is what the KJV says in our verse in Hebrews, "And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Jesus blood speaks better things. Because it speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance. And that's what Jesus literally did on the cross. He cried out, "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do." And while I believe He meant that towards the people that were physically nailing Him to the cross, I also believe He meant that for all of humanity. Because, as we saw in the last Rant series, we didn't have a clue. We didn't know what we were doing. It was dark out, and we were just stumbling around trying to get something we thought we didn't have. Something we DID have, but something we thought was too good to be true. Something we thought we needed to earn, but something that was freely given. All we ever have to do, when it comes to the gift of God, is receive it and release it. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Stop looking for vengeance and start experiencing forgivneness. You have been forgiven, so you can forgive. (The whole, you can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have, thing.) And that's the difference between the two men. Its the blood. The DNA. (On this side of the cross, DNA is Divine Nature of the Almighty.) Its a better covenant with better promises. A better blood that speaks of better things. And watch this: God's heart beats with love in our chest, right? So the blood is what carries that love throughout the body. We are all parts of that body of Christ. We carry blood--LOVE--to each other. We are connected because of that blood (LOVE). See, there are only two men that have ever lived. And they both died on the cross. But the blood of Jesus--the everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life of God--made sure that only One New Man rose again. And we're in Him because He's in us. We LIVE in Him because He lives in us. His blood flows through our veins. Of the two men... only Jesus, the Lord from heaven, remains. Its His life, and we're just experiencing it as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us! Its not a life of trying to get. Its a life of giving what you've got. Giving the LOVE that you've got. LIVING by LOVING!

Two Men part 1

12/22/2017 19:53

In my favorite Western (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) they spend the whole three hours of the movie talking about how there are two kinds of people. My favorite part is when its time to dig up the grave full of treasure and Clint Eastwood (who is holding the loaded gun) says, "There's two kinds of people: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig." But, again, they use it all throughout the movie. And while we're not necessarily talking about loaded guns--even though I HAVE related love to the only bullet we need in our Spiritual warfare--the fact remains that there are only two people (two men) who have ever lived. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:47, "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." And to me this is a very important distinction that needs to be made. Because the first man, Adam, was formed from the dust of the ground. I heard one preacher say, "Adam was a dirtbag." He was tied directly to that selfish, soulish, earth realm. Doing what feels good to the five senses. Trying to make yourself happy, even at the expense of others. And I think that's what a lot of people think life is all about. That's even what Ecclesiastes is all about, right? Trying to find meaning in your life in any way you can. And thinking that "stuff" is a good way to do that. "Whoever dies with the most toys wins." But I don't think that's much of anything. I don't think the world has much to offer. I keep saying it: Even if you win the rat race, all you become is king rat. I'd rather know my true identity as a king priest. I'd rather be the guy with the loaded gun, so to speak, than the guy who has to do the digging. Looking for love in all the wrong places will only ever wear you slap out and frustrate you to no end. Because trying to earn something that can't be earned--that you, in truth, already have--is impossible. And while you're looking for that love in all the wrong places--trying to enter the sheepfold any other way but the through the door--what you're really doing is robbing yourself of the gift you've been given. Remember when Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray and He said, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). See, He was bringing heaven TO earth. He was showing us a more excellent way. "Thy will be done." What is God's will? Well, God is love. So His will is TO love. His will is for us to love each other as He loves us. To receive and release His love. That's what it means that the second man, Jesus, is the Lord from heaven. Remember in the last Rant series we saw that we know that we have passed out of death and into life because of love? Love is the difference between life and death. Love is the difference between heaven and earth. The days of heaven ON earth are days of LOVE on earth. Right now. Being loved and loving each other. So... there are two kinds of people: Those who know they are loved, and those that don't know it yet...!

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