Jesus stands at the door and knocks. The door of our hearts. Which, when you consider that He already lives in our hearts, seems like a very gentlemanly thing to do. Its His house. He built it. WE are the house that the carpenter Jesus built. (And yes, I realize carpenters traditionally build things like furniture and not necessarily houses, but just go down the road with me.) So for Him to be the builder of the house, and to still refuse to claim any rights--because He gave what He built to us, as a gift... because, again, we ARE what He built--to prepare a meal for us and then to stand at the door and knock, waiting for us to invite Him in to share the meal that He prepared... the meal that He IS... that's a special kind of love. A sacrificial kind of love. Giving everything you have and everything you are, and not even worrying about what comes next. Not giving in order to get something, but giving because you have something worth sharing. Giving because you want the person you're giving it to to have it. No ulterior motive. Becuase love IS the motive. It blows me away that when we were yet sinners, when we had absolutely nothing to offer God, He gave us everything. He literally gave His life for us, and He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. So that we could know God as Father, and know ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And that Father/Son relationship comes from eating that love feast of bread and wine, Lamb and living water. It comes from understanding that we are the branches on the Tree of Life. We bear the fruit of the Spirit (which is love), and we partake of that fruit. Its so important to understand what it means to sup with Jesus. Because you are what you eat. If you chow down on what the world has to offer, you'll end up believing any number of things. First and foremost that you're not good enough. That's what the world has to offer. And, kind of unfortunately, that's what the church world has to offer. This hamster wheel of man-centered, performance-based religion. "You're not good enough. But if you do this, this, and this..." You reach for the carrot, but the stick keeps moving. There's always one thing you lack, in that sort of situation. And while you're trying to grab that carrot, there's an entire six-course meal (The Six Steps to the Throne... Jesus being Crucified, Dying, being Buried, being Quickened, Raised, and Seated) that has been prepared for you in the presence of your enemies. An entire love feast. And all you have to is open the door. Open your heart. Sit down at the family table. Take your place at the right hand of the Father. Know that you can eat your fill, and have plenty left over to share. Know that if Daddy has a spot, you have a spot. Know that "what's mine is yours," from God's point of view. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. He gave us everything He has and everything He is. Set the table for us and made it available. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I know you're hungry. Sit down and eat!

You are what you eat. Really. Naturally AND Spiritually. If you eat junk food, you won't be entering any body building competitions. If you "eat" or digest what the world has to offer, you'll think you're not worthy of love. (Unfortunately, the same can be said for what a lot of the church world seems to be offering these days.) But when the Bible says, "God is love" in 1 John 4:8 the Word "love" means "love feast." And the aspect of that meal--the only meal that can satisfy our appetite--that I want to focus on today is the idea of a feast. Of being able to eat all you want. And having leftovers. Having more than enough. Living out of abundance. Having enough for yourself, and your family (we talked about the Son always having a seat at Daddy's table, right?), AND anybody else who is hungry. The whole idea behind the Parable of the banquet in Luke chapter 14. And I don't want to recite the whole parable here, but I want to hit on a few verses. Luke 14:21-23, "So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." I'm not even going to get into how the original invitees rejected the offer. That's for another time. All I want to focus on today is that no matter how many people come to the table, "...yet there is room..." And I want to focus on "...compel them to come in..." Because I'm telling you: We have what everybody wants. What everybody NEEDS. We have the only thing that can satisfy an appetite for love. Which, of course, is love. That's HOW we live out of our abundance, because love is what MAKES the abundant life abundant. And since this is a love FEAST, there's more than enough for everybody. So we can be generous with it. I love that saying, "Nobody ever went broke by being generous." The more you take... the less you have. But the more you give... the more you experience. Because love IS giving. If you want to feel love... love somebody. Stop trying to get something you think you haven't got. Stop living from a posture of lack. Start enjoying what you got. Because we have already have it all. We have already been blessed with all Spiritual blessings, and we have already been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. We have been given the gift of God. Knowing the one true God and the One whom He sent. Knowing God as heavenly Father and knowing ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Knowing love because we are known BY love. Feasting on the ultimate truth of the universe--God is love and He loves you--and sharing that meal with everybody else. Compelling them to come by offering them a more excellent way. Offering them their heart's desire. Offering them what we have. Meals are meant to be shared. Especially the meal that is Jesus' body and blood. Bread and wine. Lamb and living water. The love feast. There is more than enough love to go around. So stop trying to get something and start giving something away!

It IS kind of a tricky subject... the idea of eating WITH Jesus by EATING Jesus. In fact, when He preached about it He lost a bunch of followers. Because it seems, well, crazy. Especially, I imagine, back then when a real life flesh and blood person was telling people to eat His flesh and drink His blood. But, of course, Jesus was speaking Spiritually. There is no recorded account of anybody taking any bites out of Him. And He even went on to explain during what we've come to know as communion that the bread was His body and the wine was His blood. But I think even more so than the physical act of eating the bread and drinking the wine (which, for the record, I'm not against), the important part is the "remembrance of me" part. Supping with Him by supping with each other. Sharing that meal. That experience. I'm completely convinced that experiences are more real, and more powerful, when they're shared. "Did you see that movie?" Because we want to know if other people felt the same way we felt. We want to be moved... together. To know that we're not alone. And even if I saw it and liked it, and you saw it and hated it, at least we both went through the same thing. I think my memory verse for today is going to be Genesis 2:18, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him." And, truth be told, I'm a pretty solitary guy. I don't flourish in social interactions. I've had people tell me that I come off as rude, or standoffish. When the truth of the matter is... I'm just really awkward. I'm good at writing, but that's how I get my words out. Anyway, my point is, even as a pretty solitary guy I know that lonliness is a killer. And there's nothing worse than feeling lonely when you're surrounded by people. Not having any connections to anybody. Feeling like nobody gets you. That's hard. And I think a lot of us feel that way. We're so desparate for that connection that we'll settle for just about anything. We'll stay in abusive relationships because "something's gotta be better than nothing, right?" But I know--I KNOW--that its not until you get the RIGHT thing that you'll truly be "ok." When you find that source of that love that you so desire, and stop looking for love in all the wrong places. We try so hard to fill that God-shaped (love-shaped) void that we feel inside of us. And I mean, we'll try ANYTHING to fill it. But nothing will fit a God-shaped (love-shaped) void... except God. Except love. That's why God gave us His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth--so that we might know and believe the truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. Nothing will satisfy our appetite except the love feast that Jesus prepared for us in the presence of our enemies. Nothing else can. We want love. That's why the Word Love in our key verse for this Rant series (1 John 4:8) MEANS "love feast." Because we are what we eat. What we do flows from what we believe. Jesus was always talking about food. To the point where He identified Himself as our meal. Because we are what we eat. When we feast on love--and tomorrow I think I'm going to hit the point about what a feast really is--when we feast on love we get filled up. To overflowing. So that what's inside can come out. Naturally. The LOVE inside can come out because we know and believe that its (HE'S) in there!

A big part of life is supping, or eating, with each other. Gathering around the family table. And I know "in this day and age" when it seems like we go, go, go and rarely ever have a chance to sit down and break bread, this concept may have lost some of its... not appeal, exactly, because I think there is something ingrained about eating together. Its like going to a movie by yourself, you get the same show, but its just not as appealing. So I think maybe what has been lost is more the... I don't want to say "tradition" because that's a dirty word in religious circles, right? But it kind of fits. Because it seems like (I'm old, but I'm not THAT old so I can't say for sure) family dinners every night were a staple. At least according to Leave it to Beaver. But when I was growing up it was Sunday dinner. That was the one that we made a big deal about. At least once a week. To come together and fellowship. Touch base. Check in. Connect. And that's why I rambled my way through half of this Rant. To get to the point about shared meals being about shared connections. Shared experiences. Relationship. So when Jesus stands at the door and knocks, with the offer of food on the table, its really an invitation to more than just something to eat. And, listen, even if that was all that Jesus was offering--a hot meal for an empty stomach--that would be more than most people offer. More than the world offers most of the time. And if the world DOES offer you something to eat, well, the phrase "there's no such thing as a free lunch" exists for a reason. The world will give, but only so it can get. God gave everything He had and everything He is so that we could have it. He wanted us to have the best of everything, so He gave His life for us, and gave His life to us. Now we have it. The six course meal (the Six Steps to the Throne) that was prepared in the presence of our enemies on the cross is available. Didn't Jesus preach quite a bit about those who are hungry and those who are thirsty? About how if you're thirsty, come a drink from the river of living water? Its available to us. Its at our fingertips. In fact (in TRUTH) its INSIDE us. Because Jesus lives inside us. He is the living water. He is the bread and the wine. He is the Lamb. When we eat WITH Him... we eat HIM. We eat His body and drink His blood. Feasting on the love of God so that we can experience the life of God. The abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that Jesus lives in us, and through us, and as us. What I think I'm trying to say today is shared experience. When Jesus offered to sup with us, He was offering us... Himself. God gave us His only begotten Son so that we might know ourselves AS His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. We were made in His image. Then on the cross we were conformed to the image of His Son. Now we can eat at the family table, because we know that we are part of the family. We know who Daddy is. And, like I always tell my son, Logan: If I've got a spot... you've got a spot. We don't have to miss out on anything, because everything is available to us. Has already been given to us. And simply needs to be received and released. Experienced. Shared!

First things first: While I have been known to say, "Sup?" instead of "What's up?" that's not what this Rant series is about. Its about love. (That should be pretty obvious by now, right?) Its about Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Opening up your heart to love, and experiencing the love feast. Which, by the way, is what the word "love" in 1 John 4:8 means. "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Love is number 26 in Strong's Greek Concordance. "love, that is, affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - feast of charity." And charity, of course, is love in action. So its a feeding of the hungry. That's what Jesus was talking about when He said He would sup with us. He was talking about sharing a meal. He was talking about satisfying our appetite with the only thing that WILL satisfy it. He was talking about the bread and the wine. The Lamb and the living water. Because you are what you eat. What you see is believe. Not with natural eyes, not on the surface stuff, but with the dove's eyes of the Holy Spirit. Not looking AT things (or people) but looking INTO things (and people). Seeing what beneath the surface. What's deep inside. Because the deep calls out to the deep. The Word--which is Jesus, which is love--in me calls out to the Word--again, Jesus... love--in you. And that connection happens at the supper table. Sharing that meal that is love. Receiving it and releasing it. Experiencing the gift we've been given... by giving it away. By sharing it. Jesus said, "If any man hears my voice." And that's a theme in Revelation. Eyes to see. Ears to hear. Not hearing what the world is screaming at us. "You're not good enough." "You need to try harder." I did a Guerrilla Gospel video today about the idea of "enough." How once you've given everything you have and everything you are, its either enough... or its not. And either way you've done everything you can do. You can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. And you can't give MORE than what you've got. You can't be anyone but who you are. So knowing who you are is vitally important. Believing that still, small voice inside (that you is Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts) is what allows to be loved, and to love each other with that same love. To sit down and eat the six course meal (the Six Steps to the Throne) that Jesus prepared for us in the presence of our enemies. Jesus set the table, and the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Not, "come... or else," but, "come and get it!" Its all available to us. All we have to do is open up our hearts. Be open to love. Give love a chance. Eat the fruit from the Tree of Life... and live! Because the fruit of the Spirit is love. We feast on that love and then we can share that love. We ARE loved... so we CAN love. We can experience everything God has for us by filling ourselves to overflowing with what HE has filled us with. One more time... by receiving it and releasing it!

We always want to wage war. Especially between the head and the heart. We want things to "make sense" but we also want things to "feel right." And a lot of the time those two don't line up. Its only when we understand that the heart of the God and the mind of Christ are the same thing that we can stop fighting. The ONLY fight we're supposed to participate in, in the New Testament, is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Which doesn't mean GETTING eternal life. That's the gift of God, and that's something we don't NEED... that's something we HAVE. Laying hold of it means receiving it. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Experiencing eternal life... by living. Remember I said the heart only knows one thing? The heart knows love. And since living and loving don't just go together, but are in fact the same thing, the heart only knows life. Which makes sense. Because if your heart stops beating... you stop living. To live is to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. Eternal life is a life of love. Because love never fails. It never gives up, or stops, or goes away. And, listen, I'm not saying everybody you've ever loved in your life will BE in your life for your whole life. That's not realistic. But they remain in your heart. So they live with you, in a sense, forever. Even our loved ones who physically die. The mark they left on us remains. But I feel like I might be getting off track a little bit. So let me get back to where I think I wanted to be to end this Rant series. The head vs the heart. Head knowledge, or trying to make things make sense, vs heart knowledge, or what we know deep down inside to be true. And that's the difference. That's the key. There's a truth that goes like this, "God is love and He loves you." And although the fact of the matter may make it seem like we don't deserve love--because of our mistakes, or our bad choices, or what have you--the truth of the matter is that deserve's got nothing to do with it. God doesn't love us because we deserve it. God loves us because God is love. Period. When we had nothing to offer Him, He hung on a cross and died for us. He gave His life for us, and He gave His life to us. Not because He wanted something FROM us, but because He wanted something FOR us. He wanted to give something TO us. That's what love is; giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. Not because you can get something out of it. But because you have something to give. Something that everybody needs. The heart knows love. That's the desire of the heart. And its a knowledge that passes knowledge. Because truth is higher than fact. Because the head might "know" something, but when you experience something the heart KNOWS it. And a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. "Cool theory, bro. But I have a PHD. Personally Have Done it. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." The heart knows what it knows because the only way it knows anything is to experience it. To be loved, and to love others with that same love!

When we listen to our hearts--to that still, small voice inside of us--we get our perspectives straight. Because the heart only knows one thing. It only wants one thing. Love. And when I say it only wants love, that doesn't mean it wants something it doesn't have. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. So when I say the heart only wants love, that means the heart only wants to GIVE love. Give what its got. Give what it (HE) is! Love is giving everything you are and everything you have. That's what the heart wants. And it might seem like the heart wants someone to do that to them... but in reality the heart gives everything it has and everything it is no matter what else happens. Regardless of the situation, or the result. Remember, Paul wrote, "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me" (2 Corinthians 12:15 NLT). Gladly giving. Because, as we know, God loves a cheerful giver, right? Because, as we know, a cheerful giver is a cheerful lover. Even though. It doesn't matter what happens when you love someone. You give, not in order to get something, but because you have something. And if they receive it... great. And if they don't, that's ok too. Because you did what you could do. And that's all you CAN do. Do your best and forget the rest. Give it your all and then be happy that you gave it your all. Because when you give something everything you've got, its either enough... or its not. And either way there's nothing else you can do. So our heart isn't looking for results. That's not what the heart wants. That's not what the heart knows. The heart knows that the point of loving someone is in the act of loving them, and not in what comes next. And that kind of knowledge passes knowledge. A lot of times it seems like we try to determine whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze, before we're willing to put ourselves out there. "Don't cross oceans for people that won't jump a puddle for you." Conventional wisdom, right? But I say cross that ocean. Don't love people because of what they've done for you. Or might do for you. Don't even love people because of who they are (unless you're looking at it from the perspective of, "They're a person so they deserve love," which, by the way, is the right perspective to have). Love people because of who YOU are. Don't worry about getting anything. Just give what you've got. The heart knows what to do. The heart knows where to be. Do you know why people seem so uncomfortable so much of the time? Because they don't follow their heart. They try to fit in when they were made to stand out. They try to get, get, get when they already have everything they need and they should be giving, giving, giving. That's what the heart knows--I am loved. I can love. I AM love. And that kind of knowledge certainly passes knowledge. That kind of knowledge gives you something to believe in. And when you know and believe the love of Christ... that's when what's inside WILL come out. Naturally. When you know love... you WILL love!

This is what the heart knows: Love. The heart knows how to love, and the heart knows how to respond to love. And here's a key for you: You respond to love by loving. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Letting God love you, and loving Him back by loving others. That's what the heart knows. And that's ALL the heart knows. That's why sometimes when things "make sense" to the brain, they still don't feel right. Because, to quote a favorite song of mine, "What'cha got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away?" Which, by the way, is what love is. Love is giving. Its so good that you CAN'T keep it to yourself. And when you know what you've got, you can stop trying to get, well, anything. Because love is the be-all end-all. Love is the desire of the heart. Again--love is what the heart knows. And love is ALL that the heart knows. So when we add this to what we were talking about yesterday--how the heart wants what it wants, and what it wants is to give--then we start to see that it really is all about love. And we start to understand how the knowledge of Christ passes knowledge. We can know something (or think we know something) but then love enters the picture and blows everything else out of the water. When I met my fiance Amanda... the love I felt for her (and feel for her) was so much more than anything I had ever felt. It was real. It was true. Everything I thought I knew paled in comparision. Almost like, "If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right." Like, set everything else on fire because THIS is what it's all about. And the coolest part is, when you experience that real love... you understand that it can't BE wrong. It HAS to be right. Because love is the truth. And truth is higher than fact. The fact of the matter may be that it looks dark and dim. But the truth of the matter is that the light of the world shines on, and in, and through you! So we don't have to worry about how things look. We can walk by faith and not by sight. We can stop judging things by appearance and we can start to see things for what they really are. Looking INTO things--specifically people--instead of looking AT them. Surface stuff doesn't tell the whole story. Its what's deep inside that really matters. Your actions don't define you. Your inner man, Spirit man, hidden man of the heart, JESUS, true identity defines you. And when you know who you really are you WILL be who you really are. Naturally. Because what's inside--what you believe is inside--WILL come out. It has to. What you do flows from what you believe. So if you know and believe the love of God--that He gave His life for you and to you so that you could experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as He lives it in you, and through you, and as you--if you know and believe the love of God... you can love. You can guard your heart by keeping it open to love. By letting love in, and letting love out. That's the heart's purpose. And that's what we are capable of, when we let God love us. When we stop trying to earn something that can't be earned and just receive and release (receive BY releasing) the gift that we've been given. The heart knows love. It responds to love... by loving!

The heart wants what it wants. But so many times we don't follow our hearts. Because it doesn't "make sense" to our heads. That's that constant struggle between fact and truth. What the world is screaming at us (at the top of its lungs) vs what the Word of the Lord is speaking to us (in that still, small voice deep inside). We have already been given everything we could ever need. But that doesn't "make sense" so we try to earn something we think we haven't got. But that's the thing about a gift: It can't be earned. And by trying to earn it we end up robbing ourselves. Because if you're trying to get something you've already got, because you're convinced that you haven't got it, then you sure aren't experiencing it. We experience the gift we've been given by giving it away. By sharing it. By receiving it and releasing it. And that's the key right there. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. So when I say, "the heart wants what it wants" you need to understand that the heart doesn't want to get anything. I can't tell you how many times in my life I say, "I don't want anything from you." And how many times that STUNS the people I say it to. Because if your mindset is, "I need to get something," you probably also think everybody else is out to get something. That whole, "an eye for an eye" mindset. That whole, "I'll scratch your back so that you scratch mine." And, listen, I get it. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. If you think you don't have anything, you'll try to get something. If you have lack, you'll give lack. So, again, when I say the heart wants what it wants... what the heart REALLY wants is to give. To give itself. That's why my personal defiintion of love is giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about what comes next. Because remember how I said it stuns people when you don't try to get anything from them? It knocks their socks off when you give them something for nothing. It seems too good to be true. It seems like there must be an ulterior motive. But guys, love does not HAVE a motive. Love IS the motive. Do what you do because its in your heart to do it. That's what heart knowledge is all about; knowing what you've got and giving what you've got. The head might say, "Don't cross oceans for people that won't jump a puddle for you." But the heart says, "It doesn't matter what THEY do. Do what YOU can do. Cross the ocean. Go the extra mile. Because that's what love IS." Unconditional love means its for everybody. All of the time. No matter what. God showed His love for us when we were sinners. When we had nothing to offer. Because He didn't want anything FROM us. He 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 have everlasting life. An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love! That's the gift of God. That's what we have. And what the heart wants to do is share that life with everybody it comes into contact with. It wants to give. Because it has something worth giving. It has what everybody wants. The desire of the heart is love. And love is giving. The heart desires to give away what it's got. LOVE!

My inspiration for this Rant series is Ephesians 3:19, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Because as good as knowing something is (in your brain), some things pass knowledge completely and you know them in your heart. Heart trumps head, in other words. Which is why I always talk about following your heart. And why I always try to make the connection between the mind of Christ and the heart of God. Its not the brain of Christ. Its the mind of Christ. Its not thinking about things until you figure them out. Look at our verse in the NLT, "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." Its too great to understand fully. Job 26:14 in the NIV speaks about how what we know of God are just the outer fringes of His works. The tip of the iceberg, if I can say it that way. And, granted, that was in the Old Testament, without the Holy Spirit. Because it is the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--that leads and guides us into all truth. That testifies of our true selves by testifying of Jesus. That shows us who we really are by shining the light of the world and showing us who God really is. A loving heavenly Father. A beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's basic. Its simple. But it can also be really hard to "figure out." Because we aren't supposed to figure it out. We are filled with the fulness of God when we fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. And we're talking about the love of Christ. That's what we've been filled with. Right from the jump. That's what the cross brought to light, at the appointed time. Because the cross did NOT turn us into something God could love. He always loved us. He IS love. There's nothing else He can, or would, do. The cross turned us into something that could receive God's love. That's what the Holy Spirit is--He is the love receptor. And its only when we receive God's love, by releasing it, that we can truly understand the mind of Christ. The heart of God. By letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) be in us. By using what we've got, instead of trying to get something. Love is not about getting. Because love IS giving. And that's the biggest disconnect that I think I see in the "church world." People are too busy trying to "get sin out of the camp." Or they have the mindset of, "I'll scratch your back in order to get you to scratch mine." It seems to be more about what you can get, instead of giving what you've got. And that makes sense to the carnal mind. Work hard and get what you can. Run the rat race as fast and as long as you can. Makes sense. But there's something that passes that head knowledge. Something deeper. Something more important, and more powerful. Heart knowledge. Knowing that you are loved. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are. And because of who God is. And in knowing that you are loved... being able to love. That love of God flowing through us is what makes us complete with all the fullness of life and power of God. Its not us trying to live His life. Its Him living His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in us, and through us, and as us!