The biggest difference between Jesus and anybody else is that Jesus was God's BELOVED Son. Now this does NOT mean that God doesn't love you. Of course He does. He IS love. He always has and He always will love you. But Jesus KNEW this truth. And it set Him free. It equipped and empowered Him to BE who He was. That was Adam's--and really, all of humanity's--problem. Adam didn't know who he was. He didn't know God as Father. He didn't know he was loved. So he swallowed the lie that says you have to DO in order to BE. He WANTED to be loved, but he didn't know he WAS loved, so he tried to EARN love. But love isn't something that can be earned. It is freely given, and must be received. When the Bible talks about earning something it says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). And there are a few important things to notice here: 1. The Bible does NOT say the wages of sin is hell. It says the wages of sin is DEATH. Which goes along with Ephesians 2:1, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." We WERE dead. Because of Adam's sin. And then we were quickened, or made alive, when Jesus died (both for us and as us) and then rose again. So the sin part and the dead part is over. It's not, "If you sin, you will die." Its, "Adam sinned, by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and on that day he died. And you were in Adam at the time, so you died too. But then Jesus made you alive. By showing you who God is. By showing you what love is." Jesus took away the sin of the world by giving us something (Himself, love) to believe in. He made us alive by His quickening Spirit. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that we are loved by the God who IS love. And that's what the gift of God is: Eternal life. Which Jesus defined in John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Eternal life is the Father/Son relationship between Creator and creation. Eternal life is living a life of love. Knowing and believing that you ARE loved, and loving one another with that same love. Letting God love you until you are filled to overflowing with what He has already filled you with. Letting yourself BE loved so that you CAN love. The love and affirmation of a Father always equips and empowers His Son. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Freedom. Freedom FROM sin and death, and freedom TO live and love. We WERE dead in our trespasses and sins. But now we are alive in His love. One more Bible verse to finish off this Rant series: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death" (1 John 3:14). We were dead. When we were sinners. Before the cross. That's when (and where) sin abounded. That's when (and where) grace did much more abound. The old passed away. The dead were given new life. Because humanity was given the Holy Spirit. The love receptort that lets us KNOW (and believe) the truth that has always been true. You can't earn a gift. And you don't need to. God died for us because He couldn't live without us. He gave us everything He had and everything He is. So that we could have it. So that we could BE it. So that we could love... because we are loved. Because we are His beloved!

In order to BE loved, you have to SEE love. Because what you see IS what you be. I hear people say things like, "Well... you've just got to take it on faith." As if to say that if you have faith, something will happen. Guys. That's not faith. That's hope. Faith is the EVIDENCE of things hoped for. And faith comes from hearing. Specifically, hearing the Word (LOVE) of God. Faith isn't, "If I believe it, I'll see it." Faith is, "I see it. So now I CAN believe it." That's how Jesus took away the sin (unbelief) of the world--He gave us something (someONE, Himself, LOVE) to believe in. He showed us the Father. He showed us love. When Jesus said, "...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6), He wasn't saying "believe in me or else you get the dow elevator to a cosmic prison of fiery torture." He was saying, "You can't know God as Father unless you know yourself as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased." He was saying, "I am the way to the FATHER, the truth about the FATHER, the life of the FATHER." Because that's what happens when the Son grows up and matures... He BECOMES the Father. Jesus said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). And John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." There is no difference between Father and Son. They are One. Just as there is no difference between living and loving. They are the same thing. Look at this story in Matthew chapter 9, because I think it says what I'm trying to say better than I can: "And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:28-29). Jesus touched their eyes, and connected it to their faith. And then they could see. Their eyes were opened. When Adam ate from the tree of death (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) his natural eyes were opened, and his Spiritual eyes were closed. When Jesus reversed the curse He opened our Spiritual eyes again so that we could see things as they truly are. So we could see the Father as He truly is. So we could see GOD as HE truly is--which is love. When your Spiritual eyes are open you can see LOVE clearly. And when you SEE love clearly, you can BE love. Because what you see is what you be. What's inside--what you know and believe is inside--is what comes out. Naturally. Not because you try really hard to force it out, but because you're filled to overflowing with it. Because you couldn't keep it in if you tried. Its too big. And too good. Not too good to be true, but SO good that it MUST be true. Because its the truth. The truth that sets you free and makes you free. That truth that you CAN love because you ARE loved. And that's the Word that produces faith. That's how we walk by faith, and live by faith. We let ourselves BE LOVED by God, and we love one another with that love. We guard our hearts by keeping them open to love. Because out of our hearts flows the issue of life. Which is love. You were created to live a life of love. To live BY loving. To let God love you, and to love others with that same love. But first you have to see it. You have to know it and believe it. You have to receive it so that you can release it!

Its all about love. Everything--EVERYTHING--flows from love. Look at John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Him, of course, being Jesus. The Word of God. Which is love. All things were made by love. And without love was not anything made that was made. Love is why God sent His only begotten Son. Love is why Jesus gave His life for us, and to us. Love is the whole point of the whole thing. So when we reject love we are robbing ourselves of... everything. When we make mistakes, and get burned, and refuse to come back near the fire... we miss out on the warmth. The glow. The purifying melting of our hearts. Because that's what the fire that is God (that is love) does; He consumes everything except Himself. Getting rid of everything tha doesn't belong and leaving the one thing that does. That's why its so vitally important that we guard our hearts by keeping them open. Open to love. Seeing ourselves the way Jesus saw Himself--as God's BELOVED Son. Because God loves everybody. He is love. That's not just what He does, that's who He is. In order for God to stop loving someone He would have to stop being God. And even if that was possible, He wouldn't do it. He loved you (and me, and everybody else) so much that He basically said, "I would rather die than live without you." He was on the cross with Christ reconciling you to Himself. Sending you His Spirit so that you might know and believe His love for you. So that you might be able to receive it. And in receiving it, release it. Experience it by giving it away. Jesus knew God as Father. He knew Himself as beloved Son. He had faith in God--in love--and He let Himself BE loved by God. He didn't try to earn it, and He didn't operate under the lie that He had to do in order to be. He did because He knew who He was. He loved because He knew He WAS loved. That's how it works: God has filled us to overflowing with His love, and because of that it (HE) comes out of us naturally. That's how we live in Christ--by knowing and believing that He lives in us. That's how we live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. They don't just go hand in hand, they are the same thing. When Jesus preached He didn't talk about saving us from hell. He talked about saving us from our sins. Our unbelief. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. He took away the unbelief of the world by giving us something--someONE, Himself, love--to believe in. That's why faith is so important... not because it saves us from some fiery torment someday after we die... but because it allows us to truly live. Right now. By knowing and believing that we are loved. Right now. And that there is nothing that can separate us from that love. Nothing that can separate us from the Father who (again) has already reconciled us back to Himself. He gave it all to show us that we are loved. And now, through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, our love receptor, we can BE LOVED. We can accept His love instead of trying to earn it. We can let God love us, and we can love each other with that love. Which is, by the way, the New Commandment. To love one another as Jesus loves us. To let what's inside come out. Naturally. By knowing and believing that its in there. By letting God love the hell out of us, so we can experience the days of heaven on earth!

One of the most important things about the truth is that it is true whether you believe it or not. That's why its the truth. The immutable truth. The unconditional love of the God who IS love. But its when you KNOW the truth that it sets you free and makes you free. Its when you KNOW that you've been given a gift that you can experience it and enjoy it. And that's why the ministry of reconciliation is so important--not to reconcile people to God. God was in Christ reconciling us all to Himself on the cross. That already happened. That's a done deal. But so that people KNOW they have been reconciled. There are no hoops to jump through in order to "get" the love of God. Because we already have it. That's the truth: God is love, and He loves you. He always has and He always will. And there is NOTHING that can separate us from the love of God. God moved into the neighborhood, and He's never moving out. He's right where He wants to be. All through the Old Testament God reveals the cry of His heart--He wanted to be our God and He wanted us to be His people. And then, when you get to the book of Revelation, which, in my opinion, is an in-depth look at what happened on the cross, God GOT the desire of His heart. Because He took up abode in OUR hearts. Through the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth, our love receptor--we can stop trying to GET something we think we haven't got. We can stop looking for love in all the wrong places. We can stop trying to earn something that can't be earned. We can know the truth. We can let ourselves BE loved. That's exactly what happened when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove. "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). The Spirit of Truth appeared and the Truth was proclaimed. That's the biggest difference between God's two sons--Adam didn't know he was loved so he tried to earn it by the sweat of his brow. Adam tried to do in order to be. Jesus knew He was loved so He could operate from a place of rest. He didn't do in order to be... He did because He knew what He was. He knew WHO He was. The beloved Son of God. And that affirmation empowered everything Jesus did. Because He didn't start His earthly ministry until AFTER He was baptized. All of the miracles He did flowed from the knowledge of who He was. His power, if I can say it that way, flowed from His identity. He didn't try to get anything, because He knew what He had. So instead He was able to just give away what He had. He loved... because He knew He was loved. We loved... because God first loved us. Because we LET Him love us. We keep our heart open and we let God fill us to overflowing so that His love can come out of us. Naturally. The truth that has always been true becomes true for us. The gift we've been given becomes something we can use. Something we can experience, by giving it away. Something we can enjoy, by sharing it. Because shared experiences are the best experiences. We truly live when we love each other. When that connection draws us together instead of the walls we build keeping us apart. Its all about love. That's how we live--by loving each other and by being loved. And it all flows from our heavenly Father. WE are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased!

I feel like I've Ranted on this subject before, and maybe even called it by the same name. But, if so, here we go again. Because I think its important. I read somewhere that we accept the love we think we deserve. And that's a problem because we are with ourselves 100% of the time. We know all of the bad, awful, rotten things we've done because we were literally right there doing them. So we don't think we deserve good things. And we settle. We get used to things NOT going our way and we trick ourselves into thinking that's actually what we deserve. So we accept it. We learn to live with it. "Its not so bad." Even when it is. But I've also heard it said that, "You've got to stand for something, or you'll fall for anything." And what I choose to stand for... is love. Where I choose to stand... is on the Rock. The solid foundation that everything else is built on. Because if you start with love, everything else is icing on the cake. If you start with love then you have everything you will ever need. That's why Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. It starts with love, and it ends with love. And love is also everything in between. If you're open to it. If you guard your heart--which doesn't mean closing it down, but instead it means keeping it open. You're heart is protected when it is receiving and releasing the love of God. That's its purpose. That's what its there for. So. My point is... God had two sons. The first Adam (Adam) and the last Adam (Jesus). But one of them didn't know who he was. And that got Adam (and all of humanity) into trouble. The Message Bible says it like this, "Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life" (Romans 5:18). Adam ate from the tree of death (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) and got us into trouble with sin and death. Before the cross we were dead in our trespasses and sins. And Adam ate from that tree because he was looking for love in all the wrong places. He thought he had to earn something that can't be earned. He thought he had to DO in order to be. And if he got enough information (knowledge) about good and evil, he thought he could do good, not do evil, and be rewarded. He didn't know he was loved. Jesus, on the other hand, is the BELOVED Son of God. Not because God loved Jesus and didn't love Adam. Of course God loved Adam. Adam just didn't know it. Didn't believe it. Jesus, on the other hand, let Himself BE loved of God. He knew who His heavenly Father was. He knew He was loved. And that love from the Father will always empower His Son. In order TO love we have to first know and believe that we ARE loved. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So the trick is to believe that the truth is... true. The trick is to let yourself be loved. To forget all your hangups. To lay aside the sin (unbelief) and the weight that so easily besets us. To know the truth, and let it set us free and make us free. Because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Freedom. Freedom FROM sin and death, and freedom TO live and love!

I saw a sign the other day that said, "Today's Menu: Eat it or starve!" And while that's really kind of funny--my mom told us many times when we were growing up that her house was not a restaurant where you could just order up anything you wanted--when it comes to feeding God's sheep, and His lambs, we need to take a more gentle approach. Look at Isaiah 40:11, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." Jesus, of course, is the shepherd. But He has also empowered US to be shepherds. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12). "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18). And, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). We are ABLE to care for His flock, because He is living His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in us, and through us, and as us. We are able to love because He first loved us. God never gives impossible missions. He always provides what is needed before He ever requires it. The New Commandment is to love one another AS we are loved by God. To receive and release what we have been given. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And the best thing we can do is show people a more excellent way. The best thing we can do is be a shepherd. Lay down our lives for the sheep. That's how we love them; we give them everything we have and everthing we are. That's what Jesus did on the cross in a literally sense, and that's what we can do when we esteem others higher than ourselves. When we put others first. When we see a need and meet it. Not trying to make someone want what we have, but giving people exactly what they need. Because love comes in many forms. Many flavors, if I can say it that way. And not everybody likes the same meal. So do we let some people starve? No way! We, like Paul said, can be all things to all people. We have it all, because we have love. Because we know and believe the love of Christ. And, again, if we DON'T have EXACTLY what someone needs... maybe we know someone else who does. We don't have to do it all ourselves. We're all in this together. He is altogether lovely, and we--His many-membered body--are lovely all together. So if you find that you can't feed someone, that doesn't make you a bad shepherd. That simply means they're trying to order off of a different menu. Let your brother or your sister help. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So if you can't reach someone, you can still be nice to them. You can still plant a seed. But a true shepherd knows what he's capable of. So walk according to your calling. Don't try to be something, or someone, you're not. Do your best and forget the rest. Love God because He loved you first. Love God by loving people. Feed the sheep and the lambs. Be a good shepherd. Live a life of love because you know that you ARE loved. Because you know that you are LOVE!

The best way to show God that you love Him, is to love people. And the best way to show people you love them, is to feed them. In the natural AND the Spiritual. Seeing a need and meeting that need may seem like a small thing, but its really the biggest thing you can do. I've heard it said like this, "You can't change the world, but by loving someone you can change THEIR world." I think we get frustrated sometimes because no matter how hard we try we feel like we aren't doing enough. I think anybody with love in their heart feels that way. Because when you have love in your heart you want to make things perfect. Especially for the people you care about the most. But a long time ago I asked my pastor a similar question and he gave me this answer, "If you're worried about it, you don't need to worry about it." Because if you actually care whether or not you're doing enough... that means you ARE doing enough. Because caring is half the battle. Yesterday I was focusing on the truth that I can't do it all. There are things I can do, and there are things I can't. And going right along with that is the truth that if you care enough to try... that means everything. Because some people don't even care. They see a need--or are totally oblivious to it--and keep walking on by. Like the religious folk in the story of the good Samaritan. They literally crossed to the other side of the road rather than helping someone who clearly needed help. They put their blinders on and pretended it wasn't happening. "Not my problem." But when we begin to understand how connected we really are, and we begin to see that the walls we hide behind really aren't protecting us at all, that's when we can start to truly live the life of love that is the gift of God. We can stop getting hung up on our hang ups and we can give God room to operate in us, and through us, and as us. Perfect love casts out fear, right? When you know what you have (love), and when you know that you are connected to the limitless supply, then you don't have to be afraid to lose what you've got. You can give what you've got without hesitation. And you don't have to worry about what happens after you give what you've got. That's what love is: Gladly giving everything you have and everything you are with no worries about whether it will be received or not. And don't get me wrong, wisdom is important here, because not everybody likes to eat the same things, so you can't feed everybody the same way. You need to, again, see a need and meet THAT need. Don't try to fix problems that aren't there. And don't try to do things that you can't do. If you try to operate outside of what you're capable of... you'll end up hurting instead of helping. If there's something you can't do to help... get some help. Because we're all in this together. We're all parts of the same body of Christ. But we're DIFFERENT parts. If there's something I can't do, maybe you can. And then by working together we'll get it all done. Jesus is altogether lovely, right? Which means WE are lovely all together. When we work together. Sharing a meal is what makes it even better, right? Good food... and good company. Eating and sharing. Building each other up even as we learn and grow... together. That's what this life is all about-- its not good for man to be alone. Its good for us to be connected. The food and drink of love is what connects us!

When Simon Peter was given a chance to redeem himself (in a sense) after denying Jesus, Jesus didn't just ask for verbal confirmation of Peter's love. He showed Peter HOW to love. He told Peter to feed His lambs, and His sheep. Because whatever you do unto the least of them, you do unto the Lord. You love God BY loving people. And, quick aside, that's why it drives me crazy when I see people neglect people so that they can "be closer to God." There's nothing closer to God than the people He has chosen to live in. There's no way to be closer to Him than to be close to each other. 1 John 4:20 says it like this, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" We were given the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God so that we could live it. So that we could experience it as HE lives His own life in us, and through us, and as us. We were given this life of love so that we could live BY loving. That's how WE feed ourselves--or encourage, or strengthen, ourselves in the inner man... in the Lord--and that's how we feed each other. We receive the gift of God, and we release it. We share it. We give it away. But here's the question: What happens if you feed someone, and they never stop eating? What if you give, and they never stop taking? This can be a tricky situation. Because we are called to love without question. Without fear or reservation. Without condition, or judgment. But that opens us up to situations where people can (and will) take advantage of us. And all I can say is: Do your best and forget the rest. Love is giving everything you are and everything you have no matter what the outcome is. Even though sometimes it seems like the more you love, the less you are loved. I said it "seems" like the more you love the less you are loved, because the truth of the matter is that you're heavenly Father always has and always will love you. We love because He first loved us. He gave us what we needed so that we could give others what they need. And that love can never run out (sometimes we need to feed ourselves, or remind ourselves, that we are loved. And in that way if feels like we're replenishing the stock, so to speak. But love never fails. It (HE) never runs out). The trick, I guess, is having wisdom. Because you can (and really should) love everybody. But you can't help everybody. And if you're at all concerned about matters of the heart, you're going to try to help people no matter what. So I say, if someone takes advantage of you... love them anyway. But don't stay in a bad situation. Once you've given it all you've got... its either enough, or its not. And either way you've done what you can do. Its ok to say no. Its ok to admit that there are some things you CAN do, and some things you CAN'T do. Some people you CAN help, and some people you CAN'T. Just in the same way that there are different ways to feed people... there are different people who can feed different people. I love everybody, but that doesn't mean that everybody is my best friend. Some people you connect with, and some people you don't. Square pegs don't fit into round holes. Now, if one of those people that I don't necessarily connect with asked me for help, I would help them if I could. But I would also try to know my own limits. People like different kinds of food. People have different needs. And I can't meet them all. So do what you can, but don't try to do it all!

As important as natural food is--and it IS important--Spiritual food is like nothing else. If I can say it this way--if you find someone who feeds your soul... that's a rare and precious thing. Because our true identity is the inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And our true food and drink is love. The Holy Spirit--our love receptor, the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth... the truth that we are loved--is what strengthens us in the inner man. Eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ. Knowing who we are in Him by letting Him reveal to us who HE is in us. Partaking of the Divine Nature of God--which, again, is love--by letting God love us to overflowing and letting that love come out naturally. That's what it means to partake of the Divine Nature--to understand our new nature... our TRUE nature... and to live from the inside out. To know and believe that God's love is in us, and then (by knowing and believing) let it out. That's how we feed ourselves. That's what I believe one of my favorite Bible verses is talking about. "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (1 Samuel 30:6). David was in a rough spot. But he knew where to go to find his strength. Remember when we talked about strength? God's (LOVE'S) strength is made perfect in our weakness. If we think we can do it ourselves, I believe God will (to an extent) let us. But when we acknowledge that we can't... that's when He will. That's when we become strong. Because HE is strong in us. Let me try to say it another way: You can't give what you don't have. That's why when you're in an airplane they tell you to put your own oxygen mask on before you try to help anyone else. Because if you're passed out on the floor you CAN'T help anyone else. So sometimes you have to strengthen yourself before you can be strong for someone else. Sometimes you have to feed yourself before you can feed someone else. And if we were to follow David's story we would see that that's exactly what happened. He encouraged himself in the Lord, and then he went out and took care of his people. There IS a benefit of feeling full, feeling satisfied, when you feed yourself. But its even greater when you put yourself in a good position to feed others. Because in the same way that you can't give what you don't have... you can only give what you do have. So if you fill yourself up with love... you can give love. And notice I didn't say, "If you get love." Because you already HAVE love. The Holy Spirit did not change us from something God didn't love to something God all of a sudden does love. God always has and always will love us. The Holy Spirit changed us from something that saw God's love as too good to be true--and unattainable, no matter how hard we tried--to something that sees God love for what it is; the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Not too good to be true, but so good it MUST be true. So we feed on that fruit--the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the Tree of Life--and we share that fruit with others. We encourage ourselves in the Lord, and then we encourage others. We receive and release the love of God. We let it in, and then as it fills us to overflowing, we let it out!

I think its interesting how often the Bible talks about food. And, more specifically, eating. And, even MORE specifically, FEEDING people. This isn't the main thrust of my Rant series, but in Mark chapter 5 there's a story of Jesus raising a little girl from the dead. And immediately after performing that miracle, this happened, "And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat" (Mark 5:43). She was dead. Now she's alive. Feed her. And, of course, this works on two levels--the natural and the Spiritual. That's kind of the progession we often see. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" (1 Corinthians 15:46). Because the truth of the matter is... if your tummy is grumbling, its hard to hear someone giving you Spiritual truth. You almost have to take care of the natural first, then the Spirit comes along, well, naturally. Look at James 2:15-16, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" I think the Message Bible says it even better, "For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you?"" And don't get me wrong, there are people in my life that if I know they are going through a hard time I can drop them a Bible verse, or a passage of Scripture, and that will fill them right up. But not everybody is at that level. And I've found that most of the time, when someone is going through a hard time... what they want more than anything is for someone to listen to them. To let them know that they're not alone. But, again, if someone's naturally hungry... give them something to eat. That's important. That goes a long way. And then, once you've met that physical need, then you can turn to deeper things. Natural first then Spiritual. Ok. So. Let's get to my point for the next few days: "After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" "Yes, Master, you know I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs"" (John 21:15 MSG). This is the same Simon Peter who claimed he loved Jesus the most, and then denied him three times before the rooster crowed. And I didn't quote the whole passage--we may get into in later one--but Jesus asks him three times if He loves him. I think He was not only giving Peter a way to redeem himself, but I think Jesus was SHOWING Peter HOW to love Him. Not by bragging about it... but by DOING something about it. We love God because He first loved us. And we love God BY loving each other. And we love each other by feeding each other. Naturally AND Spiritually. Seeing a need and meeting it. I think if you can do something to make someone happy you should. Because that seems like a rare thing. But even if its something that seems small to you... I've come to the conclusion that the little things ARE the big things. A hot meal to someone who is hungry. A ear that willing to listen. Being there for someone and giving them what they need. That's the connection that we share with each other. That's the bond of love that flows out of our hearts as we let God love us until we are so full of His love that we couldn't keep it in if we tried!