Knowing is half the battle. Believing is the other half. Because you can't believe something you don't know, and because faith without works is dead. What you do absolutely one hundred percent flows from what you believe. If you say you believe something, but don't act on that belief, then you don't REALLY believe it. Faith prompts you to move. That's why we WALK by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Let me say it another way, what you see is what you be. When you look in the mirror you either see what's on the outside, or what's on the inside. And if all you see is your natural face, then all you will see are the blemishes on that face. All of the surface stuff. All of the times you've messed up. And you'll let those failures define you. How many times have we heard (or said, or felt), "I can't believe I did that. I'm such a bad person!" Well, here's the straight truth: What you do doesn't define you. What you believe defines you. And when you KNOW the truth about who you really are (who you are in Christ, which is who Christ is in you) then you'll be able to fall seven times and get up every time. You'll be able to understand that when you mess up, you're still the righteousness of God in Christ. Mistakes don't disqualify you. And with that knowledge comes power. Because at that point you won't be AFRAID to mess up. I'm of the opinion that nothing great ever came from a comfort zone. I'm of the opinion that you HAVE to go out on a limb sometimes, because that's where the fruit is. And if you're free--remember now, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty--when you're free to make mistakes instead of just staying in that comfort zone, that's when you can start to walk in your calling. So many times in the Bible we see God telling people to do things that (in the natural) they are convinced they aren't capable of doing. Noah... build an ark. Abraham and Sarah... have a baby at almost 100 years old. Oh, you're a coward? I'm going to make you a great man of war. Because it's not about what you THINK. It's about what God KNOWS. Look at 1 Samuel 16:7, "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." Its not what's on the outside. Its what's on the inside that matters. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And when you know--with a knowledge that passes knowledge--what's inside... what's in the heart (LOVE) then it will come out. Because you will be able to believe it. Because God will love you so much that if (HE) will fill you to overflowing. Guys... its not about ability. Its about availability. Its about what WHO YOU ARE. And who you are... is love. Because you ARE loved. Knowing that you are loved equips and empowers you to love. Faith comes from hearing. And hearing from the Word of God. Which is Jesus. Which is love. So I guess what I'm saying is... if you know it, throw it. Tell someone you love them. Because then THEY'LL know it, and then THEY'LL be able to throw it. And that's how the ever-expanding Kingdom of God continues to ever-expand. And that's powerful.

What it really kind of comes down to is this: If you know what you've got, you can USE what you've got. If you don't, you can't. And when we're talking about Spiritual things then we're talking about the gift of God. And if we're talking about the gift of God then we're talking about eternal life. And if we're talking about eternal life... "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Knowing the Father in the context of being His Son. Knowing God and knowing yourself. Your TRUE self. Who you are in Christ, which is who Christ is in you. That's the most powerful thing in the world you can know. That's the ultimate truth of the universe. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. God loves YOU and has given YOU all things. All things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything we need to stop trying to be someone we're not and start to walk in newness of life. Everything we need to BE who we are. Because in just the same way that you can't give what you don't have... you can't be who you are unless you KNOW who you are. That's why the Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Jesus IS our true identity. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And knowing that love is in there is what allows it to come out. Not trying to get it, but knowing the truth that you already have it. That's the difference between works and labor, and rest. That's the difference, quite literally, between death and life. If you know love you can live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other because they are the same thing. Knowing the truth is what let's you ignore the lie. And notice I didn't say fight the lie. Lies only have power when you don't know the truth. One of my favorite verses (I know, I know, they're all my favorite) in the book of Hebrews is Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Don't fight it. Don't drag it along behind you letting it pull you down. Just lay it aside. Just ignore the lie. Ignore the world screaming at you and listen to the still, small voice inside of you. God's voice. Speaking the Word. Which is Jesus. Which is love. Speaking love with every beat of God's heart in your chest. And then, when you lay everything else aside, you can run the race. With patience. Not running to try to get something. But running because you've got something. Starting at the finish line and then helping others to get there too. Because when you KNOW something--with an experiential, heart knowledge--that's when you can USE that knowledge. If you know it, throw it. If you've been there, show someone else the way. (The Way.) Knowledge is power. And the more you know the more you can do. When you know better, you can do better. So don't be afraid to make mistakes along the way. LEARN from them. Have patience. With yourself AND others. And run the race. Because its worth it. And its not the destination. Its the journey!

Today I want to talk about the concept of putting off the old man, and putting on the new. But, specifically, I want to talk about the truth that we HAVE put off the old man and we HAVE put on the new. Because, see, the finished work of the cross is... well... finished. It's a done deal. And when Jesus died (both for you and as you) and then rose again (both for you and as you) it was all about what HE did. Its true that we got the benefits of it. Its true that we get to enjoy the fruit of Jesus' labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. But this is not a fruit WE have to produce. The putting off and putting on is not a work or a labor that we need to do. Look at Galatians 2:20 in the NLT, "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This is what happened on the cross. On the cross... we died. And then three days later... we rose again. To walk in newness of life. The key is trusting in the Son of God. Because just as I am living in Him, He is living in me. When we know and believe Jesus is living in us, that's when we have the power to experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love! That's when we have to the power TO love, because we know that we ARE loved. Because we know that we are LOVE. So this idea of putting off and putting on is really a mindset. Its the renewing of our mind through the knowledge of Christ. Look at Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." See, we don't need to die to sin. We already did that. We were dead IN our trespasses and sins, and then--on the cross--we received the second death. The death OF death. And then we received the new birth. The old (man) passed away and the new (man) came forth. We don't need that to happen. That already happened. What we need to do is RECKON ourselves. We need to know the truth, so that it can set us free and make us free. We need to stop dragging around the corpse of the old, dead, man. We need to lay aside the sin (unbelief) that so easily besets us. We need to let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. We need to USE the mind of Christ to think differently. To see things the way God sees them: through the eyes of grace. We need to see each other--and ourselves--the way God sees us: as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. If we see ourselves as a sinner (even as a sinner saved by grace) we will always, at the end of the day, act like a sinner. Because what we DO flows from what we BELIEVE. If we believe the lie that God is mad at us, we will always run FROM Him instead of running TO Him. But when we know the truth--that God is not mad AT us, but mad ABOUT us--then we can come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace to help in times of need. We can go straight to the source. And the source of love is God. Because God is love. The source of love is the heart. OUR hearts. GOD'S heart beating with love in our chests! So to put off the old and put on the new is really to know the truth that the old HAS been put off, and the new HAS been put on! We are new creatures in Christ. Behold, all things are become new!

Here's a saying that I like a lot: "Don't worry about mistakes. Learn from them. When you know better, you can do better." And when we apply this to the finished work of the cross it takes on even a deeper, more powerful meaning. Because when we know better WHO WE ARE, we can more naturally BE who we are! Look at Colossians 3:9-10, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." And the part I love the most is the PAST TENSE. Seeing that ye HAVE put off the old man. Basically, Paul is saying, "You're a new man. Start acting like it. You know the truth. Stop lying to each other (and yourself)." The other part I love the most is the secret to being renewed. Remember in Romans 12:2 Paul writes, "And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." See, WE don't renew our minds. JESUS did that when He gave us HIS mind. We HAVE the mind of Christ. What we ought to do is LET the mind of Christ that's already in us BE in us. And we do that through the knowledge of the One whose mind it is! We be not conformed to the world when we understand that we have been conformed to the image of God's only begotten Son. We BE who we are when we KNOW who we are. What (or who) we see is what (or who) we be! When we look into the mirror with an unveiled face we see the glory of the Lord. Because we literally SEE the Lord. Because He is in us. And then we are changed into that same image (of glory) FROM glory TO glory. By little and little. Here a little, there a little. Baby steps. Making mistakes and learning from them. Very rarely does somebody know how to do something new perfectly the first time. Often we have to do it wrong before we can do it right. But knowledge is power. When we know better we can do better. And there is no better knowledge than EXPERIENTIAL knowledge. When you can say, "I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt," then you REALLY know what you're talking about. That's what a witness does: He shares what he has experienced. And we are Christ's witnesses, right? That's the New Commandment, right? Love another as Jesus has loved you. Share the love you've experienced. Because you can't give what you don't have. How could you? And you can only give what you do have. What you KNOW and BELIEVE you have. You can't be someone you're not. No matter how hard you try. What you believe about yourself--either what the world tells you, or what the Word of the Lord tells you--defines your reality. If you believe you're a "sinner" that's what you're going to act like. But if you believe you are the righteousness of God in Christ... that's WHO you're going to act like. Not in a trying to copy Him, or emulate Him way. But in the I am who I am and I know who I am way. When you know that you have a new nature--you've put off the old man and put on the new man (which is a concept we might look at tomorrow more fully)--then you don't have to try to overcome an old nature. When you know who you are, you don't have to try to be someone you're not. You can be strong IN THE LORD and in the power of HIS might. Because that's who you are. Who you are in Christ is who Christ is in you!

I think G.I. Joe had it right: Knowing is half the battle. And I think the other half is believing. When you know and believe something (specifically, the love of Christ), that's when it becomes REAL to you. And I think that's the proper order too. Because you can't believe something you don't know. Not really. You can have a head knowledge of something, but what you need is a HEART knowledge. As the old saying goes, "A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." 1 John 4:16 puts it like this, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." We HAVE known and believed. Past tense. That's the ultimate truth of the universe that the Holy Spirit leads and guides us into. We know it. And because we know it we can believe it. The tricky part is understanding it. Testing the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of it. But look at 1 Timothy 1:8-10, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." See what I'm saying? The gift of God was given to us before the world began. Its ALL past tense. Because history is HIS story. The Lamb was from the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. Before we ever swallowed the serpent's lie (that we have to do in order to be) we KNEW the truth. 1 John 2:20 says, "But ye have an unction form the Holy One, and ye know all things." We know all things, but we don't understand everything we know. That's why we rely on the Holy Spirit to be our teacher. The gospel has brought life and immortality to light. And knowledge is power. If you know what you've got--if you know WHO YOU ARE--then you can experience that gift. You can BE who you are. Not by trying to be someone you're not, but by embracing your true identity. Which is Jesus. Which is love. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. He is the WORD made flesh. And that Word is love. That's what we know. "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." The gospel has brought it to light. And we ARE that light. Because HE is that light. Anything that declares anything other than Jesus and the finished work of the cross and God's love for you... quite frankly... is NOT the gospel. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I have all the answers. I don't. A lot of times when someone asks me a question I have to shake my head and say, "I don't know." But at the same time, I DO know what 1 Corinthians 2:2 says: "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." I don't have every answer to every question. But I KNOW--with a knowledge that passes knowledge--the Truth. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)! And when we start there, and build on that foundation, everything else starts to make sense...

Instead of living from the outside in--trying to conform to the world (even though you'll never "fit in" that way anyway) by following a set of external rules--we need to understand that we DO live from the inside out. What is inside is what will come out. Or rather, what we believe is inside is what will come out; either what the world says, or the Word of the Lord. That's why it's so important to know (and believe) what is REALLY in there. Why it's so important to be strengthened with might in the INNER MAN by God's Holy Spirit. Why it's so important to be still and know that He is God. Be still and know that God is love. Because that's where the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--leads us when He leads and guides us into all truth. All truth--the ultimate truth of the universe--is found in John 3:35, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." The ultimate truth of the universe is that God loves us. WE are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's who Jesus IS. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And that's HOW the Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity. He testifies of Jesus. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. God's heart beating with love in our chests. A love that is too big to keep to ourselves. And too good for us to WANT to keep it to ourselves. That's what makes love all-powerful: It's not about getting. It's about giving what you've got. And that's the difference between living from the inside-out or the outside-in. If you're living from the outside-in you're trying to get something you think you haven't got. You're stepping on people in order to make yourself look taller. Probably the BEST you can do is, "I'll scratch your back IF you scratch mine." And that's no way to live. Because to live is to love, and to love is to live. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. Becuase love IS giving. That's HOW you live from the inside-out. You seek first the Kingdom--not in the sense of seeking for something you don't have, but in the sense of exploring what you DO have--and you find out just what you've got. And then you SHARE what you've got with everybody you come into contact with. You receive and release the love of God. And the coolest part is, when you give what you've got you EXPERIENCE what you've got. It becomes real in a way that is more than just head knowledge. It becomes heart knowledge. Knowledge of what's IN the heart. And then the hidden man of the heart is no longer hidden. Then the light that was under the bushel begins to shine for all to see. Then the Word becomes flesh. Every time you act in kindness, or forgiveness, or LOVE the Word (that's already IN you) becomes flesh. Love as an idea becomes charity as an action. Random acts of kindness, right? Except they aren't random. They are our nature. Not the selfish beast nature. The old man died on the cross. The old man died in the watery grave of baptism. But our true nature. Our love nature. That's what circumcision does; it reveals what was covered up. What was deep within. So these "random" acts of kindness end up being our way of life. I'll say it again: Living and loving. Because those two things aren't just connected. They are the same thing! A life of love is the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life that we experience as Jesus lives it in us, and through us, and as us!

I'm telling you, I love this "inner man" truth. Because even though there IS a lot of surface stuff, there's something deep inside called love. And that is our true identity. 1 Peter 3:3-4 puts it like this, "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." The hidden man of the heart. Because, really, it is not what's outside that matters. Its what's inside. The trouble we get into is that we put all of our focus on the outside. On our own outward appearance, trying to "look" a certain way, or act a certain way in order to fit in. Letting external things dictate to us. Which is exactly what the Apostle Paul warns against in Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Look at it in the NLT, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." And that point is: You've already been rescued from the world. You've already been brought out of the bondage of sin and death. In the world but not of the world. Because you are in the Kingdom, and you ARE the Kingdom. So don't go back. Don't conform, or copy, that external stuff that's going on all around you. Instead, change the way you think. USE the mind of Christ (that's already in you) by LETTING it be in you. BE transformed into what you've already been transformed in you. Christ in you is the hope of glory, right? The great mystery? But here's the deal: The mystery is out. Because of the cross, and through the Holy Spirit, Christ isn't just IN you, He's also living THROUGH you and AS you. The hidden man of the heart is no longer hidden. Because love is no longer something we (think we) have to earn. We don't have to jump through the world's hoops and settle for the world's idea of love. We don't have to look for love in all the wrong places anymore. We can go straight to the source. Because we KNOW what (WHO, Jesus) the source is. We are connected to the source. The source lives in us. That's why it's the hidden man of the HEART. It's living from the inside out. Not trying to get a love we think we don't have, but knowing and believing that we are loved, and loving God by loving each other with that same love! That's what living from the inside-out is all about. Letting what's inside COME out. And notice I said "letting." Its not about works and labor. Its not about "fake it until you make it." Its about walking by faith. Faith, which comes from hearing the Word about Christ, and faith which works by love. Because its all about love. The inner man, the "hidden" man of the heart, is who we really are. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. Filling you to overflowing until your true (love) nature compels you to be who you really are. Naturally. 

The part of Ephesians 3:16 that I want to focus on today is the part that goes like this, "...strengthened with might through his Spirit..." And my main thought is this: When we know who we are--who we REALLY ARE, who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us--that's when we are the strongest. Let me say it another way, when we are planted on the Rock we will not--CANNOT--be shaken. And that's what I believe the real issue is in 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." Because if sin is unbelief--not what you do, but believing the lie that says you have to DO in order to BE--than by definition a believer cannot sin. Once you know (and believe) the truth, the truth will set you free and make you free. You won't be caught anymore in the religious hamster wheel of works and labor. Of trying to be someone you're not. Of thinking you are weak, but trying to (somehow) be strong. When you know your true identity--because the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding you into all truth by testifying of your true identity by testifying of Jesus--you won't NEED to be anybody. You'll be strong and mighty. When you know that the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in, you won't worry about getting burned. You'll be able to love without fear. Which is what perfect love is all about; it (HE) casts out all fear! But I want to say this as loudly and as clearly as I can: True strength is not about overpowering people. It is not about getting your own way. And the Bible says as much in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT), "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." The all-powerful (not merely MOST powerful, but the force with ALL of the power) God who IS love does not use that power to get His own way. Even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane said, "Not my will but YOURS be done." Love is more concerned with others than self. That's WHY it's all-powerful. I'm telling you, when we understand that kind of love that God has for us--willing to lay His life down in order to reconcile us to Himself--we will easily and happily be able to lay our lives down for each other. You know my definition of love: Gladly giving all you have and all you are no matter what the response is. Well... that's hard to do if you're "weak of faith." That's hard to do when you think love is about "I'll scratch your back in order to get you to scratch mine." That's hard to do when you're trying to give in order to get. Because none of that is REALLY love. Love IS giving. Giving what you've already got. But if you don't know what you've got, it's not just hard, it's impossible. That's WHY the Holy Spirit strenghtens us in the inner man. So that we can know what we have and be who we are! So we can be strong in HIS might. So that we can receive and release His love. So that we can share the gift we've been given. The gift of God. Eternal life. Living and loving. Because we ARE loved. Because He has given His life FOR us, and TO us. HE is the inner man. HE is our true identity. And in HIS strength, we are strong and mighty! We are MORE than conquerors through Him that loves us!

One of my favorite truths is found in Ephesians 3:16, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." There's a lot here, but specifically I like that term: Inner man. Because I one hundred percent believe there is something beneath the surface. Something deep inside. And, to be frank, it's the REAL you. Because it's love. Look again at that verse, we are strengthened in the inner man by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit. Our love receptor. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. That comforts us, and teaches us to understand that truth that we know. Now let me link all of that with John 15:26, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Jesus told us (in John 14:6), "...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus is the truth that the Spirit of truth leads us into! The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus. The Holy Spirit tells us who we are in Christ. By telling us who Christ is in us. And I say "telling" because often it's the still, small voice of God's heart beating in our chests, but really He SHOWS us who we are in Christ by SHOWING us who Christ is in us. That's what 1 John 3:2 is all about: "Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." It's the same concept that Paul wrote about when he warned us to not be conformed to the world, but to BE transformed (into what we've already BEEN transformed into) by the renewing of our minds. I think the renewing of our minds, and being strengthened in the inner man are the same thing. Because everything that needed to happen, happened 2,000 years ago on the Cross. We don't need to GET transformed because we've already BEEN transformed. AND we've been CONFORMED to the image of God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. We know who we are, but we don't fully understand what it means to BE who we are. That's why there's a maturation process. That's why we have been given the Holy Spirit. So that we can BE who we are as we UNDERSTAND who we are. As we SEE who we are, as He appears to us, and in us, and through us. Because seeing is believing. What we see is what we be. And God's not afraid to show Himself. That's one of the reasons He wrapped Himself up in human flesh. Jesus told Philip, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." God WANTS to be one display. Not because He's vain, but because He is love. When God is on display, LOVE is on display. When the inner man is strong... when we KNOW who we are... we can BE who we are. What you do flows from what you believe. From the inside out. What's in your heart manifests in your deeds. Faith without works is dead, right? And faith works by love. Jesus is God IN THE FLESH. Charity. Love in action. That's what happens when we are strong inside. When we know that the fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. And I think tomorrow I'm going to Rant about what it truly means to be strong. Spoiler alert: Meekness is not weakness. But strength isn't about getting your own way, either.

I can't stress how important it is that we begin to focus on what's inside. Because, as I said in a Guerrilla Gospel video not too long ago, we DO live from the inside out, whether we realize it or not. What's inside comes out. Period. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. And when we focus on what's inside--love--that's when everything else flows. From inside out. Look at John 7:38 in the NASB, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" The NLT says it like this, "Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'" And I think the key word in both translations is "believes." Because I just got done saying what's inside comes out. But in reality, what you BELIEVE is inside comes out. Because I believe that when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, He drew all men into Himself. And when He died we ALL died. And when He rose again we ALL rose again. But not everybody walks in newness of life. Because not everybody knows this glorious truth, and not everybody believes it. A lot of people--even church folk--let what's outside influence what's inside. There are two choices of what we can believe: The world's report, which is screamed in our faces at high volume telling us we're not good enough, but might be someday if we try hard enough. OR the Word of the Lord. Which tells us, in a still small voice, that we are complete in Him. That tells us all we need to do is be who we are. Who we REALLY are. Who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. Whichever one of those "masters" you choose to serve is which one will define your reality. Outer, or inner. The world, or the Kingdom. Remember when Jesus said, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). Living from the inside out is living a Kingdom life. Letting what's already inside--righteousness, peace, and joy... LOVE--flow out. By believing that it (He's) in there. By believing that we ARE loved. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you know (and believe) that you ARE loved... that's when you CAN love. That's when you begin to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God as He lives it in you, and through you, and as you. That's when it stops being works and labor (which never works) and starts being rest. That's when it stops being a struggle and starts being a flow. The river of life FLOWS from your innermost being--from your heart--when you believe. Not when you earn it. Not when you "get" it. But when you understand that you HAVE it. When you receive and release the gift of God that you've already been given. God never requires something that He hasn't first provided. Jesus is the One who prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies. And I think if the table is right there in their presence, we might as well invite them to eat too. We might as well destroy our enemies by making them our friends. By giving them what they need. Which, not so coincidentally, is exactly what we have. Because what EVERYBODY needs... is love. And what could possibly flow out of the HEART but love? What could quench that thirst but living water? What could satisfy that appetite but the fruit of the Spirit from the Tree of Life? What else but love?