I don't necessarily like to start a Rant by quoting a Bible verse, or passage. So I usually ramble a little bit and then quote it. Like so. "...we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light" (Colossians 1:9-12 NLT). Pretty much all I want to say today. But it's kind of a lot, so let's focus on a few keys. The first being prayer. My favorite verse in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." Not because I think we should neglect everything and anything else and spend all our time in vain repetitions, but because I think we need prayer--talking to our heavenly Father and LISTENING to Him--to be a central theme in our lives. The more we focus on that relationship, the more everything else in our life will sort itself out. Seek first the Kingdom and all the things that have been added to you will BE added to you. The next is COMPLETE knowledge and understanding. Because we have an unction from the Holy One and we know all things. But we don't always understand everything we know. It's an everlasting-life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is God's heart beating in our chests. Beating with love. We continue to learn and grow as He continues to reveal His love to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. It's a maturation process as we go from glory to glory. Next is patience. Because God's timing is absolutely perfect. He knows what you need, and almost just as importantly He knows WHEN you need it. When you can handle it. So there's an aspect of patience that comes into play. God is a now God. And everything we need is available to us. The trick is for US to be available to Him. To know and believe the love of Christ. To know what's inside and in that way let it come out. Which is where joy comes in. Drawing from the well (which WE are) with joy. We don't praise God in order to get Him to do stuff. We praise God because He's already done stuff. Because He is worthy of our praise. When we try to take the Kingdom through the violence of human effort we miss out on the gift we've been given. When we bang our heads against the wall we only end up with a headache. And the last part: Enabled to share in the inheritance. If you don't know what you've got you can't enjoy it. Or experience it. But we are being led--by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth--into all truth. We are discovering what we've got. Not by trying to get it, but by walking in faith and giving it away! By SHARING it. By giving (because love IS giving) what we've got. And in that way proving to ourselves that we've got. And that we know what to do with it. God's timing is perfect. And it manifested in fulness over 2,000 years ago. So now we can receive it... and release it!

Our own expectations set us up for disappointment more than anything else. We want what we want and we want it when we want it. Then, when it doesn't come, we tear our clothes and blame God. When, in truth, many times when we DON'T get what we want, that is God's hand protecting us. Keeping us from things we don't NEED. Or couldn't handle right then. I think it's interesting that when Jesus was talking about building our house on the rock He said, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock" (Matthew 7:24-25). Rain and wind. Healing rain and the wind of the Holy Spirit. See, we ALWAYS seem to put things in a negative connotation. When in fact it's usually the GOOD things in life that throw us for a loop. Because it's like we've settled for less than. So anything more blows us away. That's why it's so important to build on the Rock. The foundation that no other man can lay. The foundation that IS Jesus. The foundation that is love. When we start at love, we have the ability to forgoe expectation. Remember my definition for love: Giving everything you are and everything you have no matter how it is received. We don't need to worry about getting what we want, when we want it. Because we know what we've already got. We don't have to worry about ANYTHING else, because we know who has our back. We know that all is well. It's all good. And if something doesn't happen right now, or doesn't happen the way we want it to happen, that's ok. In fact, it's for the best. Because God has a plan. And a "no" from God is not a rejection. It is simply a redirection. I hear people say all the time that God won't give you more than you can handle. And to a degree I think that's true. But I also think God stretches us. Because nothing amazing comes from your comfort zone. Take Moses, for instance. He was given a task that he flat out told God he couldn't handle. God didn't back down though. He didn't say, "Oh, well. I tried." What He did was He supplied Moses with what Moses was lacking. THAT'S what God ALWAYS does. He supplies us. Because He IS our supply. Look at Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." And notice that Paul wasn't talking about HIS need. He was talking about YOUR need. Because HE knew that he HAD everything he needed. Because he had Jesus. He was Christ-centered (people-centered), not self-centered. He wasn't looking at the current situation, because he knew the end of the story. Jesus, the Alpha and Omega. Love, the beginning and the end. So my thought for today is this: Don't limit what God is doing. Don't think because it hasn't happened yet it never will. Everything comes at the exact right time. God has perfect timing. He knows what you need. And as importantly, He knows WHEN you need it. So let it flow. Let things be what they are instead of trying to make them be something they were never supposed to be in the first place. Expectations will mess you up. But when you receive and release the love of God, everything else falls into place!

One of my friends pointed out to me that God's timing is NOW. He's a NOW God. NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for. And I believe that. Absolutely. Everything we need has already been provided for us and it's available to us right now. All of the promises of God are yes and amen. But at the same time... Rome wasn't built in a day. As they say. That's why I always say, "If you want something different... do something different. Unless you're building something. In that case, stay the course." Hebrews 6:15 in the NLT says it like this, "Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised." And I'm not even going to get into the fact that on the surface Abraham DID NOT wait patiently, and in fact tried to obtain the promise through human effort. Because grace rewrote Abraham's story. God doesn't see the long and winding road it sometimes takes us to get where He wants us to go. He knows the end from the beginning and isn't worried about whatever else. The point I'm trying to make is: Patience is a virtue. Especially in the face of something that seems like a major setback. Or something that seems malicious. Remember where we left off yesterday? Joseph went from the pit to the penthouse. And he had this to say about it, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). He saw the bigger picture. And, listen, I understand that's really hard to do sometimes. Especially when the picture right in front of us looks bleak. But, as in Joseph's case, God is with us every step of the way. It's the same thing we see in Daniel's story. Even into the literal lions den. God will never leave us nor forsake us. What USUALLY ends up happening is when things go be WE forsake HIM. We get caught up in the moment and forget about the grand scheme. Again: Super easy to do. But not something we SHOULD do. Here's what I'm trying to say: "I look to you for help, O Sovereign LORD. You are my refuge; don't let them kill me. Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me escape" (Psalms 141:8-10 NLT). And, of course, I'm not saying we HAVE enemies anymore, or that we should wish for anyone's downfall. I'm simply saying we should trust in the Lord to do what He's going to do. We don't have to worry about what others do to us. Because it's all working together for good. We don't have to judge between good and evil. Because we're safe in our heavenly Father's out-streched arms. It's all good! We don't have to try to "fix" things. Or take the Kingdom by the violence of human effort. We can be patient. We can let the story unfold. We can trust that God's timing is perfect. And in the meantime, we can use everything that's available to us to get THROUGH what we're facing. We can remember that it came to PASS, not to stay. We can enjoy the ride, safe and secure in the knowledge that we HAVE already arrived. And the rest is just icing on the cake!

God's timing is absolutely perfect. It just doesn't always SEEM that way. Especially when we're banging our heads against the wall trying to MAKE something happen. Jesus said it like this, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). The violence of human effort has never been something God has ever been interested in. We see this clearly in the story of Cain and Abel. Cain tried to bring something that HE had produced. The fruit of HIS labor. And God didn't want it. Able brought a lamb. What I'm trying to say is, when you bang your head against the wall... all you get is a headache. When you try to go your own way... the end of that way is death. Look at Matthew 6:31-33, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Your heavenly Father knows what you need. And He's already provided it. Given it freely as a gift. And a gift CANNOT be earned. So when we try to earn something that can't be earned, what we really do is rob ourselves from experiencing and enjoying what we already have. That's what seeking the Kingdom is all about. Not "seeking" in the sense of trying to get something we haven't got, but EXPLORING what we HAVE got. Being still and knowing that He is God. Knowing that God is love. Not trying to take the Kingdom by the violence of human effort, but simply receiving it and releasing it. Simply experiencing what we have by giving it away. By sharing it. Not trying to MAKE things happen, but letting what has already happened--the cross, the establishment of the Kingdom--manifest in our lives. I truly believe that the easiest way to lose something is to want it too much. To try to hard to get it. And I'm not saying you shouldn't give maximum effort. That's what love IS; giving everything you have and everything you are. But the point of that effort is not to get something. The point of that effort is to GIVE. Love IS giving. I've come to realize that the more I try to get... the less I end up having. The more you tighten your fist, the more things slip through your fingers. But if you become a funnel... if you begin to RELEASE what you've received... that's when you experience it. That's when it becomes real. That's when you stop struggling and start resting. That's when things start to flow. When you stop trying to PUT things in Divine Order, that's when God can REVEAL that things are ALREADY in Divine Order. Joseph said it like this, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people" (Genesis 50:20 NLT). And I think this is where I'm going to be tomorrow. ALL things work together for good. Even if they "aren't supposed to." Even if they were intended for something else. So don't let a setback destroy you. A setback is just a set up for a comeback. You already have everything you need. Inside. Just let it (love) out!

Do you ever wonder why nothing ever works out... until it does? Has anything ever happened and it seemed like it was the worst thing that could possibly happen? Only to find out later on that it was the start of something amazing? What I'm trying to say is... sometimes you have to fall before you can fly. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can start to climb. Sometimes we have too many options, too many choices, and it overwhelms us. And I believe that more is lost by indecision than "wrong" decision. Fortune favors the bold, right? Now let me clarify: I'm NOT saying we should be doing things just to do them. It's very important to be still and know that He is God... that God is love. And I AM saying, "Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take" (Proverbs 3:6 NLT). Because, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 16:25). Running around like chickens with our heads cut off has never, and will never, get us anywhere. But trusting in the Lord will show is where He has already gotten us to. It's the idea of the people of earth building a tower up to the heavens to make a name for themselves, and God basically saying, "I don't want you to make a name for YOURSELF. I want you to carry MY NAME." Let me say it like this, God had a plan. "A" plan. One plan. For humanity. And that plan had a name: Jesus. Love. The Law of Moses--behavior modification from the outside--was never God's plan. That was God relenting to His people and giving them what they THOUGHT they wanted. For a time. Until the appointed time. "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God" (1 Corinthians 4:5). Don't pass judgment on things in the moment. "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Trust the plan, even if you don't understand it. Trust the One who MADE the plan. The One who fulfilled the plan 2,000 years ago on the cross. Remember, no matter what THIS MOMENT looks like, "...we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Remember that a setback is just a set up for a comeback. And who doesn't love a good comeback story? So when life gives you twists and turns, enjoy the ride. Varitey is the spice of life. The same thing over and over can get dull, and repetitive. A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out. Sleepwalking through life is no way to live. God knows the thoughts that He thinks towards you. Good thoughts of peace, and an expected end. That end--the end of the old and the beginning of the new--happened when the Old Man died on the cross and the New Man rose up to walk in newness of life. And it happened right on time. It happened right when it needed to. God's timing, just like it always is, was perfect!

The power of love is that it is not over powering. Look at what 1 Corinthians 13:5 in the NLT says about love, "...It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." Love gives everything it has and everything it is with NO EXPECTATION of getting something back. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. Love doesn't work on a "deserve" type of level. Love doesn't care about what you do. Love cares about who you are. That's why it's so important to understand the unconditional love relationship between Father and Son. So important to see--to KNOW--God as your heavenly Father, and yourself as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. When you have what you need, and you know what you have, you don't need to get anything from anybody. When you know the truth, you can ignore the lie. When you know you are loved... you can love. Period. Exclamation mark. The end. Because love IS the end (in as much as something everlasting, and eternal, and abundant, and Resurrection HAS an end). Love is the be-all, end-all. And yet, even though love is all-powerful... love does not demand it's own way. I said a long time ago, God is too much of a gentleman to force His way on you. Again, there are circumstances when He will move heaven and earth in order to make something happen. Right, Jonah? But for the most part He is willing to let people do what they want to do. Israel wanted a human king. God told them it was a bad idea, but He gave them one. Eve wanted to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam what would happen if he ate from that tree of death, but He didn't STOP Adam from eating it. What He did, in both cases, was He stuck with His people no matter what. He lived His promise of never leaving nor forsaking us. And that's why love never fails: because it (He) endures. He doesn't WANT us to make bad decisions, but He doesn't give up on us either, when we inevitably do. That's where mercy and grace come into the picture. That's where God reaches down and picks us up. He isn't out to get us. On the cross... He got us. And all He wants to do now is love the hell out of us. His arms were open wide on the cross, wrapping all of humanity in a loving embrace. Showing us the power of love, not by fighting, but by surrendering. And in surrendering... winning the war to end all wars. You win the war to end all wars when you STOP FIGHTING. The only fight left that really matters is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Receiving (by releasing) and releasing (by receiving) the love of God. Trusting the Holy Spirit--our love receptor, the Spirit of truth--to lead and guide us into all truth. The truth that God loves us... and there is nothing we can do about it. Love is strong enough that NOTHING can separate you from it. Nothing. So we can trust that love. We can trust God because He has proven (and continues to prove) Himself trustworthy. We have faith in Him because He has proven (and continues to prove) Himself faithful. The power of love is that it CAN do anything, but it won't. It only does what is for your good. Whether you can see that, or understand it in the moment, or not. It's all in HIS perfect timing. Which, by the way, is the next Rant series I'm going to do!

The power of love is giving everything you have and everything you are and expecting nothing in return. That's the nature of love. Because love is not about getting anything. Love IS giving. Sharing what you've got. Esteeming others higher than yourself and taking care of THEM instead of worrying about yourself. It's the difference between being Christ-centered (people-centered) and self-centered. And if God... if LOVE... wasn't all-powerful, I'll tell you right now there is no way anybody could love anybody. Not in that selfless, agape way. Not in the way that Jesus loved us. He loved us so much that He would literally rather die than be without us. Not because of what we could offer Him, but because of what He could offer us. God wanted the best for us--as any Father would for His Son--so He gave the best to us. He gave us His Spirit. His name. His nature. His life. Himself. He gave us everything we could ever need. So that we might stop trying to get something else. God knows that love is the desire of our heart. He created our heart, and He put that desire there. And He also gave us the very thing we needed in order to stop looking for love in all the wrong places. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The Spirit that testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Nobody comes to the Father but by the Son. How could anybody? You can't UNDERSTAND Him as Father unless you understand yourself as Son. And when you enter into that unconditional love relationship... that's when you begin to experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God. Because that's what the everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life of God IS; It's a life of love. Being loved, and loving God (by loving others) with that same love. Receiving and releasing the gift that you've been given. Experiencing and enjoying it by giving it away. By sharing it. But, again, none of this is possible until you know and believe that you ARE loved. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So first you hear it, then you have faith in it. Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (Jesus, love) of God. Someone shows you love (by loving you, not by preaching at you necessarily), and then you have love to show someone else. Instead of trying to get something, you have something to give. That's the power of love. Giving. Laying your life down for your friends. And understanding that your "enemies" are just people who aren't friends yet. We destroy our enemies by making them our friends. That's why love is all-powerful. That's why love never fails. Love is a consuming fire that can melt even the hardest heart. But you have to walk by faith. You can't be afraid. You can't be afraid to lose what you've got, and you can't be afraid of what will happen after you give it away. That's love's purpose, and His power. Perfect love casts out fear. And it doesn't matter what happens after you give it away. You experience it BY giving it away. By giving everything you are and everything you have no matter what. There's nothing more powerful than that!

I want to revisit the key verse for this Rant series: 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Now, just the same as 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," there are not three wills of God. His will is good, and acceptable, and perfect. His Spirit is of power, love, and a sound mind. Because His Spirit IS love. He is the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. The truth that He is OUR heavenly Father and we are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's what it means to HAVE a sound mind. Look at James 1:8, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." When you don't know who you are... when you're trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got... that's when everything in your life is out of sorts. Out of balance. That's when just scraping by is a struggle. God doesn't want us to struggle. What Father would? God wants us to prosper. And I'll show you that too, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11). And, really, that expected end CAME on the cross. God gave us everything He had for us when He gave us His Son. His Spirit. His life. Everlasting life is a promise and a gift. A promise that was kept on the cross. A gift that was given on the cross. And now that we HAVE it, all we need to do is receive it and release it. All we need to do is start to experience and enjoy it by sharing it with others. Because "it" is a life full of love. That Spirit again. There is no fear in love. No fear of not having something that we need, and no fear of losing what we've got. Because we are connected to the source. God IS love. And He lives in us. There is nothing to fear. Not even death. Jesus conquered death on the cross. He laid His life down so that He could pick it back up. So that WE could have it. We now know who we are in Christ, because we know who Christ is in us. We're not double-minded, and we're not unstable. We're not trying to take the Kingdom with the violence of human effort. We're ENJOYING the Kingdom because we know that we ARE the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Love) is where the King (of kings) rules and reigns. And that's us. He rules and reigns in us, and through us, and as us. "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10). The power of love gives you the power to rule and reign, but letting Jesus rule and reign in you, and through you, and as you. By showing you what's inside so that it can come out. Naturally. The sound mind is knowing who we are. The power is knowing what we're capable BECAUSE of who we are. And the love... well... the love is what it's all about. That's HOW we rule and reign on the earth. By letting our heavenly Father love us, and loving each other with that same love. By knowing and believing the love of Christ, and filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. Letting it out by letting it in. Guarding our hearts by keeping them OPEN to love!

It's almost unfathomable how powerful love is. But I'll try to say it as simply as I can: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). When we had nothing to offer... God gave us His only beloved Son. He gave us His very life. Everything He was and everything He had. Because love is not about getting. Love IS giving. And that's what makes it so powerful. Remember my verse that I believe is the best definition of love? 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the NLT, "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." Even though. See, love is not conditional. If it's conditional, it's not love. Because when you put a condition on love, you give the condition more power than the love itself. Which is not to say that it IS more powerful. Remember, God (love) is ALL-power. Which means God (love) has ALL the power. But Jesus said it like this, "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition..." (Mark 7:13). The power is still there, but we don't USE the power. That's why receiving is so important. The gift has been given. But if we don't receive it we can't experience it or enjoy it. Again, that's where the Holy Spirit comes in. Because, according to 1 John 2:20, "...ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." We know it all. We have it all. But we don't seem to understand what we know. We don't seem to realize what we have. Or realize how powerful it is. So the Holy Spirit--our love receptor--leads and guides us into all truth. We "know" it, with a head knowledge, but we need to KNOW it, with a heart knowledge. Look at Genesis 3:8. After Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death) this happened: "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." A couple of things here: First, how could they hear the voice of the Lord walking? Because the Word was made flesh. That's Jesus. The Word of God. Love. And secondly, because they were ashamed of their nakedness, they HID from the presence of God. The presence was still there. God promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He moved into the neightborhood, into US, and He's never moving out. But there's a big difference between something being true, and that same thing being true... for you! The truth HAS set you free and made you free. But until you KNOW and BELIEVE the truth--that you are loved--you are going to act like a slave. Until you know where the source of love is, you're going to look for love in all the wrong places. Until you understand that the grass is NOT greener on the other side, and that there's no better place to be than in the outstreched arms of a God who would literally rather die than be without you... until you understand what you have... you'll always be trying to get something. You'll be willing to do anything for it. Even eat from a tree than can only produce death. Not because you WANT death, but because you think it's the only way to get what you DO want. But that's the lie. You already have it. You just need to stop hiding from it. And the thing is, love never fails. That's the power of love. It's not dependent on what you do. It's dependent on who you are. And on who God is. Father... and Son.

There are some things that we seem to take for granted in the "church world." One of them is that God is all-powerful. But it doesn't seem like we make the connection that if God is all-powerful, and God is love... that means LOVE is all-powerful. It doesn't seem like we turly understand the power of love. Even though, according to 1 Corinthians 13:8 (NIV), "Love never fails..." It's like we still use love as last chance instead of first choice. Like... we'll try to do it ourselves, and then once we inevitably fail, we'll give God a chance. It's like we'd rather dig a hole and then hope and pray that God will help us out of it instead of including Him right from the start. And this really shows a lack of God-consciousness. Because if we think there's ever a time when He's not present anyway, then we've really missed another thing we seem to take for granted; God is omnipresent. He's everywhere all the time. And, more importantly, He's living in you! So wherever you go, there you are. And wherever you go, there HE is. There is no, "I'm leaving God out of this one." Even when Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God... He was still right there with them. He swore He would never leave us nor forsake us. What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say, "...God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). In the NLT it reads like this, "God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." We can live fearlessly when we understand that perfect love casts out fear. When we understand that there is no fear in love. There is no darkness in the light. We don't have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get something we think we haven't got, or afraid to lose what we think we have got. We can be still and know that He is God. We can be still and know that God is love. And love never fails. Now I preach and Rant on this a lot, but I want to mention it here because it goes along with my theme. When I say God (love) is all-powerful I'm not saying MOST powerful. I'm saying God (love) has ALL the power. God (love) IS all the power. Think about it. Jesus went to the cross and won the war to end all wars. Not by fighting, in the traditional sense, but by laying His life down. By surrendering. By giving everything He was and everything He had. Because that's what love is. Love is giving. Giving all you have and all you are for, and to, your neighbor. And just when death thought it had won the victory, life prevailed. Death could not hold life down. Death took it's best shot and proved itself to be absolutely powerless. And that's a good thing for those of us who have spent a lot of time and effort fearing death. The cross freed us from death. Because we WERE dead in our trespasses and sins. But not we are alive in Him. Because He is alive in us. Because LOVE is alive in us. And when life and death fought... life won. Abundant, eternal, everlasting, Resurrection Life won when Jesus laid His life down (both for us and as us) and then took it back up again. When Jesus rose from the dead. When WE rose from the dead in Him! There is nothing more important than love. And, luckily, there is nothing more powerful than love. No matter who, what, where, when, why, or how... love never fails!