Sleep is death. And that is completely different than rest. Because rest is how we live. We are awake, but we are NOT running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We are NOT trying to earn something that can't be earned. We are NOT trying to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. Jesus is the bread of life, and He gave Himself to us freely. His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is the GIFT of God. And you can't earn a gift. That's when we get into trouble, and that's what I call sleep walking. We fall into the trap of the world that says, "You have to do in order to be." Even religion will tell you that you have to fit in a box in order to get what God has coming for you. Nonsense. Everything God has for us... He gave to us on the cross. When He gave us His only begotten Son. When He gave us His Spirit. When He gave us Himself. Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. Because He wanted us to have it. And now we DO have it. We've had it for 2,000 years. And, really, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. What we needed was a realization of who He is. A realization of who We are. What we have. And what we can do with what we have. What we needed was a wake up call. And, one more time, that's what the cross was! The light of the world shined... revealing that WE are the light of the world! Jesus showed us who we really are by showing us who God really is. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That's what awaking to righteousness (and sinning not) is all about. Its about awaking to love. To the ultimate truth of the universe that says God is love and He loves you. Because even when we slept--before the cross, when we were dead in our trespasses and sins--our heart was awake. Love is the desire of the heart. What else could it be? And we've always yearned for it. NEEDED it. But, before the cross, we never thought we deserved it. Never thought we were good enough. We disqualified ourselves, buying into the sleep of death. I mean, even to the point where--and I've heard people say this, and it breaks my heart--we get the mindset of, "I'm on the highway to hell anyway, so I might as well just give up." Like I said: Heartbreaking. We've turned the God who IS love into a mean old man who punishes people for their mistakes. Can't we just learn from our mistakes and move one? Upward and onward. Upward and GOD-ward! Can't we just stop trying to be someone we're not, and wake up to who we are? Embrace who we are? BE who we are? God created you to be... you! He loves you just the way you are. He doesn't want you to be someone else. He wants you to be who you are. Who you REALLY are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. So wake up. Your heart has been awake, just waiting for the rest of you. And now, through the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--we CAN catch up. We CAN wake up. We can receive and release the love of God. We can let God love us, and we can love Him back by loving each other. And in that way we can truly live a life of love!

The difference between being awake and asleep is literally the difference between life and death. Sleep walking. The walking dead. Going through the motions. Stuck in a rut--which is just a grave with the ends kicked out. Stumbling around in the dark. Trying the best you can with what you've got (which you believe to be nothing at all) to get something that you think you haven't got (which, tragically, you've had all along). And religion is the blind leading the blind, causing everybody to end up in a ditch. But, as always, there's a more excellent way. THE Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus. Love. Jesus came to wake us from sleep. And look at the connection here: "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep" (John 11:11-13). Sleep = death. And, see, the disciples thought of death as permanent. They couldn't even begin to grasp the concept of Jesus waking us from death. But that's what the cross was--Jesus died so we could die (to death) and then he rose again so that we could awake to righteousness and sin not. So that we could wake up to the truth... the ultimate truth of the universe that says "God is love and He loves you." He came to wake us from sleep. To bring us out of death and into life. Now watch this--this is one of my all-time favorite memory verses: "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). And let's connect it with John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath evelasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Its that Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of life that gives us life! Knowing and believing that God loves us. Because faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God. When we were asleep our heart was awake. And that voice of truth was Jesus standing at the door (of our heart) and knocking. Just waiting to be let in so that He could sup with us. So that He could share that love feast that He is, and satisfy our appetite. He has the thing our heart desires, because He IS the thing our heart desires. Love. Love is what makes life worth living. Love is what makes the abundant life abudant. Love is what makes it POSSIBLE to truly live. Because to live IS to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected, they are the same thing. Before the cross we were sleepwalking. Dead in our trespasses and sins. But that Word quickened us. Made us alive. Woke us up. So that we could live. So that we could be loved, and love God by loving each other with that same love. So that we could stop trying to be someone we're not in order to get something we think we haven't got. So that we could walk in newness of life. Newness of love!

Jesus came to wake us from sleep. Because even while we slept, our heart waketh. Before the cross, when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we KNEW there was something better out there. That's why we spent so much of our three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to get that something better. Trying to earn that love and acceptance we so desperately desired by the sweat of our brows. We thought we didn't have it, but we needed it, so we tried to get it by hook or by crook. By any means necessary. So when a serpent came and hissed in our ear and said, "Eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and you'll be like God," we said, "Of course! That makes sense. We aren't like Him now, but if we get enough information--enough knowledge--we can do good, stop doing evil, be like Him, and be accepted by Him!" But here's the flaw in that plan: "And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Genesis 1:26). We were already like Him. Made in His image. Which means there has never, and will never, be anything we can do to be like Him... except BELIEVE that we are like Him! And that's where the cross comes in. That's where Romans 8:29 comes in, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." See, first we were made in His image, but we were asleep. We didn't know what HE looked like, so we couldn't know what WE looked like. But on the cross we were CONFORMED to the image of His Son. Jesus came to wake us up. To show us who WE are, by showing us who GOD is. And God... is love. WE... are love! That's what awakening to righteousness and sinning not is all about--its all about love. Awakening to the truth that God is love and He loves you. And since sin is unbelief--believing anything other than that glorious truth--we sin not by letting Him love us and loving Him back by loving others with that love. What is it that young people say these days? Get woke! Get with the program. Stop waiting for God to move and start to understand that He already moved. He moved 2,000 years ago on the cross. By shining the light of the world, so that we could stop sleepwalking, see clearly, and start walking in newness of life! So that we could stop trying to earn something that can't be earned and simply begin to receive it and release it. We need to wake up to who we really are. Embrace who we really are. Stop trying to fill ourselves up with something we think we don't have and let what's already inside come out by knowing and believing that its in there! The difference between being awake and being asleep is literally the difference between life and death. But that's for tomorrow. Let me end tonight by saying, the light is shining. The night is over. Wake up! Make hay while the sun is shining. Experience and enjoy what you have by giving it away. By sharing it! Your heart has always been awake. Now the rest of you can catch up!

I try to stay in my lane. If I think I have something to say about a topic, I'll say it. If I don't, I generally just leave it alone. So the themes I find myself repeating over and over--receiving and releasing, living the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God by letting HIM live it in you, and through you, and as you--that's because those are the things I feel like I should be saying. And, as always, I don't write because I have it figured out... I write to figure it out. I said all that to say this: I think its important to know that we spend a lot of our lives sleepwalking. I know I Rant on this often--what it means to awake to righteousness--but, like my pastor taught me, "Preach it until your heart is empty on it." So. Look at Song of Solomon 5:2 and lets get into this. "I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." I think that's where a lot of people are right now. "I sleep, but my heart waketh." We know there's something more--something better--out there, but we've settled for what the world has thrown at us. We're on autopliot, just going through the motions. Its so easy to get stuck in a rut--which we know is just a grave with the ends kicked out. And here's the deal Genesis 2:21 tells us that, "...the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept..." but the Bible never tells us that God woke Adam up. It wasn't until Jesus came that the problem was addressed. "These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11). And, look, I get it that Adam and Lazarus were two different people. But I think the truth I'm trying to uncover is sound. God put man to sleep. Jesus came to awake him out of sleep. Jesus came to get us out of our rut. By showing us who we really are. By showing us who God really is. Jesus--God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. Because even as we slept, our heart was awake. Yearning for the love that we had been told was just out of reach. I think the Bible describes David as a man after God's own heart, not because he necessarily "had" it, but because he WANTED it. He was after it. He desired it. Look at Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." David was a man with flaws. Like all of us. But he knew there was something better out there. He knew there was a more excellent way. Like John, when he laid his head on the master's breast, they could hear the heartbeat of God. And now, because of the cross, we have it even better. Because now, because of the cross, we know that God's heart is beating with love in our chests. We know that Jesus stands at the door (of our heart) and knocks. It is His voice of truth saying, "I love you," that entices us to open the door. So that we can sup with Him. Experience His love for us. His love IN us, coming OUT of us. That's what it means to be awake. Our heart has always been awake, and has just been waiting for us to catch up. To WAKE up!

In this world you will have tribulation. That's just called living. Stuff happens, to paraphrase Forrest Gump. But the thing about it is, well, let me quote a verse in Revelation and then I'll try to unwrap it. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:11). The second death doesn't have to hurt. We don't have to be torn and smitten before we can be healed and bound up. Jesus did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all, because He gave it all to us. He gave HIMSELF to us. Jesus gave His life FOR us, yes. But He also gave His life TO us. Simply because He wanted us to have it. So instead of waiting for God to strike us down... we need to understand that on the cross God allowed HIMSELF to be struck down. In a sense He struck Himself down. Sacrificed Himself. Laid His life down for His friends. And He did it so that we could experience His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. So while stuff DOES happen, we don't have to let the stuff that happens wreck us. And this doesn't mean "try really hard to be an overcomer." Jesus is the overcomer. He overcame the world. That's why we can be of good cheer. He that overcometh is he that understands that Jesus overcame for us and as us. The one who isn't hurt by the second death is the one that knows that His death WAS our death. We are crucified with Him. When He died, I died. And when rose again, I rose again. To walk in newness of life. To live a live of love by knowing and believing that I am loved. Letting God love me and loving Him back by loving people. That's what its all about. That's what it means to be healed and bound up. Hurt people hurt people, right? But loved people love people. Healed people heal people. I saw a quote the other day and I really liked it. I don't have it in fron of me, but basically it said, "If you don't heal from old hurts, you'll bleed on people that didn't hurt you." So true. So true. We carry things with us and let those things affect everything else that happens. But we don't have to. That's what I want to say today. We may have been torn and smitten by the world. In this world you WILL have tribulation. But your heavenly Father loves you, and He doesn't want you to suffer. So He can--and has, and is, and will--heal you. If you let Him. If you run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. If you be still and know that HE is God. You don't have to fix everything by yourself. And that's good news, because you can't. But He can. He did. By His stripes we ARE healed. It is appointed unto men ONCE to die, and Jesus kept that appointment for us 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. So it doesn't have to hurt. Going through "bad" is not a prerequisite for getting to "good." It may happen, just because it happens. But you're not earning anything by suffering. You can't earn a gift. And that's what God has given us--a gift. So instead of robbing ourselves of it by trying (and failing) to earn it... we need to just receive it. Receive it and release it. Know that its in there, and let it out. Let the mercy, and grace, and forgiveness that we've been given out. Let the healing out. Let the love out!

Let me quote our key passage for this Rant series again, "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" (Hosea 6:1-2). We've been focusing on the idea of the world trying to tear and smite us. But today I want to try to put forth the idea that on the cross it was God smiting and tearing Himself. And not as a substition for us. I don't think the God who IS love ever wanted to tear and smite His creation--His most prized possession. I think Jesus WAS standing in for us, in a sense, because when He died... we died. And when He rose again, we rose again. We were already dead in our trespasses and sins. We needed a second death so that we could get a new birth. So that we could walk in newness of life. And since God wanted us to have this life--HIS life--He sacrificed HIMSELF. He laid His life down--for us and as us--so that He could pick it back up... and we could experience it. He tore Himself down. Emptied Himself of His divinity. Wrapped Himself in human flesh. Literally became sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He tore HIMSELF so that we wouldn't have to be torn. And by His stripes, we were healed. Read that again. By His stripes we WERE healed. Past tense. 2,000 years ago. But we don't receive that truth. We try to earn healing. We try to earn everything. Because that's what makes sense to the carnal mind--do good and be rewarded, do evil and be punished. But that's what the second death was: We died to death. We got rid of the carnal mind so that we could let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) be in us. And when I say "we" got rid of it, of course I mean HE got rid of it for us. In us. As us. So let's break this mindset that says we have to be punished before we can be blessed. Its nonsense. Poppycock. We have already been blessed. And it had nothing to do with our actions. God blessed us, because He wanted us to experience His blessings. It was a gift. And you can't earn a gift. You can earn wages, but when the Bible talks about wages it talks about the wages of sin. Which is death. Which (one more time) is where we were before the cross. The last enemy to be defeated was death. And Jesus defeated it when He died and rose again. And we were in Him when that happened. So WE defeated death and now have eternal, abundant, everlasting, Resurrection Life. A life of love. Of knowing (and believing) that we are loved, and loving others with that same love. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it by receiving it. Letting God love the hell out of us, and filling ourselves to overflowing with that love. Letting what's inside come out. You can't give what you don't have, right? And you can only give what you do have? So if you feel like you've been torn and smitten... you'll tear and smite people. Hurt people hurt people. But if you know that you are loved... you'll love people. If you know that God hath torn and hath smitten... Himself... for us, then you can move past all of that and start to enjoy the gift that you've been given. Enjoy it... experience it... by sharing it. By giving it away!

You don't have to be punished in order to be blessed. I think that's the point I'm trying to make with this Rant Series. We seem to have the idea that God has to tear US before He can heal us. That He has to smite US before He can bind us up. But that's just not the way it is. God--our heavenly Father--is not in the punishing business. Even the cross--which has been misconstrued as God needing to punish someone and settling for His Son (which is nuts to me that we think Jesus had to save us from God... we think that God had to save us from Himself)--the cross was about restoration. See, we think Jesus died so that we could live. We think that the evil had to proceed the good. But really, we were already dead in our trespasses and sins. Jesus died so we could die. So we could die to death. Die to sin. The second death. And then Jesus rose again so that we could live. Live His life as He lives His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Experience His life by letting Him live it. Because nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. The harder we TRY to be like Him... the more frustrated we get when we fall short. But here's the good news (the Gospel), "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hat blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). We have already been blessed. Because of what Jesus did. Because of who God is. The Father doesn't want to punish the Son. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. Into OUR hands. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Jesus is our true identity. When God looks at us He sees Jesus. When God looks at Jesus He sees us. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart that is Christ in you the hope of (revealed) glory. When the glory is revealed the man of the heart isn't hidden anymore. And while everybody DOES love a comeback story, and while in this world we WILL have tribulation... we don't have to blame God for the things that happen to us. I say this all the time: Life happens, every single day. Things don't always go the way you think they should. But (and I was hoping I'd get here today), "And 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). So when things don't go our way... trust that they're working together for good. All according to your heavenly Father's master plan. When you DO get torn and smitten, don't blame God. Actions DO have consequences. And, again, I'm not talking about punishment. I'm talking about, if you eat from the tree of death you'll surely die. What else could come from that action? Which is why God warned Adam not to do that. He didn't say, "If you disobey me I'll kill you." He said, "the day you eat from that tree you'll surely die." And when you DO get torn and smitten, don't run FROM God... run TO Him. Because He can (and will, and has) heal you and bind you up. He cares for you. Wants the best for you. Life WILL try to knock you down. But only God--only love--can hold you up. Pick you up. Keep you from falling. The blessings has already been given, and it had nothing to do with performance. It had everything to do with God wanting you to be blessed!

The natural, carnal mind seems to operate under the idea that we have to go through suffering in order to earn a reward. As if to say we have to go through the bad in order to get to the good. We have this idea that God has to tear and smite us before He can heal us and bind us up. But that's not what our key memory verse in Hosea 6:1-2 says: "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." Notice that when "we" are mentioned... its only on the healing and binding part. Because its all Jesus. Jesus was torn and smitten... by the world. By religious folk. And then, two days later--in the third day--WE were raised up. Jesus didn't just die FOR us, He died AS us. And when He rose again WE rose again. Jesus did all of the heavy lifting so that we could get all of the inheritance that was due to the firstborn Son. God isn't out there, sitting on a cloud, holding a lightning bolt, waiting to get us when we mess up. He is living in us, loving the hell out of us, holding us up so that we don't HAVE to mess up. What parent WANTS their child to stumble and fall? No true parent. No true Father. The Father provides. Protects. And, yes, chastens and corrects. I think I've mentioned this twice now, so I'll go ahead and quote it. "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth" (Proverbs 3:12). And echoed again in Hebrews 12:6-7, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourageth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" And, listen, I work in an elementary school. I see--immediately and easily--the difference between kids who have parents that chasten and correct them... and kids who have parents that don't. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it seems like there are WAY more parents out there who... don't. But let me say this--I discipline my kid BECAUSE I love him. He doesn't always like it, and I don't always like it either, but we're both better off for it. The point I'm trying to make is that there is a difference between chastening and correcting--which is good and proper--and tearing and smiting. Putting someone through the wringer in order to force them to earn something (especially love and acceptance) is just plain wrong. You don't have to destroy someone just so you can put them back together. The world does a good enough job of knocking us down that all we should ever be doing is lifting each other up. And, as always, I want to make sure I'm not being misunderstood when I say things like this. Because I DO NOT believe you should ever put, or keep, yourself in a bad situation. Loving someone doesn't mean letting them use you and abuse you. Loving someone means giving them everything you have and everything you are... and knowing that once you do that its either enough, or its not. And either way, at that point, you've done your part. You've done what you can do. So don't be afraid to accept chastening and correction from your father (your Father). But don't think you have to be torn and smitten in order to "earn" something good on the other side. We DO go through things, in order to get to the other side, but its not God doing evil to us so that He can do good to us. I think this is where I'm going to be tomorrow, but I'll end today with the truth that even when things LOOK evil, all things work together for GOOD!

It kind of bums me out a little bit that I feel the need to Rant about this... but... it seems like a large majority of people--especially "religious folk"--are ready, willing, and able (and even happy!) to blame God for the things that happen to them. Even so far as talking about physical illness either being a punishment from God, or "all part of His plan." I can't stress strongly enough that what God has given us (even though we seemingly haven't accepted it to the point that we can walk in it) is divine health. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was wounded for out transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." And then that truth is echoed in 1 Peter 2:24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." Did you catch that? We ARE healed. We WERE healed. Past tense. On the cross. Through the cross. But we've twisted this to mean, "Healing is available if we just jump through this, that, and the other hoop." We put everything out in our future, or we disqualify ourselves from everything that available to us. And that's tragic. We still want to live under the Old Covenant system of earning our bread by the sweat of our brows. Doing good and being rewarded. Doing evil and being punished. But look at those two verses again, because this is what I really want to hit in this Rant series. HE was wounded. HE bare our sins on the cross. HE was bruised. The chastisement of OUR peace was on HIM. Jesus did all of the heavy lifting. He didn't finish the work so that we could finish the work. He finished the work so that we could rest. So that we could stop our works and labors and simply be still and know that HE is God. So here's my key passage for this Rant series: "Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he was bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight" (Hosea 6:1-2). We think we need a Job story, where we get beat down, busted, broken, and disgusted before anything good can happen. But Job's life was good BEFORE anything else. He didn't earn anything by going though his tribulations. He was restored, yes, and the Bible tells us that the end was greater than the beginning. But God doesn't work on a performance system. In fact, He likes to pick unlikely candidates to do His will. Because availability is more important than ability. If you're willing, He's able! So we look at a passage in Hosea and we think He will tear US. But that's not what it says. We think we need to get torn before we can get healed. And sometimes you do have to hit rock bottom before you can start the journey back home. Sometimes you need to be in a position where there's no where else TO go but up. But I don't think God necessarily puts us there. I think WE put ourselves there. Because our actions DO have consequences. But God DOES NOT punish His children. The tearing and the smiting, in reality, was what WE did to God. And He STILL healed us and bound us up. True parents never want to hurt their children. They will chasten and correct them, teach them. Train them up in the way they should go. But we need to break away from this idea that God is tearing and smiting us just so He can heal and bind us. The WORLD tries to tear us down and smite us. Our heavenly Father picks us back up. Holds us up. And keeps us from falling!

We live by faith... by walking by faith. Putting our money where our mouth is. And, like I've been trying to say--we DO live by faith, no matter what. Its just a matter of having our faith in the right thing. And here's where I want to make a very clear and loud distinction: There is a difference between "walking it out" and "walking in it." It seems to me that we have this idea in which, "Ok, Jesus finished the work. Now I need to walk it out." As if to say, He overcame, now we can overcome. But I've been saying it for a while, we've already overcome. Because He overcame. We don't need to try to overcome. We can have peace. In the world there's tribulation, but He (and us IN Him) has overcome the world. Let me say it like this: On the cross, Jesus fought (and won) the war to end all wars. Which means there are no more wars left. He brough the mountains low and the valleys high. Which means we can walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life. By letting HIM walk it with our feet. He IS the way. And the truth. And the life. Its all Jesus. Its all love. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in our flesh. Love in our body. That's what we are to have faith in--have faith in God--which means have faith in love. So living by faith means living by love. Letting God love the hell out of us so that we can love the hell out of each other. But that's simply an overflow of what we've been filled with. That's not walking it out in our own strength or power. HIS strength is made perfect in weakness. What has been started in the Spirit cannot be made perfect with the flesh of human effort. And, listen, love IS maximum effort. You can't give somebody more than love. Love is giving everything you have and everything you are. And once you've done that its either enough... or its not. So stop trying so hard to please everybody. You can't. You CAN love everybody, but sometimes people think they're looking for something other than love. So when they get love, they disregard it. They don't receive it. And that's ok. Because love is not about the reaction you get. Love is giving. Again, giving everything you have and everything you are... even though it seems like the more you love the less you are loved. See, once you give someone a gift it doesn't matter what they do with that gift. You need to learn to love without expectations. Because once you've given it... you've done your part. Whatever comes next, comes next. And that, to me, is what walking IN love is all about. Look at Isaiah 30:21, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." When we lose our way, that word--about the finished work--from behind us reminds us. This is the way. Love is the way. Don't try to walk it out. Walk ye in it. Live by faith by walking by faith. Live by love by walking in love. Do whatever you do because its in your heart to do it. Do what you do because you have something to give, not because you are trying to get something. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. A life of love is a life of giving. That's how we truly live--by giving ourselves to the people we come into contact with. Have faith in God. Have faith in love. And walk in it. The just shall live by faith... so just live by faith. Let the love inside come out by knowing and believing that its (HE'S) in there!