Now that we (hopefully) understand our beginning a little better--we came from love, and even though it was dark out, God shined His light of love so that we could see clearly--we can stop despising small beginnings. Because everybody starts somewhere. And what I'm hoping to stay in this Rant series is that you can start right where you're at. God allows U-turns, right? In fact, I'm convinced that He encourages them. You don't have to settle for less than. You're not stuck. Your story is not written yet. And, listen, I know its easy to let our past affect our present. Everything that has happened has led us to where we are right now. But we have a choice. We can either drown under our past, and let it dicatate and define us... or we can learn from it and rise above it. A U-turn doesn't mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to coin an old phrase. We don't have to act like what has happened hasn't happened. If it happened, it happened. But just because it happened doesn't mean we're irredemable. Forgiveness is a big part of the Christian message, right? And, as always, I'm not saying you should ever put yourself, or stay, or put yourself BACK, into a bad situation. Loving people doesn't mean letting them abuse you. Turn the other cheek. Yes. Don't retaliate. For sure. But if you need to shrug your shoulders and move on... that's Biblical too (Luke 9:5 MSG). And, really, that's my point. That's my heart for this Rant series. If you're in a bad situation... you can make a new start. A new beginning. And I know that can be scary. The "devil" you know often seems like a better choice than the "devil" you don't. But isn't there a saying about how the grass is always greener on the other side? I don't necessarily agree with that, but I will say sometimes we settle for way less than we should. And as far as green grass goes, how about Psalm 23:2, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." There is no greener grass than in the meadow that God has prepared for us. And--hear this--that pasture is different for you than it is for me. The dream in my heart is different than the dream in your heart. And that's ok. God didn't create a bunch of robots. He created unique, special, individual PEOPLE. So even if your new beginning doesn't make sense to anyone else... if its in your heart to do it... do it. I always advocate following your heart. Doing whatever you do because its in your heart to do it. Not because you feel obligated to do it. Nor because you think you're "supposed" to do it. And, almost just as bad, don't NOT do things because you're afraid to do them. Don't disqualify yourself because you think you don't deserve it. You are God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. Even though deserve has nothing to do with it... you ARE worthy of love. Just because you were created BY love in order to BE loved. You are capable than more than you think. And you "deserve" better than you think. Your past doesn't define you. You can move past your past. Learn and grow. Start over and do it better. I absolutely believe that most of the time you have to do something wrong before you do it right. You have to learn how to do it. Learn how to live. Learn how to love by learning how you are loved. That's what this life is all about. And it begins... now!

Yesterday we looked at Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning..." How in the beginning of your story, God created... you. And how even though you were dark and void and without form, the Spirit hovered over the face of the deep. God knew who you were even when you didn't. And He said, "Let there be light" in order to reveal Himself to you. So that you could see Him clearly, and in so doing, see yourself clearly. Because who we really are is who we are in Christ. Who Christ is in us. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. So today we will look at John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and teh Word was with God, and the Word was God." And just so we're completely sure about what we're talking about, "Word," is number 3056 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "something said (including the thought); by implication a topic, also reasoning or motive; specifically the Divine Expression (that is, Christ)." The Word is Jesus. The Word is love. In the beginning was love. And love was with God. And love was God. That's always my focus when I read the Bible--new OR old testament. Where's Jesus? Where's the love? Because to me, that's all that matters. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, right? The beginning and the end. LOVE is the alpha and omega. LOVE is the beginning and the end. Look at John 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." All things were made by love. Without love was not anything made that was made. My pastor always talks about purpose. How we were made by purpose, for purpose, and on purpose. And that has a different meaning in each of our individual lives. For me, my purpose is taking care of my son, and writing. That's who I am. But in a more universal sense we all have the same purpose: To be loved by God and to love Him back by loving each other. To obey the New Commandment, which is to love one another as Jesus loves us. To receive and release His love. To receive it BY releasing it. To guard our hearts--by keeping them open--and let love in... and let love out. That's our purpose. That's why we were created. Nothing was made that wasn't made by love. For love. Because of love. That's the beginning of our story. God--who IS love--wanted to express Himself. So He spoke. And if you notice, "Word" means motive. Which is to say, love doesn't HAVE a motive. Love IS the motive. God was motived by love to create something that He could love. To express Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. To give us something. His Spirit. Himself. His Son. So that we might know ourselves AS His Son(s). That was Plan A. Right from the beginning. And God never needed a Plan B. Love never fails. Love feeds on itself (Himself) and grows and grows like a Holy Ghost wildfire. Burning out of control. Consuming everything in its (HIS) path. Consuming everything except itself (Himself). But what I'm trying to say for today is... your story is a love story. It started with love. And, if you'll behold what manner of love it is, you'll see that not only did it start with love, but its just love, love, love throughout the whole never-ending story! An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love!

Two times in the Bible a verse starts with, "In the beginning." Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1. We're going to look at both of them. Today we'll start at the very beginning with Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And the question that I always wondered about was, "In the beginning of what?" And the answer is, "In the beginning of the story." And if we see heaven as the mind and the earth as the body we can even take this to mean, "In the beginning of YOUR story." And then we see where the trouble comes in. Genesis 1:2, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This is your story, right? YOU were without form, and void, and it was dark out. You didn't know who you were. Couldn't know. But even as we see the problem, we see the solution. Because even then, right from the beginning, God moved upon the face of the waters. God was there even when we didn't there was a God. LOVE was there. And then Love spoke. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). We had a problem. It was dark, and we couldn't see. Couldn't see who WE were, and certainly couldn't see who GOD was. So God fixed the problem. He said, "Let there be light." Let there be LOVE. And there was light. Love lights the way. Love IS the way. And the truth. And the life. So even though the beginning was basically just us wandering around in the dark trying to figure everything out--or, if I can say it this way, screaming for out mommys and daddys... because that's what babies do--even though the beginning was dark, it didn't stay that way. God, who was always there, revealed Himself to us. I've been kind of stuck on this idea of the appearance of love. Not what love looks like, but what happens when love appears. And I can't think of a better story than this one to illustrate that. When love appears... we can see things clearly. We get so caught up trying to PUT things into Divine Order that we don't realize that things are already IN Divine Order. And when that light, that love, shines... things are REVEALED to be in Divine Order. We won't stop trying to finish the work until we know and believe (seeing is believing) that the work IS finished. And as long as we're trying to finish something that HAS already been finished, what we're really doing is missing out on what's available to us. Robbing ourselves of the gift we've already been given by trying to earn it. You can't earn a gift. A gift is freely given and must be received. Received and released. And we recieve it BY releasing it. So even though it seems like we need to keep plowing ahead... "If I can just finish this work I'll be able to rest..." what we really need to do is see that God has already finished the work and we CAN rest and enjoy the fruit of HIS labor. Which is the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. Its all about love. In the beginning we didn't know love. We couldn't see it. We thought we had to earn it. But God shined the light of the world so that we could see clearly. See ourselves clearly. See HIM clearly. See LOVE clearly. Because that's who He is. And that's who we are. We are loved, and that means we can love. We are loved, and that means we are LOVE!

My Bible case proudly proclaims, "God allows U-turns!" And I always like to add that He, in fact and in truth, encourages them. And I think this is important to Rant about because it seems to me that its easy... so very easy... to get stuck in a rut. To settle for things, no matter how (I'll just say it) horrible they are sometimes. It never ceases to amaze me the things that we humans are capable of putting up with. And, yes, I just did a whole Rant series about forbearing in love. Not just putting up with things (or people) but embracing them for what (and who) they are. But I tried to sprinkle in my belief that you should NEVER put, or keep, yourself in a bad situation. As my pastor always says, "a rut is just a grave with the ends kicked out." So let me quote my memory verse. Zechariah 4:10 (NLT), "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand." (The seven lamps represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world.)" The Lord rejoices to see the work begin. He not only allows U-turns, He encourages them. Rejoices in them. Because its never too late. You're NOT stuck. And how does that old saying go? "Don't hold on to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it." You can do a lot more damage by holding on than by letting go. Think about holding on to a rope. The tighter you squeeze the more the rope burns you. But when you let go... it might feel like you're falling, but in reality you're free. And, by the way, that rope was never holding you up anyway. It was dragging you down even as you tried to drag it around with you. Hebrews 12:1 says it like this, "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." See, we think overcoming means climbing the mountain. But, in truth, the way is straight and narrow. We just let things trip us up. We just get off that path sometimes. And then we think its best to just keep barreling ahead, rather than stopping and recalibrating. Starting over can seem like a daunting task. I get that. Everything we've done has led us to where we are. Ok. But just because we got lost and ended up here doesn't necessarily mean we BELONG here. "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" (Isaiah 30:21). The Word, by the way, which is Jesus--which is love. Love lights the way. So follow your heart. Walk by faith, not by sight. Don't settle. Don't ever settle. And don't be afraid to make a U-turn. Even if it takes baby steps. Baby steps are still steps in the right direction. Today is the first day of the rest of your life, right? So do not despise small beginnings. Everyone has to start somewhere. Even if that means starting over, right where you're at. You're story isn't written yet. Your past does not define you. Beginnings are awesome (as we're going to see). So don't think you're stuck. take that step. Follow your heart. Dream that dream. Be your best you. Live a life of love!

I think the most important revelation I've had during this Rant series--and remember, I don't write because I think I know stuff. I write to explore and figure out stuff. I think the most important revelation I've had during this Rant seris is that the question of "what manner of love do God have for us?" is not a question for US to answer. Its one for HIM to answer. And He's not afraid to do that. At all. All throughout the Old Testament people asked God for signs. And He didn't rebuke them. He didn't accuse them of not having faith. He gave them signs. Let me say it another way: Love is never afraid to prove itself. In fact, love proving itself is what makes it love. Jesus told people that the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. And then He went to the cross and did just that. He put His money where His mouth was. He didn't just tell us about love... He showed us love. The appearance of love, right? And when Jesus--when LOVE--appears, we are like Him, because we see Him as He is. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Let me quote a memory verse real quick. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). And, to me, this kind of says it all. Because if we're expected to love others as Jesus loves us... then all of the emphasis is on HIM loving us. If God expects us to love each other a lot... He has to first love us a lot. Which is what 1 John 4:19 says, "We love him, because he first loved us." And I always like to point out how in the NLT it reads, "We love each other because he loved us first." Reads differently, but says the same thing. Because we love Him BY loving each other. And we love Him BACK (by loving each other) because He first loved us. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So in order to give someone love, you must first have love. That's why God gave us His only begotten Son--so that we might know ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. So that we might know Him as heavenly Father. So that we might know His love for us as a Son knows His Father's love. What manner of love does God have for us? A love that literally says, "I would rather die than be without you." A love that not only gave His life FOR us, but gave it TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it, even as we give it away. That's God's love. Sacrificial. Lay your life down. Give everything you have and everything you are no matter what happens next. And, listen, that kind of love doesn't make sense to the carnal mind. It seems too good to be true. When, really, it is so good that it MUST be true. It is the truth! And while it just might take all of eternity for us to comprehend the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of that love... all we're really expected to do is enjoy the ride. We don't have to figure God out. He reveals Himself. To us, and in us, and through us. He appears. LOVE appears. And when we see it... we be it. When we behold it, we experience it. When we give it away, when we share it, we live it. And that's what life is for--its for living. To live is to love, and to love is to live. What manner of love does God have for us? He'll show us. And then we'll know. And then we'll be able to give that same love!

Its hard to understand love sometimes. And I think the best way to just lay it out there is by quoting something I read the other day, "People DO love you, your brain is just mean." Struck a chord with me. Because the thing of it is... we're with ourselves all the time. We know the worst things we've done, because we were right there. Doing it. And that gives us a lot of ammo to disqualify ourselves from the thing we want above all things. We very easily convince ourselves that we don't deserve it. And then there's the world, that has a way of trying to make us jump through hoops in order to earn it. When the truth of the matter is, you can't earn love. It is freely given, or it isn't love. So it must be received. And that's what the Holy Spirit is all about--He is our love receptor. He is the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that God is your heavenly Father and you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Because that's HOW the Holy Spirit leads and guides us into all truth; with the revelation of Jesus. The Holy Spirit testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Showing us who we are in Christ by showing us who Christ is in us. Who LOVE is in us. I just did a Guerrila Gospel video last night about the appearance of love. About how when Jesus appears--in us, and through us, and as us--LOVE appears. In us. And through us. And as us. You can't give what you don't have, right? And you can only give what you do have. We love, because He first loved us. He gave us something. And we simply receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. We simply--and I say "simply" not "easily"--know it and believe it. Sometimes its hard to believe. I agree with you. Sometimes love--especially the unconditional, self-sacrificing, agape love of God--seems too good to be true. But in reality it is so good that is must be true. It IS the truth. And the way. And the life. So when we question it, the question cannot be "He loves me... He loves me not." God's love for us is eternal. It never wavers. The question must be, "what manner of love is this?" And from there we can dive into the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of His love. Once we start with the ultimate truth of the universe--God is love and He loves you--then we can begin to understand it. But let me just throw this out there: Ephesians 3:19 (NLT), "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." The journey into the heart of the matter, which is God's heart beating with love in your chest, is a never-ending life-long journey. We will never completely understand it. But we can grow in it. We can see it if we look for it. We can experience it by giving it away. And experiencing something is better than understanding it anyway. "That felt awesome!" "Why? What happened?" "I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Because it was awesome!" What manner of love does the Father have for us? That's why we're here; to let HIM answer that question. Every day. In every way. To let HIM love us and to love Him back by loving each other. Like I said, pretty simple.

In order to understand what manner of love the Father has towards us... we need to SEE Him as Father. And ourselves as Son(s). That's what the Holy Spirit is all about. You know, the Spirit of Truth. That leads us into all truth. The truth that God is love, and He loves you. And the Holy Spirit does that by testifying of our true selves... by testifying of Jesus. Look at Galatians 4:6 (NLT), "And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, "Abba, Father."" The Holy Spirit--our love receptor--is what prompts, or equips and empowers, us to call Him Father. Daddy. And not just call Him that... but KNOW Him as that. But let me just say real quick--the Holy Spirit is not something that all of a sudden allowed God to love us. He IS love. He always has and always will love us. The Holy Spirit--again, our love receptor--is what allows US to know and believe His love. The love that has always been there. God loving us is nothing new. God didn't need the cross to love us. WE needed the cross to begin to understand His love. Remember Ephesians chapter 3 speaking of the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of His love? The only way to truly understand that love is by experiencing it. And we experience love by giving it away. Because love IS giving.  Giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about what comes next. Giving it gladly. Even though it seems like the more we love... the less we are loved. And I said it seems like it because that's not the truth. Our approval doesn't come from man. It comes from God. People will mistreat you. Your heavenly Father won't. People will question your motives. God knows your heart. Because its HIS heart. Beating with love. In your chest. That agape love. That sacrificial, laying your life down for your friends love. So watch this: "Beloved, now are we 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" (1 John 3:2). Seeing is believing. When He appears... love appears. Because God is love. And when love appears, we shall be like love. For we shall see love as He is. We ARE His Son(s), but we're still coming into the fulness of what that means. We know who we are, but every day we learn how to BE who we are. As He--Jesus, LOVE--reveals Himself to us. And in us. And through us. And by the way, that's what manner of love He has for us. Taking us by the hand and leading us step by step into Himself. Into OUR true selves. Making everything He has and everything He is--everything LOVE has and everything LOVE is--availabe to us. Preparing a table for us in the presence of our enemies. And then ringing the dinner bell. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come," right? Come and get it. Because its (HE'S) not a love that demands its (HIS) own way. Its not a pushy love. But it is a powerful love. A life-changing love. A love that reveals things to be in Divine Order. Those things you're worried about? You don't need to. Because your heavenly Father has your back. He loves you. And He's not afraid to prove it. Not afraid to show you. Not afraid to lavish you with His love. But that's for tomorrow...

Its all about love. Really, it is. The God who IS love created us in order to express His love in us, and through us, and as us. That's why we're here. That's the whole point of the whole thing. And, as disciples of Christ--students of love--we learn how to love as we learn how we are loved. Look at our key verse for this Rant series again, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1). And the word I want to focus on today is "behold." It is number 1492 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "properly to see (literally or figuratively); by implication (in the perfect only) to know: - be aware, consider, look on, perceive, be sure, tell, understand." Basically... seeing is believing. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Or a blind leap in the light. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. Like, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). The wind blows where it will, and we see the evidence of it. God loves us, and we see the evidence of it. Love comes in many shapes and forms. All of the different "fruits" of the Spirit are really the ONE FRUIT of the Spirit. Love. There's only one Tree of Life. Only one fruit that comes from that tree. But it comes how it will. And sometimes we miss it. Because sometimes we're looking for something... and what shows up doesn't fit into our box. So, like the man said, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us." Look at it. But don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm not saying, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." But I AM saying keep your heart open. Don't rob yourself of what's available to you by throwing it over for something that's not available. Don't try to earn something that can't be earned and miss out on what you've been given. Be aware of love. In every situation. Because God is everywhere, right? And God is love. So love is everywhere. Look on it. Look FOR it. Perceive it. Consider it. Didn't Joseph say, "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)? Every cloud has a silver lining. And the rainbow can't come until after the rain. What you look for is what you will find. What's inside is what will come out. Or, more accurately, what you BELIEVE is inside will come out. What you see is what you be. Seeing is believing. That why the next verse in 1 John talks (which we will get to again) Jesus appearing. Because when we SEE Him we will be like Him, because we will know who He is. Who we are. Who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us. Behold what manner of love. Look at the cross. The sacrifice that was made. God literally saying He would rather die than be without us. Laying His life down so that He could pick it back up and experience it--experience LOVE--in us, and through us, and as us. When you see that kind of love... you can't help but be changed by it. Changed INTO it. Transformed into that new creature. That new creation. That New Man who IS Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body! Take a look and be what you see!

Sometimes--a lot of the time... most of the time--I just think about love. I'm kind of obsessed with it. And the thing about love is... you can't really get to the bottom of it. One of my favorite passages of Scripture goes like this, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengtheed with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19). To me... that's life. That's what its all about. That never ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. God's heart beating with love in our chests. So that we might know that we are loved, and love one another with that same love. Receive and release the gift we've been given. Receive it BY releasing it. Give away what we've got, and in that way experience it. And in experiencing it (one more time: by giving it away) we comprehend those dimensions of God's love. We test the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of His love when we love bigger and stronger than we ever thought we could. Look at what Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." And the word "disciples" is number 3101 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "a learner, that is, pupil." So a disciple of Christ is literally a student of love. Learning how to love by learning how we are loved. Which brings me back to where we started. Thinking about love. And what I want to say about love, today, is, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we 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" (1 John 3:1-2). There's a lot there. And I want to spend the next few days unwrapping it. Digging into it. Exploring it. Because it is only when we understand what manner of love we are loved with, that we can begin to truly love one another with that love. And since that's the New Commandment (and the whole point of the whole thing), I think its important to begin to understand. And I know this was mostly just building the foundation, but I'm stuck on that phrase. "What manner." Kind of like how God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. So that we might know that we ARE His Son(s). So that we might know Him as loving heavenly Father. I'm not saying anything against mom's, because if there was no mom there would be no you. And I'm not saying every dad is super dad. But this picture of a Father loving His Son is so powerful. I'll end tonight with a quote I like to use from a song I like to listen to. "Daddy's don't just love their children every now and then. Its a love without end. Amen." What manner of love? A love without end. A love that cannot--will not--fail. A love that lasts forever. A love you can trust. Depend on. Have faith in. What manner of love? Agape love. The God who IS love!

What's inside comes out. Its only when you're at peace with yourself that you can be a peacemaker. Only when you stop trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got that you can be yourself. Your true self. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. And when you be still and know that He is God... that's when you can experience Jesus' everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life. That's when you can stop trying to get, and start giving what you've got. That's when you can stop running FROM God and start running TO Him. And when you run TO Him, and rest in His open arms, that's when you experience His peace. Look at John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Jesus said MY peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth. Not just the absense of enemies. But the presence of love. That's the bond of peace. Love is the bond that keeps us together. The unity of the Spirit. Knowing that we're all in this together and helping each other. Not knocking someone down so you can look better by comparision, but reaching down to pick someone up when they're down. Bearing one another's burdens so they're light enough to carry. Looking on the things of others. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. That's what unity of Spirit is all about. That's the bond of peace. And that's what's available to us. That's what Jesus gave us when He gave us the Holy Spirit--the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. He gave us the love receptor. So that we might now that He always has and always will love us. And since the New Commandment is to love one another as Jesus loves us... its important to know how He loves us. Its important to know and believe His love. So that we can receive and release His love. So that we can let what's inside come out, by knowing and believing its in there. Knowing and believing HE'S in there. Knowing and believing LOVE is in there! Love means "love feast" in many Bible verses. And what's more peaceful than sharing a meal with someone? (Yes, I'm sure you've had some rambunctious Thanksgiving dinners and whatnot, but I'm convinced there is power in breaking bread with people. Communion, right?) When we sit down and eat together we strengthen that bond. That connection. That relationship. Peacemakers don't go around destroying things. The good fight of faith is laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift that we've been given. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Seeing a need and meeting it. That's how the government and peace of God knows no end... because it spreads through His people. We stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and we (I'll say it again) be still and know that HE is God. Know that God is love. Embrace ourselves and then embrace others. A hug can go a long way. Especially if you haven't had one in a while. It can make you feel pretty peaceful. So stop fighting against things and start living FOR things. For each other. For love. Peace on earth and goodwill towards men!