Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit. The bond of peace. Not an absence of things (or people) that bother you, but joining together with people as you put in the effort to understand (and love) them. Endeavouring meaning "hurry up and enjoy the peace that comes from knowing the work is finished!" Like in Hebrews 4:11, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Where "labour" is 4707 in Strong's Greek Concordance. The same word as "endeavouring" in Ephesians 4:3! It means, again, "to use speed, that is, to make effort, be prompt or earnest: - do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study." We don't work to enter into rest. The work is finished. That's why (and how) we CAN rest.  We simply need to hurry up and enter into it. Hurry up and stop trying so hard to be someone we're not, in order to get something we think we haven't got. Its the good fight of faith; laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift we've already been given. We don't work to accomplish the unity of the Spirit. God is that Spirit. Love is that Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Its the "unity" with each other that seems to trip us up. Because we tend to think "I'm right and you're wrong." We tend to draw lines in the sand and build walls. We think we need to guard our hearts by closing them down. When in truth we guard our hearts by keeping them open. Keeping them open to love. Letting love in, and letting love out. That is the heart's purpose. And anything other than that is, well, the opposite of peace. I can tell you from experience that I've never been more at peace than when I've operated out of love. When I've looked inside (instead of looking at external circumstances) and given people what I've got. When you give everything you have and everything you are... that's when you are trully and fully alive. Not when you're trying to get something, but when you're giving what you've got. That's what we're here for. Blessed to be a blessing, right? Loved so that we can love. And I think that's a big part of this peace--embracing yourself. Being at peace with yourself. I know I Ranted a lot about the joining aspect of peace. But I think its worth mentioning how important it is to be ok with YOURSELF. Let me say it another way, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). Its hard to flow when you're always trying to swim upstream. Its hard to love people when you don't love yourself. And here's the key to that--you CAN'T love yourself until you accept that God loves you. Because you can't give something you don't have. Not even to yourself. We love because God first loved us. That's how we fill ourselves to overflowing with what He filled us with. We know and believe His love for us, and then we use that love in every aspect of our lives. Peace is not the absence of anything. It is the presence of love. You can be peaceful even with a storm raging all around you... as long as you know who you are. As long as you're planted on the Rock you will not be shaken. The Rock. Jesus. Love!

I want to quote our key verse again because we're going to dig in to some more definitions, so we can be clear about what we're talking about. Ephesians 4:3, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And today we're going to look at the word "endeavouring." It is number 4704 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to use speed, that is, to make effort, be prompt or earnest: - do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study." And the reason I think its important to focus on is because I don't want us to get it mixed up with the idea of works and labor. Because works don't work. God doesn't want human effort to earn Spiritual things. In fact, Paul wrote, "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). And that's the trap we fall into so many times. We think we need to "take the ball and run with it." We think we need to finish the work. We think we need to perfect ourselves. That idea of denying ourselves, and taking up our cross, and following Him. When, really, we need to EMBRACE ourselves. And we do that by understanding that His cross IS our cross. And we don't follow Him as much as we let Him make new foot steps with our feet. The work IS finished. Everything is available to us. So instead of trying to earn something that can't be earned--something that has already been freely given--when we ought to do is hurry up and accept it. Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of the eternal life that we've been given. Receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. And I like that endeavouring means "study." Because I think we spend a lot of time "seeking" the Kingdom of God as if we need to get something we don't have, instead of seeking it to EXPLORE what we do have. 2 Peter 3:18 says what I think I'm trying to say like this: "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." We grow into who we are by knowing who we are. Learning and growing. Studying. And while that CAN include the Bible, it doesn't ONLY include the Bible. God is everywhere. He is in everything. A rainy day. A starry night. Nature. And, of course, each one of us. Getting to know people is how we build that bond of unity. That bond of peace. Because when you know someone, you can accept them. You can love them. No matter who they are or what they do. And I'm not saying you should condone everything. I'm not saying you should enable people. I'm saying you can love them no matter what. But if you're expecting them to be someone they're not, or if you're trying to make them be who you think they should be, that's not going to end well for anybody. Peace is not about control. Peace is about resting in the arms of your heavenly Father and knowing that He has already taken care of everything that needs to be taken care of. He finished the work. We get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. Which is the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. And I'm telling you, there is nothing more peaceful than love. So hurry up and get with it. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that its in there. By studying love. That's what a disciple is--a student of love. Learning how to love as we learn how we are loved!

Peace means joining. So its almost redundant to say "bond of peace." But I think I understand where they're coming from. Because its easy to be nice when there's no one to be mean to. Easy to be peaceful when you're by yourself. Although, in another way, sometimes being by yourself is very un-peaceful. Being alone with your thoughts can be dangerous. And that's the point. It takes two to tango, right? True peace doesn't comes from the absence of war. It comes from the presence of love. Remember Psalm 23:5 (NLT)? "You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings." The table that we eat the love feast on--the six course meal also known as the Six Steps to the Throne where Jesus was Crucified, Died, Buried, Quickened, Raised, and Seated--was prepared in the presence of our enemies. So that we could eat WITH our enemies. And destroy our enemies by making them our friends. Its a love feast. And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" Not, "come, or else," but, "come and get it!" Jesus prepared it. We can partake of it. Jesus won the war to end all wars. We can rest in His perfect peace. And we can SHARE that peace. We can share that meal. Because there's more than enough to go around. It is an all you can eat buffet. We are connected to the unlimited source of love. The God who IS love. He lives in us. And like I always says about my kid, "He is me." We are one with Him. Jesus said it in John 10:30 (NLT), "The Father and I are one." And we know that as He is, so are we in this world. He is the light of the world, and we are the light of the world. Its the same light. His light of love. In us, coming out of us. That's where the peace comes from. And we're going to get into that later on too. Today I want to stay with this idea of us all being in it together. True peace IS that bond that we share. Because we are all different parts of the same body. Connected by love. And the body needs all of its parts. I'm not going to quote those verses for the sake of time, but we know them. We need ears, and noses, and elbows. We need you, and me, and all of us. But if I'm against you then you and I both are missing something. Each other. There are things I can't do. And there are things you can't do. But the things I can't do might just be the things you do really well. Things work out better when we work together, as the old saying goes. Jesus is altogether lovely. And we, His body, are lovely all together. We don't always have to draw lines and make up our member's only clubs. We don't always have to be exclusive. We can be inclusive. We can include people. Embrace people. We can put in the effort to walk a mile in their shoes and understand them. That's the "endeavouring" part of our key verse, but we'll get to that later on too. Maybe tomorrow. I just want to end by saying... its a bond. A connection. True peace comes when we accept each other instead of trying to change each other. When we let people (ourselves included) be who they are and love them no matter what!

I've heard this idea a lot lately, "We dislike the same things (or people), so we get along well." Basically, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And I can see how that would be a thing. But the thing that it seems to be... is "misery loves company." Because even when we're commiserating with someone--weeping when they weep--it takes a lot of energy to dislike things that much. And I'm not saying you should like everything. I certainly don't like everything. I don't like eating anything green, for example. I don't like talking at length. It wears me out. My point, though, is that there is a more excellent way. Look at Ephesians 4:3, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." And there's quite a bit there, so that's where I'm going to be for the next few days. But Iwant to start with that bond. Of peace. "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Right? "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). Peace is a more excellent way than attacking. A more excellent bond. And look at what "peace" means in our verse in Ephesians. It is number 1515 in Strong's Greek Concordance, "to join; by implication prosperity: - one, peace, quietness, rest." Rest, eh? So Jesus went to the cross and fought (and won) the war to end all wars? And now, because He has finished the work and given us His peace, we can rest? Yup. Look at 1 Kings 5:4, "But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent." That was Solomon speaking about the state of the kingdom his father, David, left him. Daddy did all the work, and we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Love. Its all about love. And if you've been in religion for any amount of time, you may have noticed that people will ask you what you believe in. But if you're in religion, chances are you can only come up with things that you DON'T believe in. Things that you're AGAINST, instead of things that you're FOR. And that's no way to live. Always fighting battles. Making mountains out of molehills. Being on a sin hunt. You might think its righteous spiritual warfare. But I'll say it again: Jesus fought (and won) the war to end all wars. Which means there are no wars left for us to fight. No adversaries nor evil occurrent. We are overcomers because Jesus overcame. Not because we need to overcome. The fight mentioned in the New Testament is the good fight of faith. Which is laying hold of eternal life. Receiving (and releasing) the gift that we've been given. Receiving it BY releasing it. That's the "endeavour" part of our key verse. But we'll get to that. Today is about the bond. Which is literally what peace means. To join. Joining together in prosperity. Living out of our abundance. Me giving you what you need--what I've got--and you giving me what I need--what you've got. Sharing is caring right? Love is giving. We lay hold of eternal life by sharing it. By giving it away. That's how we make peace. Not by attacking things, but by loving things. Not by being against things (or people) but by being for things (and people). Misery may love company, but there is nothing more attractive than rest in a peaceful, quiet environment!

There's a big difference between putting up with someone and forbearing them in love. And the difference is the last word of that sentence. Love. I've long preached and Ranted about how the people who are the hardest to love are people who need love the most. Because they aren't getting any. Because they're hard to love. The people who push you away are the people who need you the most. Because if they're pushing everybody away that means they're all alone. So don't give up on people. Longsuffering, right? But, as a balance, you know I'm not saying you should ever put yourself, or keep yourself, in a bad situation. Letting someone abuse you is NOT what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is loving people no matter what. What I'm talking about is laying your life down. Giving everything you have and everything you are without worrying about how it will be receieved. Because sometimes it WON'T be received. Sometimes you'll go the extra mile for someone and it won't matter to them at all. But that says more about them than it does about you. And either way, you've done what you can do. And that's literally all you can do. When you give something (or someone) everything you've got... its either enough, or its not. And you can't do anything about whether it is or it isn't. All you can do is let what's inside come out (by knowing and believing that its inside). All you can do is all you can do. But its so important that you do all you can do HEARTILY. As unto the Lord. Heartily, to me, meaning because its in your heart to do it. Unto the Lord, because its the Jesus--the light, the love--in me that connects to the Jesus--the light, the love--in you. And even if you despitefully use me, even if you mean it for evil, the Lord means it for good. We go through things--I believe--for one of two reasons. Usually both. 1. So we can learn and grow. 2. So we can help others when they go through the same things. And that's a big part of being able to forbear. We don't judge people for going through the stuff we went through. We have empathy for them because we've been through it. We know what they're going through, and we can help them through it. We can bear one another's burdens, and in that way make them lighter. Many hands make light work, right? If I take care of you, and you take care of me, neither one of us has to worry about ourselves. That's pure. That's good stuff. And when we get over ourselves (and stop taking everything so personally) we can really start to embrace each other. We can really start to look for common ground. Instead of kicking people when they're down we can REACH down and help people up. When you go through something with someone it bonds you to them. When you're in the trenches, so to speak, you build that connection. And then you're working together instead of doing your own thing and just putting up with them. I don't know how else to say this: We're all in this thing called life together. Jesus is altogether lovely. And we, His body, are lovely all together. We need each other. You can do things I can't. And I can do things you can't. And together, in love, we can do anything. We can do everything. So don't worry about surface stuff. Don't worry about how people act towards you. Just give them what you've got. Love them anyway. Be who YOU are no matter what else is going on. And in that way, forbear one another in love!

I've been saving this one, but today is the day for it. This is verse that recently struck me very hard, just the other day. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). And I'm not going to go into all the details, but the short version is: I bought someone a present. And someone else who knows both of us was kind of amazed, and said, "Why did you do that, you don't even like them?" And I responded with, "I don't like that I don't like them." So in order to kind of clear my conscience I went the extra mile. I blessed them. And I gotta tell you, it doesn't seem to have done any good. But that's ok. Because you can't control what other people do. You can only control what you do. And as far as I'm concerned, I have done (and will continue to do) everything I can to love this person. Not ignore them. Not just put up with them. But actively help them in any way I can, and go the extra mile to try to be nice to them. Because whether I like them or not, I gotta be who I am. I gotta let what's inside come out. I don't like having ill will. I don't like carrying around that resentment. And here's the thing: I know this person spends a lot of time and energy on me. Running me down behind my back (to people that tell me what's going on, no less). Complaining about me to anybody who will listen. And then turning around and trying to joke around with me. Asking me to do things they don't want to do. Well, if someone asks me for help, and I can help them (NOT enable them, but actually help them), I'm going to do it. Call me a doormat if you want. But as far as I'm concerned, that's called being the bigger person. Being mature. Being a follower of Christ, in a sense. Letting Jesus do what He came to do in me, and through me, and as me. And that's one of the best things about Jesus--He doesn't say things like, "do good to them that hate you," without fully intending to do that Himself. He did it in His earth walk, and He does it in us, and through us, and as us. It is the power of God in us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. He puts the desire to love in our hearts, and He puts in the love to back up that desire. Its all Him, is what I'm trying to say. And if I've learned anything in this life, its that I really don't have to fight all these battles. I can just hold my head high and keep being me, and my heavenly Father will work things out to His (and my) satisfaction. So while it seems like I'm all hot and bothered about this person... I'm really not. I'm just trying to use a real world example of what I've been Ranting about. And I generely try to pick on myself, so nobody else gets offended. So while this person is wearing themselves out not liking me, I'm over it. Literally. Its beneath me. I'm over here heaping burning coals on people's heads. Not to hurt them, or burn them, but to melt their hearts. And, like I said, even if it doesn't work... I can shrug my shoulders and know that I've done what I could do. Whenever you give something (or someone) everything you've got... its either enough, or its not. And either way, you can rest assured that its not you, its them. You can love people whether they like you or not. You can forbear... in love. With love. Through love. Because of love. Its all about love!

This skill takes a lot of empathy. Because, as we're hopefully starting to see, its about more than just putting up with people. Its about having affection towards them even when they get on our nerves. Let me quote Matthew 5:41, "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." Literally go the extra mile for people. And the part to catch here is in the word "compel." When someone has to compel you to do something, that kind of means its not something you want to do. And while I've gone on record many times saying the best (and possibly only) reason you should do something is because its in your heart to do it... I think this is that. I think that even when someone only hits you up when they need something from you (and that can get old pretty fast, I'll tell ya), what's in your heart is not only helping them, but HELPING them. If that makes any sense. Not just putting up with them and doing the bare minimum, but going the extra mile. Doing whatever it your doing unto God. Colossians 3:23, right? "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." And, really, that takes "deserve" right out of the equation. Because you're not judging whether the person in question deserves your help. You're just seeing a need and meeting it. You're just giving what you've got. Letting what's inside come out. And not worrying about who, what, where, when, why, or how. That's pure love. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Gladly. Cheerfully. Not grudgingly. People can tell when your heart is in something. They can tell fake. They can tell when you don't want to be somewhere. But when you understand this idea of forbearing with love... then wherever you are becomes the place to be. Whatever you're doing (again, in love) is the thing to do. Cookies that are baked with love taste better, right? Because when you love what you're doing, or when you love the person you're doing something for, you do a better job. You put your whole heart into it. You do it heartily. And you don't do it to GET love (love is never about getting, because love is giving), you do it because you HAVE love. Because you ARE love. Let me quote a snippet of the passage we started this Rant series with. We'll do the whole verse of Ephesians 4:2, "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." Empathy, right? Meekness (which is not weakness, but is strength under control), and lowliness, and longsuffering. Making the effort to understand WHY someone grinds your gears so badly instead of just writing them off. And it seems to me that people get on our nerves for one of two reasons: 1. They are the exact opposite of us and we can't understand how they could think, or act, that way. 2. They are exactly the same as us and we see in them what we don't like in ourselves. Either way, walking a mile (or an extra mile) in their shoes can help us understand them. And with understanding comes that affection. That love feast. When you start to understand someone, you can break bread with them. You can rub shoulders with them. You can stop seeing yourself as better than them. You can start seeing that we are all in this together. And then you can make a real connection with them. You can help them. Not only put up with them, but embrace them. Accept them. And love them!

Its not just putting up with people. Its forbearing them in love. Not just tolerating people, but celebrating people. Love means affection. The love feast. Sharing a meal. Sharing what you've got. Seeing a need and meeting it. Not kicking people when they're down. Not crossing the road and ignoring them. But reaching down to help people up. Basically, what the Bible says in Phillipians 2:4, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." And the coolest part about it is, if I'm looking out for you, and you're looking out for me, neither of us has to worry about ourselves. Because here's some truth for you: You aren't always the easiest person to put up with, either. We all have things about ourselves that we don't like, right? Well, even if other people don't notice (or care) about those things... chances are they DO notice something they don't like. Nobody likes everything about somebody. But we put up with it. Remember I mentioned yesterday about how we excuse people by saying, "That's just the way they are." Even when the way they are may or may not be ok. Let me say it another way, "Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins" (Proverbs 10:12). When you don't like someone, its easy to pick on them. To get frustrated by anything and everything they do. But did you notice--and I think this is most glaring in romantic relationships, but can be seen everywhere if you look for it--did you ever notice that when you really like someone you can develope a blind spot for them? That's why they say, "Love is blind." Because the things that would normally bother you... don't. Because you're so preoccupied with what you DO like about them. I don't think "love" is the right term for this idea, though. Because when the infatuation (lust?) wears off those things that you were blind to become pretty important. And, really, I think rather than being blind, love sees clearly. Love sees the heart. The deep calling out to the deep. The light in me seeking out, and responding to, the light in you. 1 Peter 4:8 echoes what we saw in Proverbs, "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." And let me say this about that: Charity is love in action. So when we actively (fervently) love each other, none of that other stuff matters. When we forbear in love... with love... then its not about pretending people are our idea of perfect. Its about letting people be who they are, and loving them anyway. You can't change anybody. So stop trying. Be who you are, and let people be who they are. You can still be in relationship. You can still have your own ideas and morals. You never have to cross your own lines. Loving people doesn't mean enabling them. It doesn't mean betraying yourself. Or putting yourself in a bad situation. It means giving what you've got, and then knowing that its either enough... or its not. You can't control, or change anybody. And you can't help everybody. So just do what you can do. And if--look, lets be realistic--if you can't reach somebody, and all you do is make things worse no matter how hard you try, then maybe you should love them from a distance. Something nothing is the most you can do. But if you're doing it in love, then you're right where you need to be. Help when you can, and get out of the way when you must. Helping or hurting. Don't make things worse!

This is something that I, myself, need to work on. Because even though I completely agree with the saying, "Short hair, don't care," there is more to what we're about to talk about than just not caring. In fact, it is the opposite of that. So let's do our memory verse first. "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing on another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). Forbearing one another. "Forbearing" is number 430 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to hold onself up against, that is, (figuratively) put up with: - bear with, endure, forbear, suffer." Putting up with one another. Which is, in a sense, easy with the "don't care" attitude. Because if you don't care about someone, they can do what they're gonna do and it won't bother you. Mind over matter, right? If you don't mind, they don't matter. But don't let that last part slide. Forbearing one another. In love. With "love" being number 26 in Strong's Greek Concordance and meaning, "affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - (feast of) charity, dear, love." That, friends, takes it to a whole nother level. Because you're not just ignoring people. Putting up with them, grudgingly, when you're forced to interact with them. Its more than the idea of "fake it 'til you make it." And, listen, I believe that being nice to people you don't like is NOT called being fake. I believe its called being mature. But, again, as always, there's a more excellent way. Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The way... of love. Not just suffering people, but actively liking people. Affection. And I heard a long time ago that boys look for reasons to be friends, and girls look for reasons to be enemies. I'm not a girl, obviously, but there does seem to be some truth to that. Guys seem to try to find common ground. Girls seem to try to find the high ground. Not the high ROAD, but the position that makes them look the best, even at someone else's expense. And this isn't true in every case. This isn't my trying to bash the other gender. Because my point is, we ALL need to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. And we can only do that with all lowliness and meekness. We can only do that when we start esteeming others higher than ourselves. When we stop being self-centered, and start being Christ-centered (people-centered). When we stop looking AT people, and seeing the blemishes on the surface, and start looking IN people and seeing what's inside. The deep calls out to the deep, right? The light in me responds to the light in you. The LOVE in me responds to the LOVE in you! And when we see each other in that way--love to love--we will find that common ground. We will find things to like about each other. We can have affection when we realize we are all invited to the same love feast. We can break bread. Share a meal. Get to know each other. Have you ever heard someone say, "That's just the way he is," even when they're doing something that is not so great? Longsuffering. Forbearing. Loving people even when they do things we don't want them to do. Accepting them for who they are, not for who we want them to be. Blessing people that despitefully use you. Again: Maturity. Letting what's inside come out. Love.

Hope springs out of the spring deep inside you. Hope springs out of the LOVE deep inside you. Because that's what hope is all about. Its not about, you know, wishing on a star. Or picking flower petals. Its not, "He loves me, He loves me not, I hope it lands on He loves me!" Its, well, let me say it like this: "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27). Did you catch that? The mystery that WAS hid, but has NOW been made manifest. The secret garden that isn't a secret anymore because the wind of the Holy Spirit came and stirred up everything inside the garden and brought it all out! The hidden man of the heart that is no longer hidden. The Amplified Bible puts the end of that passage like this, "...which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory." We don't hope for something that may or may not happen. We hope for the realization of what has already happened. We know and believe the love of Christ, and we expect that love to make everything better and brighter. We hope for the Christ in us to come out of us. And He does. Every time we be still and know that He is God. Every time we stop trying to be someone we're not and simply embrace who we are. Every time love (the idea) becomes charity (the action). Every time the Word is made flesh in us. That's when (and how) we realize the glory. The glory that we have. The glory that we ARE. Hope springs eternal in our breasts--in our hearts, in our innermost being--because what we hope for, or hope in, is love. And love never fails. We don't have to hope that our heavenly Father loves us. We can stand on the Rock and be sure that nothing can shake us. God made it crystal clear that He DOES, in fact, love us by dying for us. When we were sinners. When we had nothing to offer, God gave us everything. Because that's what love is--giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And that, friends, is what gives us hope. Have you ever seen like a news story about someone going way out of their way to be kind? And there's usually a hashtag involved that says, #FaithInHumanityRestored. Someone does something good, and pure, and it gives us hope. Jesus gave His life for us, and to us, and that gives us eternal hope (because it gave us eternal life, right?). So when you're feeling hopeless, well, as one of Logan's favorite songs says, "When you can't hold on... hold on." When you can't hold on, realize that God is holding on to you. And He's not letting go. Ever. One more time: Love never fails. God will never give up on you. He'd rather die than be without you. Literally. He was with Jesus on the cross reconciling us to Himself. Bringing us back to where we belonged. Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God because they were afraid that He was mad at them. But God swore never to leave us nor forsake us. He drew us back to Himself. With His goodness. With His love. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. And we have faith in God. We have faith in love!