Being hopeful isn't about being unrealistic. Its about believing the Word of God (which is Jesus, which is love). Believing that things are not bad and getting worse, but good and getting better! Almost every day I tell people, "This is a good day to have a great day!" Because, to me, a big part of being hopeful is being positive. Being optimistic. We know that we can affect our surroundings by our attitudes, right? If we expect something to be horrible, it probably will. And in the same vein, if we let what's truly inside come out--that Word again... love--we can rest assured that no matter what we go through, it is all working together for good. We can fill ourselves to overflowing with what God has filled us with. We can let what's inside spring out of us! And we do that by knowing it and believing it. By letting the wind of the Holy Spirit stir up what's already inside us. Hope isn't about wanting something you don't have. Its not about "hoping" to win the lottery (especially when you don't even play the lottery). Its about expecting the manifestation of God's will in your life. Knowing that your heavenly Father loves you and has given you all things. All things that pertain to life and godliness. Knowing that your heavenly Father loves you and has blessed you. Blessed you with all Spiritual blessings. We have everything we ever could or ever would need. Right now. And all of the material things that we chase after... Jesus said that our Father already knows we need those things, and when we seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness those things will be added to us. We don't ever need to try to earn anything from our Father. Certainly not the basic necessities of life. I just fed my kid half a pizza. Because he was hungry. He didn't have to jump through hoops to get it, either. I just bought it, and gave it to him. That's a father does; he provides for his children. And in this Spiritual case, what our Father has provided for us... is hope. Hope springs eternal in the breast of man. Its always there in our hearts. Tied directly into our DNA. We will settle for a lot, but its really hard for us to completely lose hope. There's something deep inside. That promise of a better tomorrow. Today wasn't so great? Well, we can learn from it. Learn and grow. And do better tomorrow. MAKE tomorrow better. Not in the sense of "earning" a better tomorrow by toeing some made up line, but by BEING who we really are no matter what tomorrow brings. Letting Jesus carry us through. Letting Him keep us from falling. I'm telling you right now, if Jesus is holding you up NOBODY can drag you down. How could they? God is all-powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful, it means ALL of the power. Love is all of the power in this world. That's why we can rule and reign as kings in priests on this earth. We have been equipped and empowered by THE power. We can be hopeful because our hope is in the Lord. We can be faithful because our faith is in God. Our faith is in LOVE. Our hope is in LOVE. And love never fails!

Today I want to talk about the spring. You know, the one that hope springs from. And we've already said its the breast--the heart. So lets look at a couple of memory verses and flesh this out a little bit. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38). And I think its interesting that Jesus first offered the living water. He didn't force His will on anybody, but He made what they all needed available. He said, "If you're thirsty, come and get it." Which, to me, is echoed in Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." Receiving and releasing, right? Take of the water of life, and it WILL flow out of you. The Message Bible, instead of saying "belly" in our verse in Matthew, says, "innermost being." What's inside WILL come out. When you partake of it. When you know and believe that it's in there. We WILL be who we really are, when we know who we really are. Who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. So the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" But they don't say, "Come, or else." They say, "Come and get it!" Our heart's desire, the very thing we long for, is availabe to us! Faith is the substance of things hoped for, right? And we are to have faith in God. Have faith in love! That's the desire of our heart. What else could it be? And that love--that living water--that we put our hope in... in flows out of the spring of our hearts. Song of Solomon 4:12 says, "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." But then in Song of Solomon 4:16 we see this, "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." The Holy Spirit came with the sound of a rushing wind. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that we have everything we need inside us. The garden may have been inclosed. The fountain may have been sealed. The spring may have been shut up. But then something happened. The cross happened. And now the secret garden isn't a secret anymore! The hidden man of the heart isn't hidden anymore! Let me say it like this: "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12). Hope that never materializes (like when we "hope" we'll win the lottery) can make you sick. But when the true desire--love--comes, it is a tree of life. It is a river of living water. And it has been given to us. It has come. It is available. If any man thirsts, let him come and drink. Hope springs eternal out of the spring that is no longer shut up, but has been filled to overflowing! It flows out of our innermost being. The reason people can always find a way to be hopeful is because love is such an intrinsic part of our makeup. Love isn't just what we want. Or what we hope for. Or what we do. Love is literally who we are! WE are the spout where the glory comes out. We are hopeful, because what we hope for is at hand. It's not always bad and getting worse. In truth it is good and getting better. Upward and Godward!

Hope springs eternal. It has to. Otherwise its not hope. And that's what this Rant series is all about--understanding hope. And sometimes the best way to do that is to go the beginning. Law of first mention. Where the first time the Bible uses a word kind of defines what that word is all about. Well, in the King James Version of the Bible, Ruth 1:12-13 has the first mention of the word "hope." "Turn again, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons; Would ye tarry for them till they were grown?..." And the word "hope" is number 861 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance. It means, "literally a cord (as an attachment); figuratively expectancy: - expectation, hope, live, thing that I long for." In this case, interestingly enough, the thing that was being hoped for, was for someone else. Naomi was thinking about Ruth. The hope wasn't about what Naomi could GET, but what she could GIVE. The attachment was between two PEOPLE. And the thing that Naomi longed for was to be able to make Ruth's life better. Again, to give something. That, to me, is one of the biggest misconceptions that exist. We think life is all about getting. We hope for things we want to have. Like "hoping" we win the lottery. And I feel pretty confident that if I did win the lottery I'd give a lot of it away. Because even though I never have very much, I still give a lot of it away. But I digress. Blessed to be a blessing, right? Freely we have been given, freely we are to give. God loves a cheerful giver. But that's not the point I'm trying to make. The point I'm trying to make is that hope is about believing--faith, hope, and charity--that things WILL get better. Even though, as in our example, there was no way that Naomi could possibly get what she hoped for. And that was her point. But Ruth stuck with her. And guess what Ruth got: A husband. Not exactly the way either of them thought it would happen. But it happened nevertheless. That's what life is. It doesn't always go the way you think it will. But all things work together for good. Its a master plan that we can't always see. But sometimes its enough to just do the next thing. Do what's in front of you. Take the next step. Walk by faith, not by sight, and you WILL get what you're hoping for. Because, as we saw yesterday, hope springs eternal in the breast. In the heart. And where do you think your heart's desire comes from? Your heart's desire is love. And that can only come from the God who IS love. Its Philippians 2:13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The want to, and the ability to, comes from God working in us. It comes from what's working IN us, working its way OUT of us. Charity. Love in action. Receving the very thing we hoped for... and releasing it. LIVING by faith. Because faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is believing it when you see it... because you see it. That thing that you longed for... that cord, or attachment, or connection... coming to manifestation. Maybe not--probably not--in the way that you expected. But that's what makes the never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter so great. Just when we think we have God's love figured out, He shows us that there is more and more and more. The deeper we go, the deeper we CAN go. The more we love... the more we CAN love!

I've long said that if hope didn't spring eternal, it wouldn't be hope. Because sometimes hope is all we have left, when it seems like everything else crumbles. Hope for a better day tomorrow. Hope that instead of things getting worse and worse, they can actually get better and better. And that's the cool thing about hope--it flies in the face of the "facts of the matter." And to quote the quote that I always quote off of, "Hope springs eternal (in the human breast)." That's from dictionary.com and the defintion is: "Proverb. It is human nature to always find fresh cause for optimism." Now I want to say that it is also human nature to settle. We do it all the time. It amazes me how we can get comfortable (or perhaps comfortably numb) in just about any situation. And that sometimes we literally have to hit rock bottom before we're forced to start climbing back up. But sometimes that's what it takes. Like a momma bird who makes her nest uncomfortable so her babies will spread their wings and fly. Like God, and Jonah, and the fish. My pastor says, "Some are called and some are cornered." We WILL settle, but there IS a limit. And when we hit that limit, the hope in our breasts takes hold and we stop settling. When you hit rock bottom there's only one place to go: Upward and Godward. Let me quote a memory verse so we can kind of get to the bottom (pun intended) of what we're talking about. 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." That word "abideth" is powerful. It is number 3306 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to stay: - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry." Hope abides. Hope endures. Hope remains. It stands strong. But what is it, exactly? Well, it is number 1680 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to anticipate, usually with pleasure; expectation or confidence." Which is interesting to me. Because usually we use it a little more loosely than that. "I hope someday I'll win the lottery and be a millionaire." Well, do you play the lottery? No? Probably not going to win it then. (And, realistically, probably wouldn't win it if you did play it. I'm not advocating buying lottery tickets.) So that's not really a hope as much as it is a pipe dream. Hope is expectation. And it goes hand in hand with faith. Because faith is the substance of things hoped for, right? Hope is anticipating what will happen and then faith is believing it when we see it. And they both snuggle up with love. Because what else do we really hope for? What else could we possibly put our faith in? Jesus said, "...Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22). Which means, "Have faith in love." Faith, hope, and love are the three great things. But the greatest of them is love. Listen. If hope springs eternal in the human breast (heart), what else could it be about? What else comes from the heart but love? And I'm not necessarily talking about romantic love (although that is part of it and can be included in it). I'm talking about the basic concept of our heart's desire. Being loved. Being accepted. That's what everybody hopes for. That what everybody wants. What everybody needs. And I'm here to tell you... never settle for a life without it. Never lose hope. Because you ARE loved, right this second, even if it doesn't feel like it. Even if you don't know it. God is love, and He loves you. That's the ultimate truth of the universe. That's what we can put our faith in. That's what we hope for--anticipate with pleasure--and that's what we have!

I've been focusing on the "releasing" aspect of "receive and release" in this Rant series. And I think that's important. Understanding that love is giving and in order to receive love we must give the love we have. That's kind of the secret of life, in my opinion. Letting God love us, and loving others with that love. Filling ourselves to overflowing with His love and letting it come out naturally. Filling ourselves by knowing and believing that we have something to fill ourselvse with. "Getting" our nourishment by giving what we've got, and in that way EXPERIENCING what we've got. Manifesting what we've got by sharing it. By giving it away. And I want to end this Rant series with the thought that loving people--in whatever way they need to be loved, be it forgiveness, or grace, or a shoulder to cry on, or help in time of need--loving people can be such a release. If you're anything like me you tend to bottle things up. But you need that release. You need to let things out. And guess what, sometimes that means screaming and crying. Sometimes that means shooting free throws (again, if you're anything like me). Sometimes that means talking to someone you trust about all the things that are rattling around in your head. Its not good that man should be alone. Its not good for us to try to get through everything by ourselves. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of wisdom. There are things that you just plain straight can't do. But maybe your friend can. And if you try to do those things that you can't do, you're probably going to end up frustrated, and you're probably going to end up making things worse. But if you let your friend do what they're supposed to do, then together it will get done. I like Song of Solomon 5:16, "His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." Specifically the "altogether lovely" part. Because one day God told me the reverse of that is just as true. WE--His body--are lovely all together. Psalm 133:1 says it like this, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" I think its the cartoon Paw Patrol (or maybe Team Umizoomi) that says it like this, "Things work out better when we work together!" What I'm trying to say is: In order to release what we've got, we need someone to release it to. (Or a basketball hoop, in some cases.) We need each other. Jesus was sustained by ministering to the people He came into contact with. Love doesn't work in a vaccuum. The God who IS love created us so that He might have someone TO love. And I'm telling you--from experience--there is no greater feeling than when you love someone bigger than they ever thought anyone could love them. It seems like sometimes people reject your love. And that's ok. Love them anyway. But when it is released... and received... man, that's something special. You talk about connection. Relationship. Life. That's what its all about. Connecting with people. Having relationships with people. Helping people. Letting people help you. Living in unity. Knowing that He is altogether lovely, and in Him we are lovely all together! We're all in this together. Same team. So when you release what you've got--and it IS a release--make sure you're giving what you've got to people that need it. In the way that THEY need it. See a need, and meet it. Receive it and release it!

Some Bible stories just stick with you, right? Well, this is one that always has for me: Jesus is hungry and tells His disciples to go get some food. In the meantime He meets a girl and ministers to her. Then this happens: "Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, "Rabbi, eat something." But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of food you know nothing about." "Did someone bring him food while we were gone?" the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work" (John 4:31-34 NLT). Remember that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God? Doing that will is what satisfies our appetite. Because His will is for us to love one another. And we love one another by letting Him first love us, and then filling ourselves to overflowing with that love. Receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. And the part that always stuck with me was that Jesus was refreshed not by getting but by giving. We have it backwards so many times. We feel a lack and we think we need to fill that lack. We think we don't have something, so we need to get it. And we think we need to get it by any means possible. By hook or by crook, as they say. But Jesus spoke about that in John chapter 10. About how anybody trying to get into the sheepfold any other way but the door is a robber and a thief. Catch this now: WE are the robber when we try to earn something that can't be earned. When we try to get something we've already got. Because when we do that we are robbing OURSELVES from EXPERIENCING the gift we've been given. You can't enjoy what you've got when you're wasting your Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to get stuff. Especially when what you're trying to get is exactly the thing that you've got. Wizard of Oz style, right? The desire of our heart is to be loved. And God (who IS love) created us for the sole, express purpose of loving us. There is never a time when we haven't been wrapped in His loving arms. Even in the beginning when we were dark, and void, and without form. Even then the Spirit of the Lord hovered over the deep. Even when we run from Him, He has sworn to never leave us nor forsake us. When we were yet sinners--before the cross--and had nothing to offer God, He proved His love for us by giving us everything. Everything He has and everything He is. Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. Simply, beautifully, because He wanted us to have it. Because He wanted to share it with us. We don't try to live Jesus' life. We experience it by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us. We experience His love by loving others. We receive His love by releasing it to others. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. And when we give what we've got, that's when we are truly... ourselves. Our nourishment comes from doing the will of God. From letting Him love us, and from loving each other with that same love. That's what this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love is all about. Just let God love the hell out of you and then turn around and love the hell out of everybody you come into contact with. Fill yourself to overflowing with what HE has already filled you with. And let it come out... naturally. Receive it BY releasing it!

This may not be one of the first verses you think of when it comes to the idea of receiving and releasing--receiving BY releasing--but that's why I'm going to dig into it today. Someone once told me I don't see the Bible the same way many other pastors do. And I took that as a compliment. So let's look at Romans 12:2... differently. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." And first things first: God doesn't have three wills. He doesn't have a good will, an acceptable will, and a perfect will. His will is good, acceptable, and perfect. Look at Romans 8:27, "And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." The will of God, the mind of the Spirit, is found in the heart. Because God is love. The will of God... is love. Love is what is good, and acceptable, and perfect. Making intercession. Laying your life down for your friends. Giving everything you have and everything you are to, and for, others. That's the New Commandment--love one another as Jesus loves you. That's what God wants. He wants us to know and believe His love so completely that we can't help but love one another with that same love. He wants us to receive His love... and release His love. He wants us to fill ourselves to overflowing with what He has filled us up with. And we fill ourselves by emptying ourselves. We experience what we've got by giving it away. By sharing it. When Romans 12:2 talks about proving this will--this love--I think more than anything we prove it to OURSELVES by renewing our minds. By searching our hearts, and finding that it is really HIS heart beating with love in our chests. We prove--hold on. Do you know what that word means? It is number 1381 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to test; by implication to approve: - allow, discern, examine." Test it. Try it out. Examine it. Or let me say it another way, "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 3:17-19). Stretch it out. Love bigger than you ever thought you could. And in so doing, let that perfect love cast out all fear. Let it be true when we say things like, "God is all powerful." Because that means LOVE is all powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means, all the power. There is nothing stronger, or more powerful, than releasing God's love. Giving what you have--who you are--to the people around you. It will literally transform you. From the mindset of a "sinner" to your true identity of a saint. And it can literally change someone's life. God's will is for us to love each other. That's why He first loved us. He gave us everything we could need in order to experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Its in there. Prove it to yourself by letting it out. By giving it away. By sharing it. Receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it!

Love is giving. So in order to receive it, you must release it. In order to, in a sense, prove that you have it, you have to share it. And this is how I always try to explain that: You can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So if you love someone--if you give yourself--that means that on some level you believe that you are loved. Otherwise you couldn't give it, because you wouldn't believe you had it. Truly receiving IS releasing. And I want to use Acts 3:6 as my memory verse for today. "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And I want to focus in on that phrase "such as I have." Because it seems like a lot of the time we (or at least I) feel like we don't have much to give. I certainly don't have silver or gold to give. (But when I did... I did.) And that's ok. Life, believe it or not, is about more than money. Jesus said it like this, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matthew 23:23). And notice that He didn't say to do one INSTEAD of the other. He simply said one is weightier than the other. More important. And the thing that is more important than money... is how you treat people. I've long said there are only two important things in this universe: God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. So when we're talking about giving what we've got--to people--don't get caught up on material things. And, listen, sometimes money DOES answer some questions. My pastor always says, "Go down to the power company and tell them how much you love Jesus. See if they won't turn the lights off." Spoiler alert: They will. So sometimes that's what's what. But on a deeper level, people need love. Period. People need YOU. That's why Jesus said there's no greater love that a man can have than to lay his life down for his friends. And then Jesus literally went to the cross and did just that. But in a less literal way, we can do that by esteeming others higher than ourselves. By giving what we've got. Our Three T's. Time. Talent. Treasure. And I always list treasure last, but its still on the list. Someone once told me that kid's spell "love" T-I-M-E. And I believe it. My kid knows I love him for a lot of reasons. I try to show him every day in every way. But one of the biggest reasons is that every night we have "our time." Where we just be with each other. He usually watches a cartoon while I read my Kindle. But we share, and enjoy, each other's company. And its my favorite time of every day. That connection. That bonding. That relationship. That's what life is--relationship.To live is to love and to love is to live. Loving people. Giving them what we've got. Giving them who we are. And in that way, proving our love. I feel like I'm really circling Romans 12:2. So that's where I'll be tomorrow. Proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. But for tonight I just want to close where I opened. Love is giving. In order to truly and fully receive it, you have to release it!

The point of receiving... is having something to release. And, look, I'm not saying there aren't built in benefits. There certainly are. Especially when you consider that what we are receiving, and releasing, is love. How could there not be a built in benefit to letting God love the hell out of us? Feeling loved is one of the best feelings in the world. But so is the feeling of loving someone else. And I think the latter is even more powerful than the former. Because love is not about getting. Because love IS giving. The best way (possibly the only way) to experience love is by giving it away. So, yes, first things first. You have to receive it before you can release it. Look at 1 John 4:16, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." You can't believe something you don't know. There's a Divine Order to things. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. That's why hurting people hurt people--that's all they have to give. But that's also why loved people love people. First comes receiving. Not trying to get something, but receiving the gift that has been given to you. And in receiving it you get the good stuff. You get the desire of your heart. Because receiving means delighting youself in Him. And Psalm 37:4 tells us, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Which isn't an if-then statement. It doesn't mean, IF you delight yourself in God then He will give you something. That's called earning. Wages. Works and labor. What I believe King David had discovered, and was trying to communcate, is HOW you EXPERIENCE the desire of your heart. Because the heart desires love. I don't think the heart is capable of caring about anything but love. And God IS love. When we delight ourselves in love--HIS love--the desire of our heart is manifested. In us. And through us. And as us. So then the question becomes: HOW do we delight ourselves in Him? And the short answer is: We delight ourselves in each other! Whatever we do unto the least of them we do unto Him, right? How we treat each other is how we feel about ourselves. And how we feel about ourselves is how we feel about God. If we see ourselves as dirty rotten sinners, we will see Him as a distant, angry taskmaster. And we will run FROM Him instead of running TO Him. I know things might get rocky when Logan gets older (even though he basically already acts like a teenager) but I'm doing everything I can to make sure he knows I've got his back. Because I want him to come to me when he has a problem. Or when he gets in trouble. I want him to know that I'm on his side. And, unfortunately, religious folk have done a pretty good job of communicating the exact opposite message about God. God is NOT mad at you. But He IS mad ABOUT you. Head over heels in love with you. Willing to die rather than be without you. He gave you everything He had and everything He is. So that you can have it. And so that you can give it away. So that His love can fill you to overflowing and come out of you. Naturally. Onto everybody you come into contact with. That's the life of love that Jesus lives in us, and through us, and as us. Letting the love that's inside come out. Receiving it, and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it!

You have to receive in order to have something to release. Because you can't earn it. Let me say that again: You CAN'T earn it. "Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:9). Its not about what we can do. Its about what God can do in us, and through us, and as us. Its about what LOVE can do in us, and through us, and as us. If we have anything to boast about... its God. Our Savior. The One who gave us everything when we had absolutely nothing to offer Him. The One who died for us when we were yet sinners. That's important to understand because God doesn't want anything FROM us. He only wants the best FOR us. So we can stop trying to earn from Him... and we can stop trying to pay Him back. I think sometimes we get this idea of "I owe God everything." Which is true. But then we twist it into, "I have to somehow make myself worthy of everything He's given me." And that's when we wear ourselves slap out. Trying to impress God. Trying to be a "good" Christian. Or, worse yet, a "super" Christian. Christian means, "Christ-like" right? So its kind of either or. And by that I mean you either KNOW you're like Him, or you don't KNOW it. Because you ARE like Him. Made in His image. Conformed to the image of His Son on the cross. Jesus is your true identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. The true you. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And, through the cross, no longer hidden. On display. Love is on display in you. Every time the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) is made flesh. Everytime love becomes charity, or love in action. Every time we give what we've got. Because we have to first know what we've got. Know it and believe it. Receive it and release it. Let me say it another way, if I can, to close out this Rant series: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12). Did you catch that? We have received the Spirit of God--the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth--and that is what equips and empowers us to know everything else that we've been given. Freely given. Nothing earned. No mention of wages. Just the gift of God, which is eternal life. Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. Remember we talked about the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind? Not the spirit of fear that keeps us from loving people, but the Spirit of love that, well, loves people! That's what its all about. That's what we've been given. Love. That's what we need to receive. Love. Not disqualifying ourselves. Not thinking we're not good enough. Not thinking, "Look at all the bad stuff I've done. Nobody could ever love me." God doesn't love because of what you've done or not done. God loves because of who you are. And who He is. A Father who loves His Son and is well pleased in Him. A Father who has given all things into His Son's hands. So let me end right here with Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." The gift was freely given. It must be freely received, and freely given. Received and released. And, as we'll see in the next Rant series, we receive it BY releasing it!