Sharing is caring. Sharing yourself--giving everything you have and everything you are--is love. And the best part is... when you share... you also get to experience what you're sharing! When you share a meal you get to eat it too. And, in fact, the best way to experience something is to share it. Good by itself, but even better shared. Think about your favorite movie. Now think about watching that movie with that person who you know would love it (almost) as much as you do. Fun times, right? And, like I was trying to say yesterday, we spell love "T-I-M-E." There is really nothing more valuable than your time. So if you give it to someone... that's priceless. That's one of--if not THE--best ways to show you care. And it comes with a cost. If you're doing something for, or with, someone else then you aren't doing something for yourself. But when you love someone... it may cost you everything to show them you care, but it won't feel like a burden. It will flow from the love that's inside. Sometimes when I do stuff for my kid people kind of ask me things like, "You didn't really want to do that, did you?" Like if I let him pick the music we listen to. Which I almost always do. And his current band is NOT one that I would pick. But its literally the difference between being self-centered and Christ-centered (people-centered). And since I love him with a father's love (Father's love) it doesn't even cross my mind to put myself first. Like one of my favorite stories: When Logan was little I made myself a sandwich. Set it down on the table. Turned around to get something to drink. Turned back around to see him sitting in my spot... eating my sandwhich. And guys, I didn't get mad. I chuckled a little bit, and smiled so much it made my face hurt. Because he knew (and still, to this day knows) that what's mine is his. I always tell him, "If I have a spot, you have a spot." Because, if worse comes to worst, he can sit on my lap. Because... I care about him. Every night we make sure to have "our time" before bed. Where we cuddle, and read, and watch cartoons. Because there's nothing more precious than time. No better way to show someone you care. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. And knowing that you destroy your enemies by MAKING them your friends. Its not about winning in the sense of beating someone down. Its about winning souls, if I can coin that phrase. Winning by making sure everybody ELSE wins. Remember when we talked about being humble? And about how it isn't thinking less of yourself... its simply thinking about yourself less. Showing you care through deliberate acts of kindness. Showing you care about someone by putting them first. Putting in the maximum effort of finding out how THEY need to be loved, and then loving them in that way. Letting what's inside come out... by knowing and believing that its in there... but using wisdom. Letting it come out in a way that shows you care. In a way that will fill the need that you see. In a way that the other person needs. That's what's so special about love--everbody needs it, and we have it. So we can give it. We can share it. We can receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. God cares for us, so we can care for each other!

I always think its really cool when someone hits me up. Especially, like, just to check on me. Because that means they were thinking about me, and actually did something about it. Because a lot of the time it seems like we have a good idea (good intentions) but we never take that next step and put it into action. Which is what charity is--love in action. And, really, that's what LOVE is. Love isn't just an idea. It is an act. And not a random act of kindness either. But a deliberate act of kindness. Knowing and believing the love of Christ (filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with), and letting what's inside come out. And here's the key: Its all about caring about people. Really getting in there. Getting to know someone. Seeing a need--understanding a need--and filling that need. Because we all need love. That's easy. But we all receive love in different ways. We all give love in different ways. So if I'm trying to give you love in a way that you can't receive it... that's really not super helpful. But if I understand your love language (to borrow a phrase) then I can put in the maximum effort that love is in order to speak your language. And when someone is willing to do that--because they actually care--it SHOWS that they actually care. What I think I'm trying to say tonight is that while our kind of standard "feed the poor" idea of love IS good, and valid, there's another level we can reach when we roll up our sleeves and take the time to get to know somebody. It seems like a lot of the time we get people gifts that WE would want, instead of getting them something THEY would want. Its a common mistake. We just "naturally" (that old, dead, beast nature) think about ourselves first and foremost. Even to the point where we've almost twisted "the golden rule" to mean doing unto others SO THAT they will do unto us. Where we think "I want them to do this, this, and this... so I guess I have to do this, this, and this to them." But love is NEVER about getting. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, right? But you can't love without giving. And the best kind of love is the kind that shows that you care. Doing something for someone else that is really FOR someone else. Something that THEY would appreciate. Giving what you've got, but giving it in a way that it can be easy received by whomever its intended for. That was the whole point behind the Word Without Walls ministry. That's the whole point behind the Guerrilla Gospel videos. My heart is make the Word of God--the LOVE of God--accessible. To give y'all something to chew on, but not choke on. Minced meat. I'm not trying to go so deep that you can't hold your breath and get down to where I'm at. I'm trying to make it simple. God is love. He loves you. You can cast your cares on Him because He cares for you. And once YOUR cares are out of the way, you can help someone else out with HIS cares. You can help bear other people's burdens because yours aren't too heavy. You can show someone you care. Hit them ask. See how they're doing. You can love... because you know that you ARE loved. Because you know that you are LOVE. And I truly believe we spell love "T-I-M-E." When you give your time to someone... that's so valuable. That, more than just about anything else, is the best way to show you care!

I think the right order (for everything) is found in 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." And, remember, we love Him BY loving each other. But what I'm trying to say is... you have to receive it before you can release it. Even though, in a sense, we receive it BY releasing it. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. That's why hurt people hurt people. Because all they have is hurt. But, in the same way, healed people heal people. Loved people love people. So, yesterday, I spent a bit of time talking about casting our cares on Him. That's important. Because you don't want to get crushed under the weight of the world. Or the weight of YOUR world. Its not good for us to be alone, right? Its important to bear each others burdens. And that, by the way, is HOW we cast our cares on HIM. By sharing them with each other. By letting others help us. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Right? So many times we just try to do it all ourselves and we fall woefully short. Because we can't--and we aren't supposed to--do it all ourselves. Every time God called someone to do something in the Bible, He equipped and empowered them to do what He wanted them to do. And in some cases, it was by giving them the right people to do it with. Moses and his brother Aaron, for example. Or when they held Moses' arms up for him. Just off the top of my head. My point is, we need each other. We need to help each other... and we need to let people help us. Its not a one-way street. We love because He first loved us. We can help because He first helped us. We care about each other... because He cared about us first. That's why we CAN cast our cares on Him; because He cares for us. We're not just banging our heads against the wall, and getting nothing to show for it but a headache. We're connected with people that genuinely care for us. That, by the way, is called family. And, as Logan puts it, your friends are the family that you pick. A support system. Roots. Relationship. That's what life is all about. That's what life IS. To live is to love and to love is to live. So you can't truly live--you can't experience Jesus' eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life--without loving people. That's what Jesus' life IS; its a life of love. Being loved by God and loving people with that same love. Not thinking you're up here and they're down there. But getting down there with them and loving them right where they are. Like Jesus getting down on hands and knees to wash the disciples' feet. He did what needed to be done. Because He cared about them. Because He loved them. So many times we reject love because we think we don't deserve it. Because we think all the "bad stuff" we've done has disqualified us. Or we think the things we don't like about ourselves are things that NOBODY could like. So we close our hearts down. We don't let people care about us, and we stop caring about other people. But I'm telling you, that's no way to live. Guarding your heart means keeping it OPEN. Open to love. Open to those connections and those relationships. So, first thing first, we need to let God love us. We need to know that He cares. THEN we can love each other and care for each other!

If you care about somebody, loving them is eay. Giving everything you are and everything you have doesn't feel like a sacrifice. It IS a sacrifice, but it doesn't feel like it. It isn't a hard thing to do. Love is not a ball and chain that drags us down. Love is the only thing that can lift us up! And the cool part is, as we lift others up, we find ourselves elevated as well. Because we're all in this together. Its not good that man should be alone. But when we have that relationship--that connection--that can only come from unselfish, Christ-centered (people-centered) love... when we truly begin to care about people... when we stop worrying about ourselves so much and just simply see a need and meet it... that's when we begin to experience the everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life of God. The life of love that can only be experienced by Jesus living His own life in us, and through us, and as us. And I'm telling you, if you read the Gospels you'll notice one striking thing--Jesus CARED about people. He wept when His friend Lazarus died. Even though He knew He was about to go raise Lazarus from the dead. His friend was dead. People who cared about him were sad. And Jesus wept. In another story He knelt down and washed His disciples's feet. Because He wanted them to be clean. And He wasn't above getting down and dirty to make it happen. You've heard the expression, "Jesus wasn't afraid to get His hands dirty" because they were piereced and bloody on the cross. In yet another story Jesus turned water into wine so the guests at a wedding could have a good time. Not earth-shaking, perhaps, but another example of Jesus caring about us. Another time He raised a girl from the dead and then made sure she had something to eat. He didn't just care about the big stuff. He cared about the small stuff. And when you consider how big God really is... to Him, its all small stuff. But its also all big in the sense of importance. Let me say it like this, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). And I don't think this necessarily means your prayers should be full of complaining all the time. I think prayer is simply talking (and LISTENING) to God. To love. But if there's something on your heart... you can, and should, talk about it. To God, or to someone you trust. Burdens are easier to bear if you aren't doing it alone. If you have someone who cares for you helping you out. I think what I'm trying to say is that asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of wisdom. We CAN'T do it alone. And we're not supposed to. We need each other. And that's ok. When it gets a little twisted is when we start to expect things from people. I'm convinced that a lot, lot, lot of our problems come from unrealistic expectations. We expect (or want) things to go one way, and when they don't we struggle with disappointment. But my point is: God will never disappoint you. He might not always give you what you (think you) want, but He will always make sure you have what you need. You can cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you. You can lean on Him, because He will not fall down. Or let you fall down. He can (and will) hold you up. And its what He WANTS to do. Because when you care for someone, doing things for them isn't hard. Its a pleasure.

They say sharing is caring, right? And if "they" don't... I sure do. I can't think of a better way most of the time to show someone you care than to give them what you've got. To share yourself with them. To lay your life down for a friend, if I can say it that way. And the coolest part--besides, you know, being able to meet a need a make someone's day--is that when you share something... you get to experience it. Why do you think we put such a premium, or such an emphasis, on doing things together? Eating meals together. Watching the game together. Basically, what I'm trying to say is: "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Genesis 2:18). We're social creatures. Its hardwired into our DNA. We do better together than we ever could alone. Because the things I'm not good at might be the things you ARE good at. And vice versa. So while on my own there are things I just plain straight cannot do... together we can do anything. Its the idea of Jesus being altogether lovely... and all of us, as His body, being lovely all together. And I'm not saying we are lacking anything. I'm simply saying we were created the way we are for a reason. I'm the way I am. You're the way you are. We are connected... but we are different. And that's ok. That's the way its supposed to be. God doesn't want religious robots. He wants diversity. He wants uniqueness. He wants all of the colors of the rainbow, to put it in a way my six year old would understand it. And not only does He want you to be YOU... He wants you to SHARE yourself. To be you to the fullest. When we try to be someone we're not--to fit in, or to get something we think we haven't got, or for whatever reason--what we are really doing is robbing ourselves of the gift we've already been given. The gift of Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. The gift of a life of love. And just as only Jesus can live Jesus' life--He lives it in us, and through us, and as us--only YOU can live YOUR life. Only you can reach certain people. So when you're wondering why that extremely annoying person won't leave you alone... maybe you're supposed to love them. Because probably nobody else is. You're uniquely positioned, and suited, to share the love of God with them. That's why it always bothers me when people are like, "Don't cross oceans for people that won't cross a puddle for you!" No... cross the ocean. Because its not about what they do. Its not even about how they receive the love you give them. Its about sharing what you've got. And, again, such a beautiful byproduct of that is that when you share it... you experience it. If you want to feel love... love someone. If you want to feel forgiveness... forgive someone. Give what you've got, show someone you care, and believe me you'll feel it. That warm fuzzy feeling. That fully alive feeling. That, "I'm doing what I was created to do" feeling. Because you were created to be loved... and to love others with that love. That's what life's all about. That's what life IS. To live is to love and to love is to live. And sharing that love... sharing is caring!

God is pleased WITH us when things go well FOR us. When we experience the gift that we've been given, which is the eternal, abundant, everlasting, Resurrection Life of love. Which we do by receiving and releasing that love that He first loved us with. But God is well pleased IN us because He is our heavenly Father and we are His beloved Son. Well pleased. Not because of what we do, but because of who we are. And who He is. I started this Rant series with the truth that God is a happy God because He got what He wanted. All throughout the Old Testament He says over and over that He wanted to be our God and He wanted us to be His people. And then, on the cross, that's exactly what happened. God moved into the neighborhood. The carpenter Jesus built Himself a house to live in. And that house is you. You are the face of the invisible God. You are how the God who is love manifests Himself. He loves you, and then that love fills you to overflowing and comes out through you. Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing. That's how we live Jesus' life--we let HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. We let Him love the hell out of us, and then we love the hell out of each other. We, if I can say it this way, be about our Father's business. But remember now, before Paul became Saul he THOUGHT he was about God's business when he was persecuting followers of the Way. He was "pro-God" but anti-Christ. And those two don't go together. They can't. Jesus talked all the time about how if you rejected the Father you rejected the One whom He sent. And vice versa. Its like Logan and me. Father and Son. Package deal. You can't have one without the other. Jesus even went so far as to say that He and the Father are One. He is me. Jesus is my true identity. When God looks at Jesus, He sees me. And when He looks at me, He sees Jesus. And, like a proud Papa, He is well pleased in what He sees. Remember even in the garden of Eden God created something and said it was good. Then He created us and said it was VERY good. He has a special place in His heart for man. For His most precious creation. For us. Because God is love, and He wanted a way to express Himself. To express that love. He wanted someone... to love. So, through Jesus, He made us. By love, through love, and for love. And He didn't make an mistakes. It doesn't matter how you got here, it only matter that you ARE here. God has always been more interested in availability than ability. He can equip and empower you (and, in truth He HAS equipped and empowered you) to do what He wants you to do. But, while He might be very persuasive, I don't believe He will FORCE you to do anything. Jonah, and some others, might disagree, but I think at the end of the day they still had some measure of "free will." But I digress. My point is, God wants the best for you. And the best you can HAVE is GIVING what you've got. Giving away the love that's inside of you, and in that way experiencing it. That's when (and how) things go well for us. That's when God, who is already pleased IN us, is also pleased WITH us. When He sees the love inside come out. Because its all about love!

God is not just pleased WITH us. Because, to me, that implies conditions. Something we do pleased Him. And that happens, don't get me wrong. Every time the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) becomes flesh and the idea of love becomes charity, or love in action, I believe God is very pleased. Like when I see my kid do something out of the kindness of his heart. Makes me even more proud of him than I usually am. But that's the point. I'm always pleased IN him. Because he's my kid. And Jesus is God's beloved Son IN whom He is well pleased. Not because of what Jesus did, but because of who Jesus is. And because of who God is. Beloved Son. Loving heavenly Father. That is the gift of God--that Father/Son relationship that is built on unconditional love. Its like that old country song says, "Daddy's don't just love their children every now. Its a love without end. Amen." Love doesn't waver. Love doesn't pick flower petals in the hopes of ending up on the right one. "He loves me, He loves me not" does not exist. Its only and always, "He loves me. He loves me. He can't stop loving me." Because He IS love. And what else could love do but love? So what I'm trying to say today is: You don't have to be afraid of losing what you've got. You don't have to walk around on eggshells trying to please God, with the flip side being the fear of upsetting you. God is NOT mad at you. He is mad ABOUT you. Head over heels in love with you. You are the apple of His eye. And even though they SAY love is blind--when they really mean lust is blind, because when we want something from someone its easy to sweep their flaws or what have you under the rug and see them the way we want to see them instead of the way they really are--what love really does is He sees clearly. He sees us as we really are and He loves us for who we are. Love doesn't demand His own way. Love doesn't try to change us. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "God loves you just the way you are... but He loves you too much to leave you that way." And every time I hear it something rises up in me. Because the first part is true, but the secord part doesn't just imply but flat out SAYS we are not good enough. But if we weren't good enough, why would God love us that way? Why would God MAKE us that way? See, the truth is, God DOES love us just the way we are. What He wants is for us to KNOW the way we REALLY are. He wants us to BE who we really are. And that's not about changing into someone we're not. That's not about not being good enough, but somehow trying really hard and being better. That's about casting off the lie and embracing the truth. That's about resting in God's love instead of working to try to earn it. I'm telling you--God loves you. He always has and He always will. He looks at you and He sees Jesus. He looks at Jesus and He sees you. Because you are IN Christ and He is IN you. There is no separation. No difference. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--is your true identity. Because He is God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And since there is love IN THERE, it can (and will) come out. Naturally. By Him showing Himself to you, and you knowing and believing it. And when love comes out, that is when God is MOST pleased!

There is such a huge difference between trying to make someone be pleased with you, and doing things because you know someone IS pleased in you. And did you catch the difference of phrase there? Something being pleased WITH you is completely conditional. Someone being pleased IN you has nothing to do with what you do and everything to do with who you are. I'm pleased with my son because he's my son. He's my boy. My guy. And, yes, there are things he does that make me even more proud of him than usual. But no matter what, when I see him... he brings a smile to my face. He brings me happiness. I'm pleased by him. Again... because he's mine. Plain and simple. But I digress. I could certainly Rant the whole time about how much I love my kid, but I'm trying to talk about how much our heavenly Father loves us. And, specifically today, about how His love and acceptance and affirmation empowers us. Because the difference between trying to get someone's pleasure, and knowing you already have it is the difference--quite simply and literally--between works and labor (which don't work) and rest. Now don't forget that rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit directs us to love. And love is the maximum effort that we can give. So rest is really giving everything you are and everything you have. But not in order to get. Simply because you have something that is worth sharing. Something that is worth giving. And since you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have... you have to know and believe the love of God before you can do anything with it. Unfortunately, we don't always know and believe that love (even though its there whether we know it and believe it or not), and we spend a lot of our time, talent, and treasure trying to get something we've already got. And in so doing we rob ourselves from experiencing it. We try to earn Father God's approval, and we wear ourselves slap out. Because we can't earn it. It can't be earned. But it is freely given. HAS BEEN freely given. We already have it. And because we already have it, we can turn our focus away from ourselves (trying to get something we think we haven't got by being someone we're not) and onto each other. We can stop being self-centered and start being Christ-centered. Which means being people-centered. Because we love God by loving people. And we love God because He first loved us. We received His love by releasing His love. By letting Him love the hell out of us, and loving each other with that same love. By knowing (and believing) that God is pleased with us. Even when we mess up. Doesn't He always make a message out of our mess? So He doesn't kill us for messing up. He helps us learn and grow by the things we go through. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. Even when you mess up. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. Nothing. He is pleased with you. Even on your bad days. So don't disqualify yourself. Don't hide from His presence or run from Him. Just do your best, and forget the rest. Give what you've got, knowing that what you've got is enough. You don't need anything else. You have what you need to have and you are who you need to be. Be you. His beloved Son, in whom He is well pleased!

When God looks at Jesus, He sees you. And when He looks at you, He sees Jesus. Because you are IN Christ. And Christ is in you. That concept is so important for us to understand. Because it makes what is true about Jesus... true about you. Which is (at least) part of what Jesus was saying when He identified Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the truth that defeated the lie. You know, the lie that the serpent hissed into Eve's ear when he told her she had to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in order to be like God. When, in truth, we were created in the image and likeness of God. We were already like Him. We just didn't know what He was like, so we didn't know what we were like. We didn't know who HE was, so we didn't know who WE were. And, in our desperation to find out who we were--to be someone better than we thought we were--we swallowed that lie hook, line, and sinker. "Do in order to be? Well, obviously we aren't good enough right now... so... yeah. That's makes perfect sense." And to the carnal mind it DOES make perfect sense. But that kind of thinking didn't please God. God told Cain He didn't want what Cain could produce on his own. He wanted a Lamb. THE Lamb, specifically. See, God isn't interested in what we can do for Him. He is interested in what He can do in, and through, and as us. God doesn't want you to work your tail off trying to impress Him. He doesn't want you to try to earn anything from Him. And watch this--not too long ago I relayed the story of how my son, Logan, wanted a book. And he DID work his tail off shovelling snow so he could earn enough money to buy it. But that's a completely different story. Because he wasn't trying to earn my affection. He already has that. And he knows he has it. Because I tell him on the daily how much I love him. How he's my guy. So he doesn't try to earn daddy's love. Love can't be earned. It is freely given, and must simply be received. Received and released. And we receive it BY releasing it. By giving it away. By sharing it. Because we know and believe that we have it. Just as Jesus knew and believed that He had it when God declared it to Him in our key verse of Mark 1:11, "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And if you look at the verse before that one, you will see that it was only after the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--descended on Jesus like a dove that the ultimate truth of the universe was exposed. The truth that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. The truth that Jesus is your true identity. The truth that God is love and He loves YOU. That He is well pleased with you. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are. That's why its so important to know, and believe, and accept, and embrace, who you REALLY are. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. He is your loving heavenly Father. You are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased!

Sometimes people ask me questions. Usually right after they find out that I'm a pastor. And its usually, "How much can I get away with" type questions. But other than that--and my answer to that is, "If you can get it past the Holy Spirit you're ok. Because true conviction comes from within. Trust your gut. Follow your heart--but other than that, people will ask me why I think God is a happy God. And my answer to THAT is found in Revelation 21:3, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Because all throughout the Old Testament the cry of God's heart was that He wanted to be our God, and He wanted us to be His people (specifically, at that time, Israel, but in the bigger picture humanity). So God got what He wanted. And that's something that makes people happy, right? But that could almost lean to a selfish attitude. "I'm not happy unless I get what I want." So let's dig a little deeper into it. And for that we need to look no further than Mark 1:11, "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Now before I was a father... before I had a son of my own... I didn't understand this is in the same way that I do now. But we'll touch on that in a minute. Because the first thing I want to point out about this verse is that it happened BEFORE Jesus started His earthly ministry. He hadn't done any miracles or anything yet. And, I mean, He HAD said, "...How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49). And He said that when He was just a boy. So, I mean, what could possibly make someone more of a proud papa than to see his son follow in his foot steps? Which, again, as a father, I gotta say is awesome. Because Logan is 100% a mini-me. We even match our clothes as often as we can. We even look alike. There is never any doubt as to who his daddy is. Never any doubt as to who my son is. And that fills up my pride meter all the way to the top. And its not just because of what he does--sometimes he does things I don't like. Sometimes he gets too riled up and goes a little bit beast mode. One speed: Meltdown. So its not because he's a robot that I can control at every turn. Its because of who he IS. Its because of his heart. His sweet, sweet, caring heart. That's how people describe Logan across the board--He's such a sweetheart. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is... he's mine. I would claim him no matter what. I would love him no matter what. But when I see myself in him--especially the best parts of me--I can't help but smile. And if you know me, I don't smile that much. I'm pretty stoic. But when it comes to my son... I love him and I am well pleased with him. He is the one thing in the world that always makes me happy. Do you see where I'm going with this? Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body... God in YOUR flesh, love in YOUR body--is what makes God happy. WE are what makes God well pleased!