Now before I quote my verse for today--which you already know if you read yesterday's Rant--I want to qualify it. I've spent the last four days trying to help us understand that it's not about good vs evil. It's not about "why do bad things happen to good people?". It rains on the just and the unjust alike. And instead of thinking we're "good" and lamenting the "bad" what we ought to be doing is making sure "good" happens to everybody. We ought to love our neighbors. And bless those that curse us. Take the high road, if I can say it that way. So when we see Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose," we can't look at it from the perspective of, "I love God so all things work together for good... for me." It's not a formula. It's not about earning anything. I believe God is working behind the scenes all the time for everybody. I think most of the time we just miss out on what He's doing because we're so busy trying to make things go the way we want them to. We're too busy trying to change "bad" into "good" that we don't see the whole picture. I think the idea of "them that love God" is more about "them that are AWARE of God's love." I think God so loved the WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son. And I KNOW God doesn't play favorites. "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). If you're aware of God (and His love... the love that He IS) then you can see that even the "bad" is working towards your "good." You understand that life WILL throw punches at you, but you'll be able to roll with them. And even if you get knocked down you'll be able to pick yourself back up. And eventually, as you mature (or come into the completeness of His love), you'll stop getting knocked down at all. You'll learn and grow. You'll get stronger. Remember yesterday we saw that He is the One able to keep us from falling? I always say it like this, "If God is holding you up--and He is--then nothing can knock you down." That's when a setback really IS just a setup for a comeback. That's when "bad" things can happen and you won't even judge them that way. You won't judge by appearance, but you'll judge righteous judgment. You'll be able to take things in stride. And, again, I'm not saying you should just accept everything that happens. I'm saying if you can't accept something, either change it, or change your attitude about it. But you don't have to fight each and every little thing. Because ALL THINGS are working together for your good. And an important word there is "together." Because sometimes isolated incidents seem awful. But when you let the whole deal play out it might have been necessar to go through that to get to something better. Sometimes we have to get uncomfortable before we're willing to move out of our comfort zone. Sometimes we need to get hungry before we'll go out on a limb to get the fruit. So my point is--the point of this whole Rant series, really--don't let anything wreck you. The only true failure is failure to try. Don't give up. Sometimes the long and winding road leads you to the best places. Keep moving forward. Upward and onward. Upward and God-ward! And no matter what happens, just keep rolling with the punches!

I'm not saying you should just accept everything that happens in life. But basically you have two choices: You can either change THE THING, or, if that's not possible, you can change YOUR ATTITUDE about the thing. There will always be things. Because it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Life will take it's shots at you. The world will try to define you, and knock you down, and keep you down. But remember my Rocky quote. It's not about how hard you can hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward. It's about rolling with the punches. Taking life as it comes. And, again, if you come up against something you can't take... either do something about it, or do something about your attitude about it. I try to teach my son that "problems" are really just opportunites for creative thinking. A problem gives you a chance to be a problem solver. It's when we take the hit and stay down that's the REAL problem. The only real way to fail is to fail to try. "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief" (Proverbs 24:16). And notice-- both of them fell. One of them got up every time. Seven times, to be exact. And seven is the number of perfection, right? It's not about not falling. Perfection isn't about your actions. It's about maturity. It's about what happens WHEN you fall. It's about getting back up. A setback is just a setup for a comeback. And who doesn't love a good comeback story? Let me say it another way: If you never make a mistake how can you learn from your mistakes? Most of the time you have to do something wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning. On the job experience. Falling... and getting back up. Wiser. Stronger. Ready to try again. Don't let mistakes define you, just learn from them and keep moving forward. My dad always says, "I made a lot of mistakes growing up... got in trouble for a lot of things... but never the same thing twice." And I'm kind of the opposite of that because I like to make the same mistake over and over again until I REALLY get it. But the point is... if you learn from a "bad" experience then maybe it wasn't really "bad" at all. Maybe it was just part of the long and winding road that is the never-ending everlasting life-long journey that is Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! So don't be too quick to judge by appearance. Let the journey unfold. And if you find yourself facing something that you absolutely cannot stand... move! Do something about it. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of eternal life. Don't just mindlessly accept what the world has to offer. Because your heavenly Father has given you something much greater. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). What gives God pleasure? Giving YOU His Kingdom. Giving YOU His Spirit. His Son. His life. His love. And whatever the world has to offer pales in comparision to that. So trust that Daddy's got your back. That all things are working together for your good. (Whoops! Got ahead of myself. That's where I want to end this Rant series tomorrow.) But let me end today with this thought: If God is holding you up (and He is) nothing can knock you down. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24).

Did you know that momma birds intentionally make their nests uncomfortable so that the baby birds don't stay there forever? Now I'm not getting into the whole "when should a kid move out of his parent's house" debate. What I'm saying is... sometimes we get comfortable somewhere. Sometimes we settle for what the world gives us. Even the idea of "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I mean, that's not a BAD idea... but I've always thought we should probably just not take what life gives us at all. Not accept what the world throws at us. We're IN the world, but not OF the world, right? We're connected to a greater source. Not just life, but ABUNDANT life. Not just the world, but the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Love. So here's my point: sometimes things have to get uncomfortable before we'll do something about them. I know I'm that way. I'll go along to get along. But you know what they say, "Unless you stand for something you'll fall for anything." When I'm talking about rolling with the punches, I'm NOT talking about accepting everything in the world. There are things we SHOULD stand for, and there are things we SHOULD stand against. What I'm saying is, sometimes it takes a lot of shaking before things reveal themselves to be in Divine Order. And if we freak out every time there's a tremor, well, we'll probably end up in the fetal position rocking back and forth on the floor before too long. Because things happen. Every single day. It rains on the just and the unjust alike. It doesn't matter who you are. Life throws things at you. But, again, we don't have to settle for "life." John 10:10 states, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." There's something more available to us. But it's not in our comfort zone. It's out there. That's why God told Moses to tell the people--who were whining and crying because they literally wanted to go BACK into slavery--to go forward. We can sit down and cry and have a pity party every time things get rough... but that won't solve anything. We can worry about things that probably aren't going to happen anway... but that'll just drive us crazy. OR we can trust in the one who gave His life for us, and gave His life TO us. Jesus came that we might have abundant life. And love is what makes abundant life abundant. He came that we might have HIS life. Not by trying to act like Him. Not by trying to fit into some religious box of do's and don't's. But by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. And He chooses to do it in us. That's pretty awesome. That truth will get you through some tough times, if you'll let it. If you'll trust your heavenly Father to take care of you. You don't need to conquer, because Jesus already conquered. You are MORE than a conquerer through Him. The world hits hard. But you don't have to punch back. BUT if things get too uncomfortable... you can (and should) move forward. You can (and should) let that discomfort prompt you out of your rut. You can (and should) roll with the punches!

It seems like the question I hear the most is, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Or rather, "Why does God LET bad things happen to good people?" And the first thing I want to say is, I believe with all of my heart that God protects us from so many things that we don't see, or realize. I think there's a lot going on behind the scenes. But I also think Jesus explained it pretty well in Matthew 5:44-45, "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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." So first things first, I think we're asking the wrong question. Instead of lamenting that fact that "bad things happen to good people" we ought to be making sure "good things happen to bad people." Because at the end of the day... we're all just people. Good and evil is an OLD COVENANT idea. It stems from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death). The same fig tree that Jesus cursed because it was unable to produce any fruit. Look at Hebrews 5:14, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Notice: It doesn't say discern BETWEEN good and evil. Again, that's Old Covenant. It says discern BOTH good and evil. Discern that they are diferent branches of the same tree. And that there is an entirely different tree that we should be eating from. The Tree of Life. And that tree produces the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. That's where our appetite is satisfied. That's the only thing that CAN satisfy our appetite. It's all about love. So here's my thought for today: Instead of worrying about why bad things happen to good people, understand that even a setback is just a setup for a comeback. Stop judging by appearance, and judge righteous judgment. How many times has something "good" come out of the ashes of something "bad"? But we get so caught up in the moment that we let the emotional roller coaster wreck us. Going off the rails on a crazy train, right? We want to fight against every little thing, making mountains out of molehills, when we should be rolling with the punches. When we should be enjoying the journey, even if it is a long and winding road. Guys... it's a never-ending journey. So you might as well enjoy it. What's the alternative? Give up? I don't think so. Upward and onward. Upward and GOD-ward! God told Moses to tell the people to go forward. Paul wrote warning us NOT to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) by the renewing of our minds. By THINKING about things differently. Not throwing a pity party evey time something doesn't go exactly the way we think it should, but trusting God that He knows what's best for us. Exceeding abundantly more than we could ask OR THINK. We can't even really wrap our arms around how good God is. But He's showing us. All the time. If we're willing to see, and hear, and experience the love that He has for us. If we're willing to roll with the punches.

There's an awesome scene in the movie Rocky Balboa where Rocky is talking to his son, and he says two things that really stick out: 1. "Nobody hits harder than life." And 2. "It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." I've always said the hardest part about life is living. You take a step forward and then life wants to make you take two steps back. It's hard to get traction sometimes. Hard to feel like you ARE moving forward. But look at Exodus 14:12-15, "Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." The people of Israel had just been release from over 400 years of slavery. And the first thing they did was they decided they WANTED to go back. Because they didn't trust in the new thing God was doing. So Moses tried to soothe them by putting God on display. "God will fight for you. Don't worry." But then God flipped the script. He said, "Why are you crying unto me? Tell the people to go forward!" It always makes me chuckle when people drop the catchphrase, "God works in mysterious ways." Because most of the time God works through people. THAT'S the mystery--Christ IN YOU the hope of glory. And the mystery has been revealed. He has (and is) revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Notice God didn't say He wouldn't fight for the people. He simply told them to move forward. He fights FOR us, by fighing THROUGH us. And by "fight" in the New Covenent I mean fighting the good fight of faith. Laying hold onto the gift of eternal life that we've already been given. The war to end all wars was won on the cross. Which means we don't have to fight anymore in the sense of conquering enemies. There are no enemies left. Except maybe the one right between our ears. We make mountains out of molehills and struggle to conquer. Guys! We are MORE than conquerors through Him that loves us. Because HE conquered. He wasn't giving the people mission impossible when He told them to go forward. He was showing them the Way (and the Truth, and the Life). He was giving them a way of escape, as 1 Corinthians 10:13 puts it. So what I'm saying is... instead of always trying to punch our way out of stuff... we need to start rolling with the punches. Fall down seven times, and get up every time. Don't quit. Don't go back. Go forward. Upward and God-ward. That's the way out. Life is going to be life. And life takes no prisoners. But guess what we have: We have ABUNDANT life. A life filled with love. Being loved by God and loving Him back by loving others with that same love. That's our strength (as we're going to see tomorrow). That's HOW we roll with the punches. Not by fighting back, but by simply moving forward. Not letting life keep us down. Rolling with the punches.

I always tell my son, Logan, "Don't do things just to do them. Have a reason for doing what you're doing." And I always tell him the best reason--really the ONLY reason--to do anything is because it's in your heart to do it. It comes from a place of love. Even things like eating, and taking care of yourself come from that place. Because no one ever hated his body, right? (With all of the image problems we have these days I think that verse in Ephesians needs a little digging into, but this isn't the time or the place for that. So... moving on.) It's a life of love. Being loved and loving others with that same love. Doing whatever we do heartily. From the heart. With every breath we take and every move we make. Doing things TO the Lord. To the One who loved us in the first place. Not trying to get anything from anybody because we have already been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. We have already been blessed with all Spiritual blessings in the heavenly Christ. God wanted the best for us, so He gave the best to us. He gave us His only begotten Son. So that we could experience Jesus' life--so that we could partake of the Divine Nature--by letting Jesus live HIS life in us, and through us, and as us. He filled us with His Spirit--the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, our love receptor--so that we could know and believe the love of Christ. So that we could receive it and release it. See, we don't do things FOR God. He's not our boss and we better do what He says or else. We do things as TO Him. Everything we do to people we are really doing to God. That's how we love God: by loving people. It's being Christ-centered (people-centered) instead of self-centered. I mentioned taking care of ourselves earlier, but in a "perfect world" it would really shake down like this, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). If I take care of you... and you take care of me... then neither one of us has to take care of ourselves. Another thing I'm teaching Logan is that we are such an awesome team because I've got his back AND he's got mine. We look out for one another. Because we love one another. I'll use this as an example because it literally just happened to me. We were eating dinner. And before Logan even finished his own chicken he decided he wanted mine. The last one. And of course, without even thinking about it, I gave it to him. Because that's what love is; giving everything you are and everything you have to someone else. Laying your life down for your friends. Esteeming others higher than yourself. Which doesn't mean you think of others as better and yourself as worse. Being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It simply means thinking of yourself less. That's what it means to live from the heart. Fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with--apprehend what you've been apprehended of--and let what's inside come out. Naturally. Listen to your heart. Let it be your guide. Love never fails, right? And love comes from the heart. So if you're following your heart--it may be a long and winding road--it will get you to where you need to be. So don't worry so much. You have what you need. All that remains is to do what you do out of love. Do it WITH love. Do it... BECAUSE of love.

It's all about the why. Why do you do what you do? Are you doing it because you're trying to get something? (From God OR from men?) Are you doing what you do because you're trying to stay somewhere? (Either IN God's good graces, or OUT of His dog house?) What's your motivation? What are you trying to accomplish? Where does your motivation come from? Well... according to Philippians 2:13, "...it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." In other words, it comes from the heart. That's where love comes from, right? And that's the best reason we have to do anything. To do EVERYTHING. Every breath we take and every move we make. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Proverbs 23:7). What's in your heart comes out. It has to. Because it's too big to keep in there. God is love... and it is God which worketh in us. LOVE which worketh in us. That's where the will--the motivation--and the power to do--actually putting it in action--comes from. If faith without works is dead that means "love" without "action" (which is charity) doesn't accomplish much. Our key verse for this Rant series starts with the words, "And whatsoever ye do..." (Colossians 3:23). It's not just about theories, and ideas, and debates, and words. In the beginning the Word was with God... then He became FLESH and dwelt among us. In the same way, whenever the Word--which is Jesus, which is love--that is within YOU becomes flesh, God dwells among US! What's inside comes out. When you know and believe that it's in there. When you receive it and release it. When you receive it BY releasing it. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you "step out in faith" and love somebody--not trying to get something... not FOR God, but as TO God--that means that, on some level, you believe you are loved. If you give it away, that means you believe you have it. It all comes down to flipping the script. Not trying to get anything from anyone, because you know that your heavenly Father loves you and has given all things into your hands, and sharing what you've got. Not being self-centered, but being Christ-centered. Which means being people-centered. Because whatever you do to the least of them (us) you do unto Him. So whatever you do--and it really doesn't matter what you do. Sometimes we think we have to be big, giant, world changers and history makers, when in reality sometimes the smallest thing (like a hug, or an ear that's willing to listen) is the biggest thing. You might not change "the" whole world but you can surely change SOMEONE'S whole world--whatever you do... do it WITH love, and do it BECAUSE of love. Do it AS TO the One who loves you. It's really easy to be nice to people who love you. So just realize that even when people don't act like they love you... that's simply because they don't know that YOU love THEM. Make the first move. And don't worry about how that move is received. The point is not whether or not someone accepts your love. The point is that whatsoever you do... do it heartily. Do it because it's in your heart to do it. Let what's inside come out. Be who YOU are no matter what. Do YOUR best, and forget the rest. Love unconditionally with every breath you take and every move you make, and let whatever else worry about itself!

I said I wanted to key in on three different aspects of Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." So far we looked at the "heartily" part--doing everything you do because it's in your heart to do it. That's the origin of every breath we take and every move we make--and we looked at the "TO the Lord" part--not doing things FOR Him, but doing things TO Him by doing things to each other. Because we are all different parts of His body--so today we will look at the third part, "not unto men." And here's what I want to say about that: When you put expectations on people you are setting YOURSELF up for failure. Because people are going to do what they're going to do regardless of what you do. If you are scratching someone's back SO THAT they will scratch yours... chances are you're in for an itchy day. Because people don't respond the way you want them to, just because you want them to. I think that's where we get lost sometimes with the so-called "Golden Rule." You know, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). I want to point out two things though: 1. We are not under the Law. We are under grace. And 2. It seems like most people use this to try to GET people to do unto them what they want. "I want them to be nice to me, so I'll be nice to them." But I don't think that's what Jesus was saying. I think He wanted us to deal with people in a different way then, "what they deserve." Treat people how you would want to be treated. But don't expect anything from them. Don't get upset when they don't treat you the same way. If the origin of your action is to get something... it's not love. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. If the origin of your action is to get something from someone then the origin is not the heart. And if your action is aimed AT someone hoping for something FROM that someone then it's not TO the Lord. It's to YOURSELF. Selfish. Self-centered. Which is the opposite of Christ-centered, or people-centered. Do things TO people... FOR people. Don't say, "I want you to do this to me, so I'm going to do it to you in the hopes that you'll reciprocate." Again, that's not love. And that's an excellent way to get disappointed. Not because of what the person does or doesn't do, but because of what you WANTED them to do or not do. If you want something from someone, that gives them a lot of power over you. And God doesn't want you to be in bondage to anyone or anything. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. We don't give in the hopes of getting. We give because we have been given. Remember the ultimate truth of the universe? The Father loveth the Son (us) and has given all things into His (our) hands. We already have everything we will ever need. So we don't have to try to get anything from anyone. We can give freely out of the abundance that we've been given. Out of the abundance of our hearts. As to the One who gave it to us in the first place. Receiving it and releasing it. Knowing it and believing it. Sharing it with anyone and everyone who comes into our path no matter who they are. Not because we need something, or want something, but because we HAVE something. We can love without expectation because it comes from the heart. Because God first loved us. He filled us up, and we simply fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with!

Our key verse for this Rant series is Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Yesterday we looked at what "heartily" means. It means the origin of things... and breath. Doing what you do--with every breath you take and every move you make--because it's in your heart to do it. That's where love comes from. That's why we do what we do (or at least it should be). Today we are looking at "as to the Lord." And the first thing I want to say about it is... TO does not mean FOR. This idea that "My boss is a carpenter" has to go. Jesus is not my boss. Jesus is my life. I'm not doing things for Him. I'm not trying to earn anything from Him. I'm madly in love with Him because He's madly in love with me, and I'm doing things AS TO Him. Which means, "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" (Matthew 25:40 NLT). Whatever you do TO man, you are really doing to God. That's the distinction that's being made. We don't treat people "how they deserve to be treated." We treat people the way we would treat the One who created us. The lover of our soul. Our heavenly Father. The bridegroom to our Lamb's wife. All these different pictures of loving relationships. That's how we are to treat one another. Because that's how God treats us. It's the "ought to" principle that John wrote about so often. 1 John 3:16, for example, "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters." This is also the New Commandment. John 13:34 (NLT), "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other." That love that God poured into us when Jesus poured HIMSELF into us fills us to overflowing and we return it to Him by giving it away to each other. As to Him. Because it IS to Him. Because as He is, so are we in this world. We are His body. He is our true identity. All of us. Collectively. So--and this might SEEM selfish, but it's not--when we love each other we are really loving ourselves. Because we're all in this together. Because helping you HELPS me. Loving you is how I experience love. It grows when it's shared. I'm not loving you FOR God. I'm not trying to earn rewards or avoid trouble. I'm loving you as TO God. He loved us and gave His life for us. He gave us everything He was and everything He had. And that's how we ought to love each other. Again--not FOR Him. But TO Him. How can you love a God you've never seen if you don't love your neighbor who you have seen? I'm telling you. We love Him BY loving each other. We do what we do because it's in our hearts to do it. LOVE is in our hearts. And we do it AS TO the Lord. We're in a love relationship with Him. And He's in all of us. So when we see things correctly--because the light of the world is shining--we begin to understand that we are in a love relationship with each other. And if I'm doing what I'm doing TO the Lord, then it really doesn't have anything to do with what anybody else is doing. But that's tomorrow's Rant so we'll save that for tomorrow. For today, just let me leave you with this thought: God loves you. You love Him back... BY loving people. You do what you do TO him. Not FOR Him!

This Rant series is all about Colossians 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." And there are really three ideas that I want to explore. The first one is "heartily." Which is number 1537 in Strong's Greek Concordance and means, "a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds)." And number 5590, "breath, that is, (by implacation) spirit." So basically... and this is one of the most important things that I've been trying to teach my son... if you're going to do something, do it because it's in your heart to do it. That's the origin. Do it heartily. Do it from the heart. And do what's in your heart (LOVE) with every breath you take and every move you make. I think it's sad that so often we do things for all the wrong reasons. We look for love in all the wrong places, and we try as hard as we can to "get it" somehow. We're willing to do things for people (which is the third idea, that we're going to really look at in a couple days) because we think if we do we'll get what we want. What we don't seem to realize is that what we're looking for can only be found within. Because we already have it. It was a gift given to us from our heavenly Father. James 1:17 says it like this, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." God is the Father of lights. He is OUR heavenly Father. So that means WE are the light of the world! Jesus said as much when He identified Himself (John 8:12) and us (Matthew 5:14) as that light. So all we have to do is be ourselves. Give who we are and what we've got. But not because we think we're going to get something. Love is never about getting. Love IS giving. We don't scratch someone's back so that they'll scratch ours. We simply see a need and meet it. Because that's what's in our heart. If you see someone who is itchy... give them a scratch. James again. "Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"--but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?" (James 2:15-16 NLT). That's the most practical thing you can do for someone. See a need... and meet it. Not because you think it'll GET you anything, but because it's in your heart to GIVE something. This is the second idea (that we'll really dive into tomorrow): "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). How we treat others is really how we treat God. And how we treat God is a reflection of how we believe He treats us. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you love somebody, what you're really doing is receiving and releasing the love that God has given you. If it's in your heart--and you know and believe it's in your heart--it will come out. Naturally. Because love is not just what you do--with every breath--it's who you ARE!