When you know something, you can believe it. And when you believe it, it manifests in your life. Again, I'm talking about just any old think. I'm talking about one of two choices. Either what the world screams at you from the top of it's lungs... or the Word of the Lord. Either the lie... or the truth. You can't say, "I know I'm a millioniare... I believe it!" and then expect money to appear in your bank account. And, by the way, even though I tend to use that "bank account" example... being blessed has very little (but A little) to do with money. God does tend to make his people rich, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with having stuff. The problem is when stuff has you. But I digress. The point it, just saying you believe something isn't enough. You have to know it. With a knowledge that passes knowledge. A heart knowledge, rather than a head knowledge. An experiential knowledge. Like the Roman soldier who, when he SAW Jesus crucified KNEW that Jesus was the Son of God. And that's when it gets real. When it gets past the head--I think a lot of times things either get stuck in our head and we dwell on it to much, overthinking it... or it goes in one ear and out the other--and into the heart, that's when the truth becomes true for YOU. The truth is the truth. Always has been and always will be. God loves you. He always has and He always will. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But if you don't know He loves you you'll go looking for love in all the wrong places; instead of going to the source. You'll run FROM God instead of running TO God. You'll try to earn something that can't be earned instead of resting, and receiving it, and releasing it. That's the power of belief. When you know what you've got you can experience it. You can give it away. Share it. And in that way manifest it in your life. I think things are more real when you share them. More fun too. And especially when we're talking about love (and when are not talking about love) the whole purpose of our creation was so that we could be loved and love each other with that same love! The entire point of our being is to know and believe the love of God. Because when you know it and believe it you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with. That's the secret. That's the key. I said earlier trying to earn something that can't be earned is pointless. Now get this: What you're looking for (love) is already inside you! You don't have to "get it" because you already HAVE IT. All you have to do is let it out. And notice I didn't say "force it out." I said LET it out. Like... let this mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. It's already there. That's why the voice of God--the Word of the Lord--comes in a still, small voice... from deep inside! It's your heavenly Father saying, "I love you," with each and every beat of His heart in your chest. It's the ultimate truth of the universe: The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. Daddy loves you. You have everything you could or will ever need. He did it all, so you could get it all. And now you have it all. Receive it and release it. Know it... and believe it!

What you believe is what manifests in your life. But I'm not saying you can be like, "I believe I'm a millionare" and then check your bank account and see millions of dollars. I'm saying you can believe one of two reports. What the world says, or the Word of the Lord. And here's the difference, the world will scream at you at the top of it's lungs, trying to MAKE you believe. Look at 1 Kings 19:11-12, "And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." Sometimes the world seems deafening. Shaking your whole world. While in contrast, the Word of the Lord is whispered in a still, small voice. It comes from within. With every beat of God's heart in your chest. And the Word of the Lord is, "I love you. I love you. I love you." So you can either believe the lie of the accuser, which says you're not good enough and you must do in order to be... or you can believe the Word of the Lord that says you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Why is this so important? Because what you do flows from what you believe. If you believe you're a sinner... at the end of the day you're going to sin. (And while I'm convinced that sin is unbelief... whatever it means to you is how you will judge yourself, and others). If you believe your heavenly Father is out to get you, you'll do what Adam and Eve did and you'll hide from the presence of God. Even though He lives inside you so it's not like you can really get away from Him. Wherever you go, there you are. And there HE is. If you believe you're not good enough, you'll do whatever you can to BECOME good enough. You'll try your best to earn Daddy's love and acceptance. But you can't earn a gift. And if you're working, you're not resting. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. THROUGH Jesus Christ. Because He is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. It's HIS life. He gave it for us, and He gave it to us. Now we can partake of His Divine Nature. Now we can experience His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Now we can love one another--which is what abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is all about... to live is to love and to love is to live--because we know and believe the love of Christ. What we do flows from what we believe. I ran down some negative stuff, now let's end with the positive stuff. If you believe you are forgiven, you can forgive. Remember now, you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. You can't forgive in order to be forgiven. You must know and believe that you have it before you can give it. If you believe you are loved... you can love. You can fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with, and let it come out naturally. You can stop running around like a chicken with it's head cut off looking for love in all the wrong places. You can listen to that still, small voice of truth, and the truth can set you free and make you free!

Once you know something, you can believe it. You can put it into action. You can experience. And since we're talking about love (when aren't we?) we're talking about charity. It drove me nuts that the Apostle Paul used that word in the famous "love chapter" of 1 Corinthians 13. "Why not just say 'love'?" I would ask all the time. And then it hit me. Charity is love... in action. Love isn't just an idea. It's a Word. But it's a Word THAT BECAME FLESH. A Word that dwelt among us. And now it is (He is) a Word that dwells within us. Remember one of my favorite song lyrics? "What you got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away..." That's the thing about love. When we (mistakenly) think we don't have it, we'll do anything for it. We'll look for love in all the wrong places and get into all kinds of trouble trying to get it the wrong way. Because any time you try to earn a gift you're doomed to fail. By definition a gift can't be earned. It is freely given and it must be received. Which is where the Holy Spirit comes in. That Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth. Leads and guides us into the ultimate truth of the universe, that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That Daddy loves us. And that nothing can separate us from that love. When we KNOW that--with a knowledge that passes knowledge, a heart knowledge instead of a head knowledge--that's when we can rest. When we know that Jesus sweated great drops of blood to redeem us from the cursed dimension of forced labor (or slavery, or bondage), we can stop trying to earn our bread by the sweat of our brows. We can start to understand what all these pictures of food in the Bible are all about. Psalm 23:5 says, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies..." Revelation 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Basically, "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 the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). God is love. And that love is a love feast. Jesus did the work and prepared the table. He stands at the door and knocks. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And they don't say, "Come... or else." They say, "Come and get it." Because it's all ready for us. It's available to us. It was the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He gave us His only begotten Son. So that we might know and believe the truth... and that the truth might set us free, and make us free. You can't do much with a truth you don't know. It's still true, but it's not true to you. Not until you know it and believe it. And after the Spirit and the bride say come... he that heareth says come! That's what being a witness is. Share your experience. Don't try to scare someone straight. And don't try to convince someone of something that you don't really believe. People can tell the difference between real and fake. And people are desperate for the real. Desperate for it. So if we have it... we ought to share it. We ought to give away what we've got. Because it's too good to keep to ourselves. We believe we have been filled to overflowing, and what's inside comes out naturally!

To believe in something is to put your faith in it. To put your TRUST in it. And when you put your trust in something--or someONE--it can be a little scary. Because we have this idea that, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." While at the same time we say things like, "Let go and let God." It's the IDEA of giving up control that is both attractive and very very hard to do. I'm comforted by Bible verses like 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." But, again, you have to know He cares for you before you can believe it, or act on it. And, of course, by "know" I mean KNOW. Heart knowledge, not head knowledge. Experiential knowledge. If you know someone cares for you, that's when you can cast your cares on them. It's a safe place. There's trust there. Which is one of the reasons Jesus died on the cross. He SAID the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. But words are wind sometimes. Sometimes they blow in one ear and out the other. So He put His money where His mouth was and He went to the cross and literally laid His life down for us. 1 John 4:9 in the NLT says it like this, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him." Because Jesus didn't just die FOR us. He also died AS us. So that when He rose again WE could rise again. We live in Him, and He lives in us. We don't have eternal life "because" of Him... we have eternal life THROUGH Him. It's His life. And we experience it as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. And this is where our idea of "doing it ourselves" falls apart. We can't do it ourselves. That's what the Law taught us. It didn't teach us to behave. Behavior modification doesn't work. It taught us that no matter how hard we tried we were doomed to fail. The Law of Moses demanded perfection without being able to produce it. All it could do was point out your mistakes. It couldn't fix them. That's why--on the cross--Jesus fulfilled the Law. He nailed it to the cross because it was against us. He didn't want us overruled by an external list of do's and don't's. He wanted to rule over us--rule THROUGH us--as a King in His Kingdom. His Kingdom of Love. That's what eternal life is all about, and that's what it means to "have faith in God." Because God is love. Having faith in God is having faith in love. Eternal life is knowing the one true God, and the One whom He sent. Knowing the unconditional love relationship between Father and Son. Knowing God AS Father, and yourself as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Knowing all of that... and believing it. Receiving all of that love... and releasing it. DOING something with the gift we've been given. Experiencing it. Sharing it. Giving it away. You can't give what you don't have, right? And you can only give what you do have. So in order to love you have to know and believe that you are loved. In order to live you have to believe in the One--Jesus, love--who IS life! But here's the key, and we're going to really get into it tomorrow, SEEING is believing...!

We have known and believed the love of Christ. That's the Divine Order of things. Because you can't believe something you don't know. But believing the truth that you DO know is what makes it true... for you. Look at Mark 9:23, "Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." Now, in context, I think Jesus was talking about Himself as "him that believeth." Because He was answering the concern of a man who asked him if he could anything to help. So basically Jesus was saying, "If you believe in me... all things are possible. Because I believe." We've been talking quite a bit about THE measure of faith. About how Jesus GAVE us the measure of faith by being faithful. How we can trust in Him because He proved Himself trustworthy. Basically, what I think I'm trying to say is, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22). We put a lot of emphasis on faith. As if "more" faith or "strong" faith is something to strive for. We put our faith in faith. When in reality all our faith is supposed to do is get us to Jesus' faith. We believe IN HIM, and then He takes over and makes it happen. (And, of course, by "makes it happen" I mean "MADE it happen 2,000 years ago on the old rugged cross. What really happens is a manifestation of what already happened. It is uncovered, or brought to light. We don't need a change. We need to see the change that took place.) So, as always, it's not about what WE do, it's about what HE did. It's not about believing in believing. It's about believing in God. Look at John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Life comes from believing in the One who IS life. Remember, His life is the light of men. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We get so twisted around when we make it about anything and everything else. It's about life. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. And what makes life abudant... of course... is love. To live is to love and to love is to live. Life and love are not only connected, they are the same thing! But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I want to define the term so we can dig in to it for the next few days. "Believeth" in John 3:16 is number 4100 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), that is, credit; by implication to entrust, put in trust with." And I think many times that's where we fall apart. We have trust issues. Somebody burns us, and then we're forevermore afraid of the fire. Even though, Spiritually speaking, the fire is God! The fire is love! And it doesn't burn away anything we don't need anyway. I'm convinced--by personal experience--that you can do a lot of damage to yourself by hanging on to something that you ought to let go of. It's like a rope. You hold on too tight and you can get rope-burn. You think you're doing right, but you're really hurting yourself (and others). What we need to do is, again, have faith in God. He gave us THE measure of faith so that we might have faith in Him. He proved Himself faithful. We put our trust in Him because He has proved Himself trustworthy. He came with something better than we could ask or even think. A more excellent way. Escape from the bondage of sin and death. He came with LIFE. HIS abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life!

You can't believe something that you don't know. But when you know it... you can throw it. You can't give something you don't have. But once you receive it... you can release it. It's not a formula, per se, but it is an important first and second step. That's why 1 John 4:16 says, "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." Known and believed. And that's why Ephesians 3:19 says, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." First things first... you need to KNOW the truth. The truth sets you free, and makes you free, but only if you know it. It's like a gift. Someone can give you a gift but until you receive it--take it out of the box and play with it--it doesn't do you much good. It's real, but it's not real to you. And that's the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Knowing "about" something and KNOWING it because you've experienced it. Heart knowledge trumps head knowledge, because heart knowledge PASSES knowledge. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--has given us an unction, and we know all things. But we don't understand everything we know. God's love is too big, and too powerful, and too amazing for us to ever truly get a grasp on. That's why this gift we've been given is eternal life. It's an everlasting life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. That's why we comprehend (or lay hold on) the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of God's love by giving it away. By loving as high, and deep, and strong as we possibly can. You know something--KNOW something--by experiencing it. And love is giving. So in order to experience it, you have to give it away. You have to share what you've got. Share who you are. Because not only DOES God love... God IS love. Not only ARE we loved... we ARE love! That's what it means to know. And then the next step is when the Word (that you know) becomes flesh (because you believe it). That's when love (as an idea) becomes charity (love in action). And here's the key: You don't fake it 'til you make it. You don't try to produce something that isn't there. You fill yourself with the fulness of God, by letting HIM fill you to overflowing with what you've already been filled with! Probably my favorite song of all-time is "How He Loves" by the David Crowder Band. Because I think that song has the exact right emphasis. It's not about how much we love God. It's about how much He loves us. Even the New Commandment has that focus: Love others AS Jesus loves you. The emphasis is on Him loving you. And on you knowing and believing that love. Him loving you, and you receiving and releasing that love. Which is why I always talk about the best way to receive BEING the release. If you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have, that means that if you love someone--giving what you have--it means on some level you know and believe that you are loved. We don't produce the fruit. We are the merely the branches that bear it, or carry it, to those who need it. I'll say it one more time to end this Rant series: We receive it and release it. We know it... and believe it!

Heart knowledge is a whole different thing than head knowledge. It's the difference between knowing ABOUT something with your head, and KNOWING something with your heart. Look at Psalm 139:14, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." I love this verse. It is jam packed with glorious truth. The first of which is that praise... is a response. All too often it seems like we praise God in the hopes that He will do something. As if our praise can make something happen. But that's backwards. And a little conceited. And a little fishy. If I have to bribe God to do something then maybe it's not something He should be doing in the first place. And if I think I can MAKE God do something then it seems as if I'm trying to make God in my image instead of the truth that I am made in HIS image. Marvellous are HIS works. HE made me (fearfully and wonderfully). And because of THAT I will praise Him. Praise is a natural reaction to the goodness of God. And it comes from our soul--or, in the New Covenant when the spirit and soul have both been swallowed up in the Holy Spirit, our heart--knows something right well. Knowing it because we've experienced it. Knowing it on the inside, istead of merely on the outside. It's not in one ear and out the other. It's something deep inside that fills us to overflowing and comes out naturally. It's the love of God coming from our hearts. We know it in our hearts, because it comes FROM the heart. It's the ultimate truth of the universe; the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. But remember our key verse for this Rant series? John 14:17, "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." This isn't something that can be learned. We CAN learn HOW to love, as we learn how we ARE loved. But this basic, fundamental, foundational truth comes from the Holy Spirit. From that still, small voice deep inside whispering with each beat of our hearts... "I love you, I love you, I love you." We know that because He dwells in us and we dwell in Him. But the world--even though they are desperate for love--doesn't know it. Because the world doesn't see it. The world sees an eye for an eye. The world sees, "If I do good I'll be rewarded, if I do evil I'll be punished." But the world really doesn't BELIEVE that either. Because the world tries to get away with stuff. It tries to invent "get out of jail free" cards. It runs from the very thing it wants (needs) most because it's afraid that it doesn't deserve it. That no matter how hard it tries it will never be able to earn it. And in that case, the world is right. You can't earn it. The difference is that WE know you don't NEED to earn it. All you need to do is know it, and believe it. Receive it, and release it. And guess what else: Unless we, who dwell with Him, show His love to the world... they won't ever see it. When I met my pastor--I KNEW he was a pastor, but didn't go to church at the time--he won me over without ever quoting the Bible or saying the name of God, or Jesus, or anything. He won me over because I KNEW he loved me. He showed me something different. A more excellent way. The very thing I had been looking for without even knowing it. And that's what we can do for the world. If you know it... throw it. You are loved. LOVE!

If you know it, throw it. That's how ministry works. That's what being a witness is all about. That's what I mean when I preach and Rant (all the time) about receiving and releasing. But that first part is so vitally important. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. You can't believe something that you don't know. And you can't share something unless you believe you have it. Unless you KNOW that you have it. I was preaching last night about how "comprehending" the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of God's love is exactly the same thing as "laying hold of" eternal life (by fighing the good fight of faith." They both mean to take, or to seize. God gave us a gift--eternal life, which is knowing the Father and the One that He sent... knowing that He is OUR Father and we are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased--and He wants us to experience it. To enjoy it. To share it. But how do we experience the gift of eternal life? By living life to the fullest. And since to live is to love and to love is to live that means giving love to the fullest. We comprehend the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of God's love... by loving each other as high, and deep, and big, and strong as we can. We experience God's love by giving it away. By loving others as we are loved. But, again, it comes from KNOWING that we are loved. It comes from within. It's not something you can "get" because it's something you've always had. You just didn't necessarily know it. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. Remember, we have an unction from the Holy One and we know all things. But we don't yet understand everything we know. It takes time to learn and grow. It takes baby steps sometimes. It's like the Bible telling you that Jesus loves you--"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so"--and that's a good place to start. But knowing ABOUT God's love is not the same thing as KNOWING God's love. It's the knowledge that passes knowledge. It's heart knowledge, which is deeper and more real than head knowledge. It's experiencing the love of God because He first gave it to you, and then you received. You know it... and then you believe it. Let me quote 1 John 4:16 again, "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." Known and believed. That's the Divine Order of things. Now look at it in the NLT, "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them." We can trust His love for us, because we know how much He loves us. He gave us THE measure of faith by proving Himself faithful. By telling us what love is--laying your life down for your friends--and then going to the cross to do that very thing. He put His money where His mouth was, if I can say it that way. He gave us something--someONE, Himself, love--to believe it. We know what love is because we know who Jesus is. Who WE are. We are loved. And because we are loved we CAN love. Because we are loved we ARE love!

You can't believe something you don't know. That's why--in the same way that we receive first then release--we KNOW and believe the love of Christ. It's like this, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3). And the phrase I want to key in on is right there at the end. "The measure of faith." God gave us all THE measure of faith. Or the ability to believe, if I can say it that way. And He did so by giving us something to believe in. By giving us His only begotten Son. By giving us SOMEONE to believe in. By giving us LOVE to believe in. Jesus said the greatest expression of love a man can have is to lay down his life for his friends, right? Well, He went to the cross and did just that. He didn't just TELL us what love is. He SHOWED us. And that's vitally important because seeing is believing. Look at Matthew 15:39 in the NLT, "When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, "This man truly was the Son of God!"" The Roman officer saw the finished work of the cross, and then he KNEW what was what. Who was who. His eyes were opened. He experienced something, and it changed everything. All of a sudden he could believe, because all of a sudden he knew the truth. And remember, there's a big difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. "Knowing" something and KNOWING something. That's what the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--is all about. He leads and guides us into all truth. 1 John 2:20 says, "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." We know all things, but we don't yet fully understand everything we know. The Holy Spirit reveals God's love to us here a little, there a little. Line upon line. Precept upon precept. Which is to say, stand on what you do know, and don't worry about what you don't. You don't have to figure God out. In the book of Job it talks about how all we know of God is just the outer fringes of His glory. And I know that's an Old Testament revelation, but what I'm trying to say is that love is too big to ever really get a handle on. And that's ok. Remember the greatest commandment? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your strength, and all your mind? Love Him with everything you've got. Which, of course, means love PEOPLE with everything you've got. If you don't know something... don't worry about it. Focus on what you DO know, and let the Holy Spirit take you where HE wants you to go. That's called following your heart. Because your heart knows the way. But your heart speaks in a still, small voice. So you have to listen to it. You have to be still and know that HE is God. That LOVE is God. You have to know what you know. Understand what you know. Let what you know be enough, even as He is adding to it. Building on the foundation. It's a never-ending everlasting life-long journey into the heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter... is the heart. When you know love... you love. Because that's not just what you do, it's who you are!

Good old King James English. But bear with me. Last week I preached about "The First Move." About how we love in response to being loved. We don't have to make the first move, because God made the first move. He gave us His only begotten Son. He gave us His Spirit--the love receptor, the Spirit of Truth--so that we might know and believe the truth. That's what the Holy Spirit does; He leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that we are loved. See, the cross (and being filled with the Holy Spirit) did not change us into something God could all of a sudden love. He always has loved us and He always will love us. He IS love. That's not just what He does, that's who He is. The problem was that from our point of view, God's love seemed too good to be true. It seemed like something that maybe, just maybe, we could earn. And that's why the Law made so much sense to the carnal mind. If I do good I'll be rewarded. If I do evil I'll be punished. Makes perfect sense. But that was man's plan, not God's plan. All God ever wanted us to do was receive and release His love. But in order to receive it and release it we have to know it and believe it. And that's how we got--in a roundabout way--to the title of this Rant series. Look at John 14:17, "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth in you, and shall be in you." We know Him. Intimately. Because He dwells in us. And we dwell in Him. The Spirit of Truth leads and guides us into all truth--again, the truth that we are loved by our heavenly Father--by testifying of our true selves. Those who are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God. And the Spirit testifies of OUR true selves by testifying of Jesus. Because He IS our true self. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And this "knowing" is so vitally important because you can't believe something you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. There's a desire in our hearts... to be loved. That's the most basic human appetite. It's what we all want. What we all NEED. And, really, it's already true. We ARE loved. But seeing is believing. Our verse says the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. But we know Him. Because we see Him. In ourselves, and in each other. 1 John 4:16 says what I think I'm trying to say. "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." Known it... and believed it. The word "known" there is number 1097 in Strong's Greek Concordance, and it means, "to 'know' (absolutely), be aware of, feel, perceive, be resolved, can speak, be sure, understand." This isn't knowing in the sense of just head knowledge. This is knowing in the sense of heart knowledge. Experiental knowledge. This is something we understand. And can speak about--bare witness to. Something we're aware of. Something we have resolved within our hearts. There's a difference between "knowing" and KNOWING, right? Well, the Holy Spirit is what equips and empowers us to KNOW that God loves us. And then to love one another with that same love!