It's not until we repent--or think about things differently in light of something that happened--that we can begin to experience the Kingdom. You know, righteousness, peace, and joy found in the Holy Ghost. Not what we do, or where we are, but WHO we are. Because the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. And He rules and reigns--He lives and moves and has His being--in us. So we ARE the Kingdom. We just have to receive it and release it in order to experience it. Because the truth will set you free and make you free, but only if you know it and believe it. That's when the truth becomes true... for you. That's when you can stop trying to earn something that was freely given. Remember I said thinking differently in light of something that happened? That something that happened was the cross. God became a man and died so that all men could die the second death. Then He rose again so that all men could live HIS abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life as HE lives it in us, and through us, and as us. He did it all so we could get it all. It was His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom--again, righteousness, peace, and joy--by giving us the King. So that we might have something (someONE, Jesus, LOVE) to believe in. So that we could stop looking for love in all the wrong places and instead realize that we are connected to the source. He is the vine and we are the branches. He produced the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, and now we get to bear that fruit. Enjoy it, and share it with those we come into contact with. But not with the same old same old religious mindset that says you have to do in order to be. We don't do IN ORDER to be. We do BECAUSE we be. Everything we need is already inside us. The Kingdom is within you. And when we fill ourselves with the fulness of God... when what's inside comes out naturally because it's too big and too good to keep in... that's when the ever-expanding Kingdom expands. I've been hinting at that idea this whole Rant series so I want to quote Isaiah 9:7, "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." Did you catch that? WE don't make the Kingdom do anything. HIS zeal will perform this. Because He's the King, right? It's not us trying to live Jesus' life. Nobody can do that except Jesus. So the only way it works--works don't work!--is for Him to live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. That's how we experience it. By being ourselves. By letting Jesus be Himself. By letting what's inside us come out. Naturally. Not forcing it out, but simply knowing and believing that it's in there. Knowing and believing that HE'S in there. Knowing and believing that LOVE is in there. Because, more than anything else, that's what the Kingdom is. The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love. It is the realm where LOVE rules and reigns. It takes a different kind of mindset to let love rule. It takes the mind of Christ. Letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. Letting God love us, and loving each other with that same love. Receiving and releasing the gift we've been given.

Jesus was a Kingdom man. Probably because He is the King of kings. Probably because the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. So wherever Jesus went... that's where the Kingdom was. So when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross, and drew all men into Himself, and planted Himself into all men... we not only entered into the Kingdom we BECAME the Kingdom. So now, wherever WE go that's where the Kingdom is. Because that's where the King is. He lives in us. We live in Him. Here's the key though: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). It's that word repent. Number 3340 in Strong's Greek Concordance, meaning, "to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider." We've somehow twisted the idea of repenting to mean, "Stop doing bad stuff and start doing good stuff." Even though good and evil are different branches of the same tree. It's not about good and evil. It's about life, and that more abundantly. It's about the OTHER tree. The Tree of Life. It's about something happening that chnages the way we think about, well, everything. And the thing that happened was the cross. The thing that happened was that the Kingdom went from being at hand to being within. Jesus said up until John the Baptist the Kingdom suffered violence and the violent took it by force. What happened with John the Baptist though? He baptized Jesus, fulfilling all righteousness, and brought us out of the Old Covenant and into the New Covenant. Out of the priesthood of Levi and into the priesthood of Melchisedec. Out of the world, and into the Kingdom! No longer do we have to try to force our way into the Kingdom through the violence of human effort. It was our Father's good pleasure to GIVE us the Kingdom. To GIVE us righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. To fill us to overflowing with the Holy Spirit--the love receptor--so that we could stop trying to earn something that cannot be earned. So that we can simply begin to receive it and release it. To seek within in order to find what we have, instead of looking for love in all the wrong places. But, again, the key to it all is repentance. Because the Kingdom is not of this world. So we can't understand it with a carnal mind. Spiritual things only make sense to the Spirit. Those who are led of the Spirit are the Son(s) of God. Because the Spirit of Truth leads and guides us into all truth. Leads us into our true identity by testifying of Jesus, who IS our true identity! The Holy Spirit reveals who we really are by revealing who God really is. By showing us what it means to have the perfect One living inside of us. By showing us what it means to have everything we need. God has blessed us with all Spiritual blessings. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He has given us the Kingdom. Because He has given us the King. He made us in His image, and then on the cross He conformed us into the image of His Son. And now we can stop trying to be someone we're not, and we can be who we are. Who we are in Christ. Who He is in us. We can live IN the Kingdom because we ARE the Kingdom. And that ever-expanding Kingdom (that ever-expanding LOVE) changes everything!

I want to build off of yesterday's revelation that the Kingdom (righteousness, peace, and joy) is not of this world. It it within us. So when I see a passage like Matthew 6:31-33, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you," I see something internal. Don't look in external places for external things. Don't seek the Kingdom as if you don't have it. Seek it to understand what you DO have. Seek it WITHIN. Within yourself, and within others. Stop judging by appearance. Judge righteous judgment. Stop looking AT people--at what they do--and start looking INTO people--who they are. Let the Jesus in you line up with the Jesus in me and in that way we automatically line up with each other. Not necessarily on every single little thing. But on the important things. Righteousness, peace, and joy. Grace, and mercy, and truth. LOVE. Those things we can agree on. And those things are the foundation that we build on. Not building our own kingdom, but letting the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Love) fill us to overflowing and come out of us naturally. The deep calls out to the deep, right? Surface stuff keeps us apart, but what's deep inside binds us together. The tie that binds is love. But if you don't seek it, you probably won't find it. Even Saul, when he was knocked off his donkey and blinded by the light, he was seeking. He was doing a pretty terrible job, but he was doing the best he could with what he knew. That's what Jesus said the greatest commandment was, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37). And I know we're not under the Law but under grace. I'm simply saying... there's a lot to be said for doing the best you can. Even when Saul was changed to Paul... that wasn't punishment. That was correction. Jesus showed him a more excellent way and he went on to write most of the New Testament of the Bible. He went from persecuting Christians to teaching them. Because he stopped looking for the external things and started to seek within. Stopped trying to get something and started to receive and release what he had been given. The gift of God. Which is eternal life. Which is knowing the Father and the One whom He sent. Living in the context of Sonship. Knowing and believing the love of Christ and filling yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with. Experiencing the Kingdom by displaying it to others. Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing. If you want to find the Kingdom, you have to find the King. Because the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. And it's within you. He lives in you just as you live in Him. So in order to find, you have to seek. But you have to seek in the right place. Within. Where else could the Kingdom of Love be, but in your heart. In GOD'S heart beating with love in your chest. That's what the circumcision made without hands did; it cut away the flesh of human effort and revealed the unlimited source of love. Within you. Bursting at the seams to come out. And coming out as we LET it out. As we let what's already true... be true for us. As we love one another. Because that's what it's all about. It's all about love!

Today I want to put two verses together. The first is John 18:36, "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." I think that's one of the most important keys to the Kingdom; It is not of this world. It's not a Kingdom in the sense that we generally think of kingdoms. It is righteousness, peace, and joy, and it's found in the Holy Ghost. Which leads me to my second verse. "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense. The Kingdom is found in the Holy Ghost, and the you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So the Kingdom is found within you. It's not of this world. It's not about conquering and fighting and destroying. It's not about building our own kingdom. Or getting anything. Making someone else look smaller so we look bigger. No sir. It's about what's in you coming out of you. It's about being who you are and sharing what you've got. The "way of the world" is to give in order to get. "I'll scratch your back IF you'll scratch mine." But the way of the Kingdom is, "I have everything I need. AND I have what YOU need, so I'll give it to you. Without expectation. Without needing anything back. Simply because I have it, and you need it. I'll share it with you, and in that way experience it to the fullest." It's not something we try to get. It's something we already have. It was the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom, and He did so by giving us the King. Remember, the Kingdom is the realm where the King rules and reigns. So it's not just what we have. It's who we are. Because He rules and reigns in us, and through us, and as us! We are IN the Kingdom, and the Kingdom is IN us, and we ARE the Kingdom! We don't just HAVE righteousness, peace, and joy. We ARE righteousness, peace, and joy. In the same way that God IS love... it's not just what He does, it's who He is... we ARE the Kingdom. The Kingdom is within us, and we are within it. What's inside comes out... when you know and believe that it's in there. Not when you try to force it out, but when you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with. When you let God love you instead of trying to earn His love and affection. When you stop running around like a chicken with it's head cut off... seeking the Kingdom as if you don't have it... and when you just start to rest. Stop trying to finish the work. It IS finished. We still pray, "Thy Kingdom come" when in truth it is already here! We rob ourselves from experiencing the gift of God when we try to earn it instead of simply receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. The Kingdom is like a muscle. The more you use it, the more it grows. The more you let the righteousness, peace, and joy that's inside you come out, the more you experience the Kingdom. The more you love others, the more you experience the love of God. Which is what the Kingdom is all about. It is the Kingdom of God. God is love. So it is the Kingdom of Love! The love inside you filling you to overflowing and coming out all on it's own. Naturally. Unstoppably. An ever-expanding Kingdom inside working it's way out!

This is not everything there is to say about the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Love). Obviously. When I first starting writing this daily blog over four years ago I was a little bit worried about having something to say every day. But the truth of the matter is... the deeper you go, the deeper you find you CAN go. God is limitless. Love is unlimited. We test the height, and depth, and breadth, and length of His love (by loving each other bigger than we ever thought we could) but we need reach the end. It's eternal. Everlasting. Abundant. So when I title a Rant series, "The Kingdom" that's really just to let you know where my focus will be for the next few days. My key verse is Romans 14:17, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." And my main point is, "We don't just live IN the Kingdom... we ARE the Kingdom!" Because the Kingdom is not external, it is internal. It's not just what we do, it's who we are. Now watch this: The word "kingdom" is number 932 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "royalty, that is, rule, or a realm." The Kingdom is the realm in which the King rules and reigns. The realm in which LOVE rules and reigns. Ruling with righteousness, peace, and joy. In the Holy Ghost. And, again, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, right? So, again, it's internal. The King Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--rules and reigns in us! We live in Him and He lives in us. There is no separation between God and man because God lives IN man. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. In us He lives, and moves, and has His being. So when we think about the Kingdom we need to stop thinking about a literal place that we can go. It's like the understanding that we GO to church... but at the same time we ARE the chuch. Wherever we go. It's like the old saying, "Wherever you go... there you are." Wherever you go, you're in the Kingdom. Because the Kingdom is in you. Because the Kingdom IS you. Righteousness, peace, and joy. Those are different aspects of love that live inside you. I've heard it said if you ask God for something He will give you an opportunity to exercise that very thing. Like in Wizard of Oz where at the end of the yellow brick road (highway of holiness) you find that you had what you were looking for all along. Like, if you pray for patience God will give you opportunities to be patient. Opportunities to find out what's inside by letting it out. Not "getting" anything, but giving what you've got. Seeking the Kingdom not in the sense of "I don't have it but I want it," but seeking the Kingdom in the sense of EXPLORING the Kingdom. Enjoying what you have been given by sharing it with others. Because we are blessed... to be a blessing, right? Not a hoarder. Whatever benefits we enjoy from the knowing and believing the truth that we ARE loved by our heavenly Father are made ABUNDANT when we receive it and release it. When we share what we've got. And, since the Kingdom is who we are and not just what we do, or just what we have... we share what we've got by being who we are. By letting what's inside come out. Naturally. The righteousness, peace, and joy that's found in the Holy Ghost fills us to overflowing with God's love. It's in there, and when we know and believe it's in there... it comes out. We experience it by sharing it!

We started this Rant series with 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the New Living Translation. I want to end it with the same verse in the King James Version. "And I will gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." I like the NLT version where it talks about giving all I have and all I am. Because that's what love is. Love is giving. Laying your life down for your friends (and realizing that you destroy your enemies by heaping coals of fire on their heads, melting their hearts, and MAKING them friends). Giving it maximum effort. Giving it all you've got. And that's why the "receiving" part of receiving and releasing is so important. You can't give what you don't have. And if you don't know what you have you'll take whatever you can get. You'll take what the world gives you and give it right back. You'll deal with people according to how they deal with you. You'll scratch their backs, but only if they'll scratch yours. And if they love you less for what you're trying to do... well forget them then. But that's not love. Because love is not about getting. It doesn't matter how someone responds. You aren't loving them in order to get a response. You're loving them because your heavenly Father loves you. Period. You're not taking what the world gives you and responding in kind. You're receiving what God has given you and releasing it to everyone you come into contact with. You're sharing what you've got. ANd that's the part I like about the KJV version of our key verse. "...though the more abundantly I love you..." We love abundantly... out of our abundance. And listen, I know Jesus taught a lesson about giving alms and He gave the business to the religious folk who we only giving out of their abundance, while praising the woman who gave all she had. I know that story. But what I'm saying--again--is you can't give what you don't have. And love is what makes the abundant life that Jesus came to give us abundant. Love is the difference between life and death. If you dwell in love you experience Jesus' everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life as He lives it in you, and through you, and as you. If you don't dwell in love you dwell in death. And if you're picking and choosing who you love then you're not dwelling in it. Remember how Peter could heal people just by having his shadow pass over them? What was inside was too big, and too great, and too powerful to be contained. He didn't force it out. He didn't fake it til he made it. He just went about his business and filled himself to overflowing with God's love and it manifested all over the place. Naturally. That's what it's like with us when we stop being self-centered and start being Christ-centered. Which means being people-centered. We love God by loving each other. And we love each other BECAUSE God loves us. That's the kind of endless cycle we need. Love feeding on love. What's in us coming out of us because we couldn't keep it in if we tried. Living an abundant life by loving abundantly because we are abundantly loved! Giving all we have and all we are... spending and being spent... laying our lives down for each other. That's a life worth living. That's what makes it POSSIBLE to live. Because to live is to love, and to love is to live. So don't worry about the particulars. Don't bother with who, what, where, when, why, or how. Just love them anyway!

You can't fight fire with fire. (Except that by the end of today's Rant I'm going to show that you CAN, but not in the way we traditionally think of it.) You can't give an eye for an eye or everyone ends up blind. If you take what the world gives you, and give it back, you're just feeding the vicious cycle. But if you give what you've got... then you can break the cycle. You can show people a more excellent way, and give THEM something better. Which creates a whole new cycle. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if we fill others up with what we've got... all of a sudden they have something new. Something new to experience, and to share. Something new to give. Which will allow whoever THEY come into contact with to have something new. And so on and so on. Pay it forward, right? But lets talk about this fire thing. We saw already that we are not to resist evil. But we are to overcome evil with good. Don't fight evil with evil (which is basically what we mean when we talk about fighting fire with fire). If someone slaps you... turn the other cheek. Don't let them dictate your actions. Don't give back what they give you. Love them anyway. Let what's inside come out. Look at Romans 12:20, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Kill them with kindness. And these coals of fire we're heaping on their heads... it's not to burn them, not to hurt them (if you're meeting their needs you're obviously not out to hurt them, right?). But these coals of fire are being heaped on their heads in order to melt their hearts! Because, remember, God IS a consuming fire. He consumes everythiing that isn't Himself--isn't love--and feeds on Himself growing bigger and brighter all the time. And all we have to do, in a sense, is fan the flames. Let the fire that's inside us consume US so that it comes out all on it's own. Naturally. Because that is our new nature. The love nature. That's what we've got, and that's who we are. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--leads and guides us into all truth. The truth, whispered in a still, small voice, that God loves us. That our heavenly Father loves us and is well pleased in us. And when that's what we've got--when that's our foundation... when that's what we know and believe--that's when we can love anybody. No matter who they are or what they're up to. No matter if it seems like the more we love the less we are loved. Because guess what: people WILL take advantage of you. If you're willing to give, people are going to take. And if you give a mouse a cookie... he's gonna want a glass of milk. But guess what else: that's ok. We have an unlimited supply. We are connected to the vine and the vine finished the work and produced the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. The Spirit and the bride say come. And they don't say "Come, or else." And they don't say, "First come first served and if we run out too bad for you." There is no end to God's love. He IS the beginning and the end. It starts with love and "ends" with love. And it's all love in between. And when we know and believe that love... we can flow. We can rest. We don't need an ulterior motive because love IS the motive. We can take things in stride instead of riding the emotional roller coaster. We can see a need and meet it. Because we have what they need. We can love them anyway!

I know it can be hard to give and give and give and get nothing in return. It's like pouring your heart into a black hole. And that can leave you feeling empty. Which is why love can seem to be tricky. Especially when it comes to intimate relationships with people. You can only be betrayed by people you accept, and trust, and love. Because people will always let you down, but it's when you're counting on them that it hurts the most. So I'm not saying you should put yourself in a bad situation. (Even though I believe God can bring you through a "bad" situation and you'll be stronger on the other side.) I'm simply saying... love them anyway. Don't expect them to respond the way you want them to. I think what we expect (or wish) is what screws us up the most, most of the time. Because things don't go the way we expect, and then we get disappointed. Not because of what actually happened, but because of what we WANTED to happen. Let me say it like this: The problem isn't the problem. Your attitude about the problem is the problem. When you're always banging your head against the wall trying to MAKE things happen, or MAKE things change, all you ever end up with is a headache. You can't make people do... anything, really. And if your happiness is dependent on someone else doing or not doing something then you're in for an emotional roller coaster. Because sometimes they will and sometimes they won't. And it has more to do with them than it does with you. I always advise people not to take things personally. Because I believe instead of people being "against you" they are really "for themselves." And you might be collateral damage, but I don't think it's very often malicious. (Sometimes, sure. But even then... don't take it personally, even if it is.) And don't stop loving people. Two wrongs don't make a right, right? Jesus said it like this, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:39). And then Paul added, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). Don't resist evil, but don't be overcome by it. Don't fight fire with fire. Kill 'em with kindness. Destroy your enemies by making them your friends. If someone is giving you anger, or bitterness, or hurt that's because they HAVE anger, bitterness, and hurt. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So instead of feeding that fire by giving them back what they gave you... give them what YOU have. Show them a more excellent way. Don't be a thermometer and take the temperature. Be a thermostat and SET the temperature! It doesn't matter what they give you. Because you're already full of the best thing going. You don't have to accept what they give, because you've already been filled to overflowing with the love of Christ. You don't have room for anything else. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. Which means there's no darkness in YOU at all. Which means you can love even when it seems like the result is people loving you less. Even when it seems like they reject you and your love. They might resist it, because they might not understand it, but they won't completely reject it. They can't. Love is all-powerful. Love wins.

Love them anyway. That's what I say. And I think the apostle Paul agreed with me. Our key verse for this Rant series is 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the NLT. "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me." And my point yesterday was, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." When we say things like, "Don't cross an ocean for someone who wouldn't cross a puddle for you," what we're really doing is judging who deserves to be loved and who doesn't. But I've written about this truism at length: Those who are the hardest to love need it the most. Because they aren't getting it anywhere else. So instead of worrying about yourself--instead of "loving" from a place of trying, or expecting, to get something (which isn't really love at all)--just fill yourself to overflowing with the love of Christ. Let the mind of Christ (that's already in you) be in you. Let the love that's already inside you come out--not by forcing it out, but simply by knowing and believing that it's in there. You don't arise and shine in order to get the light. You arise and shine because your light has come. The light shines on you, and in you, and through you, and as you! And the light doesn't choose where and when to shine. Once it's turned on, it can't do anything BUT shine. Once you know how loved you are, you can't do anything else BUT love. Because that's not just what God does... it's who God is. And in the same way it's not just what you do... it's who you are! Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And love doesn't discriminate. Everybody needs it. "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). Link that up with this, "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you" (Romans 8:11 NLT). If it's true for you it's true for all. Immutable. Unchangeable. God doesn't pick and choose who He loves. We don't have to pick flower petals and hope we land on, "He loves me" instead of, "He loves me not." There is NO, "He loves me not." There is only love. When Jesus remade the world in His image He consumed everything else and left only Himself. He gave us the Kingdom. So we don't have to act like we're in the world anymore. "In the world but not of the world" I suppose is one way to say it. We don't have to judge according to appearance. We can judge righteous judgment. We can understand that JESUS was judged, and He was judged RIGHTEOUS, and we were in Him so what's true of Him is true of us. As He is, so are we in this world. We don't have to let other people define us. And we don't have to let other people's response dictate how we act towards them. I think a lot of the time people don't know how to receive love. They think if we love them we must have an ulterior motive. But that doesn't matter. Even if they love us less... love them anyway. Because they need it. Because everybody needs it. And we have it. So we ought to share it!

Have you heard the quote, "Don't cross oceans for people who wouldn't cross a puddle for you"? I see stuff like this all the time. And before I even get to my point I want to say: I get it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on ME, right? When you get burned all you want to do is stay away from the fire. Closing down your heart seems like a good way to protect it, or guard it. But... there is a way that SEEMS right to a man. And the end of that way is death. Closing down your heart doesn't guard it. Keeping your heart open--open to love--is how you guard your heart. And it's important to guard your heart because the issues (issue, love) flows out of it. So when someone says, "Don't do scratch someone's back unless they'll scratch yours," I say DO IT ANYWAY. Because love isn't about getting. It's about sharing what you've got. Love is giving. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:15 in the NLT, "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me." That's it. That's all I really want to say. But I'm going to say it over and over for the next few days, and try to say it in different ways, so that we can comprehend this facet of love. Love doesn't do in order to. Love does because. We don't do in order to be. We do because we be. And look at Isaiah 55:11, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." God's Word--which is Jesus, which is Love--always accomplishes that which He pleases. (And remember, it's our Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. And remember, His Word has already accomplished this. He gave us the Kingdom when He gave us the King.) God's Word doesn't just accomplish... it prospers! Which means WE prosper. Because His Word was spoken for us, and to us. He wrote His laws--the perfect law of liberty, freedom from sin and death and freedom to live and love--in our hearts. He gave us everything we could ever need. So that we don't have to worry about (or be afraid of) how other people will respond. We don't have to judge whether or not someone is worthy of being loved. It doesn't matter if they scratch our backs. If they're itchy... help them out. Meet a need, and don't worry about what comes next. Perfect love casts out fear. We don't have to be afraid to love. We don't have to be afraid to be vulnerable. We don't have to be afraid to live with our heart on our sleeve. No matter what happens... we can let what's inside of us come out. Because we know it's in there, and we believe it's in there, and we're not worried about who it gets all over when it comes out. We can love fearlessly. We can LIVE fearlessly. Fear is the mind-killer. And we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. Letting our heart be our guide, instead of letting what may (or may not) come next dictate our course. Love isn't about what other people do. It's about WHO YOU ARE. So even when it seems like someone doesn't deserve it, or doesn't care, or won't (can't) receive it... don't let that stop you from being you. Love them anyway. Give what you've got. Do your best, and forget the rest!