The past can make you tense... but only if you let it. Yesterday I said, "Get over it." And that's where my focus is for today. See, we throw the term "overcomer" around quite a bit in the church world. But I really think we use it incorrectly. We tell people they need to be an overcomer. They need to overcome. I don't think this is right though. Revelation 12:11 tells us that, "...they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Now this could very easily be seen as a formula for how to overcome. BUT. I believe the entire book of Revelation is simply an in-depth look at the cross. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ, right? The work that He finished. So perhaps this verse, which is written in the past tense anyway, is telling us something that already happened. Not telling us how TO overcome, but telling us how we OVERCAME. Telling us that there is nothing LEFT to overcome. Because on the cross Jesus fought the war to end all wars. And that means there are no more wars left to fight. Look at Romans 8:37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Jesus conquered. We are MORE than conquerors. We don't have to conquer. He finished the work and we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. The Fruit of the Spirit, which is love. We don't have to keep fighting battles that have already been won. We can rest. We don't have to let the past hold us back anymore. Not because it was terrible, and we can't believe our lives will ever get any better... and not because it was great and we think our best days are behind us. Both good and evil are on the same tree. The fig tree that Jesus cursed because it couldn't produce any fruit. HE is the vine. The Tree of Life. And since we are connected to Him, HE produces the fruit and we bear it. We enjoy it, and share it. We love one another because He first loved us. That's the New Commandment. And if we're talking about getting over the past--in the sense of just leaving it behind--then we're talking about something new. Walking in newness of life. Walking by faith, not by sight. The past was what it was. And we can either let it hold us back, or we can learn from it. We can let it drag us down, or we can keep going upward and God-ward! Notice the end of our verse in Romans, "through him that loved us." It's all FOR us, and it's all THROUGH Him. He did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all. He gave His life for us, and He gave His life to us. Now we have the opportunity to experience His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. Our story is history. Our story is HIS story. When we find ourselves in Him. When we find Him in ourselves. When we let grace re-write our story (that's the next Rant series though, and you guys know I TRY not to get ahead of myself). So let me leave you with this: The past happened. And there's nothing you can do to change it. But you don't have to let it define you. You can let Jesus define you. Because that's who you really are. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And since all you have is right now... that's when your story starts. Right now. So make the best of it! Live your life. Let God love you and love everyone you come into contact with with that same love!

The past is history. The future is a mystery. All we really have is right now. And that's why it's called the present; it's a gift. So instead of robbing ourselves of the gift we've been given--by letting the past hold us back OR by worrying about the future--what we ought to do is enjoy what we've got. Enjoy who we are. Enjoy where we are. Enjoy the ride. I'm convinced that life has it's own plan for us. I KNOW Father God has HIS own plan for us. And what we think it's "supposed" to be very rarely lines up with what it ends up being. So if we aren't open to it... we'll miss it. We'll bang our heads against the wall trying to get one thing and end up with something else: a headache. I think what I'm trying to say is your past played a part in shaping you, but it doesn't define you. Unless you let it. Unless you stay stuck in it. Or unless you won't let go of it. I think I'm lucky in a sense because it's really hard for me to remember my life before Logan was born. So I'm not trying to recreate anything, or continue anything that came before. I can let things be what they are instead of trying to force them to be something they're not. I can let go of the past. It happened. But it's only those who refuse to learn from the past that are doomed to repeat it. It's only a mistake if you keep making it. Otherwise it's a learning experience. You get knocked down... and you learn how to get back up. "They" say God gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb, but I say God brought the valleys high and the mountains low so that we could walk in faith on a straight and narrow path that leads to life. Don't look back-- you're not going that way. Upward and God-ward. Following the Spirit as He leads and guides us into all truth. The ultimate truth of the universe that says, "The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands." The ultimate truth of the universe that says, "Daddy loves you. He always has and He always will." So don't let anything hold you back from being who you are. From receiving and releasing that love. From loving each other as Jesus loves us. That's why we're here. That's what the Creator created us. God is love, and we are His expression of love. He loves us, and He loves through us, and He loves as us. He fills us to overflowing with His love so that it comes out of us naturally. So that HE comes out of us naturally. So that we can be ourselves--our true selves, Jesus, God in the flesh, love in a body--instead of trying to be someone we're not. Instead of letting anything or anybody else define us. What you've done in your life isn't who you really are. It's who you THOUGHT you really were when you were stumbling around in the darkness. But then the light switch was turned on. The light of the world began to shine in your heart. To shine OUT of your heart. And then you could see who you really are, by seeing who God really is. By knowing and believing His love for you, and sharing it with those you come into contact with. I know it's hard to touch the fire once you've been burned. But the truth is, GOD is the consuming fire. And He doesn't burn us, He consumes us. He burns away everything else. He burns away the past so that it can't make you tense. It can't torment you. It happened. It's over. So get over it. Learn from it and move on. Upward... and God-ward.

There's a quote from a movie that goes like this, "The problem isn't the problem. Your attitude about the problem is the problem." And in many ways it's the same with your past. Your past isn't the problem. Your attitude about your past is the problem. Because so often we let our past define us. We let it hold us back and drag us down. We let it stop us from trying new things. We let it stop us from believing. And the reason why it's so easy to let the past do all of this is because the past is the most real thing we know. We actually experienced it. We felt it. We lived it. It happened. So that's our base of knowledge. That's what we compare everything else to. But I also think we romanticize the past. We make it seem like it was better than it was. Or we go in the opposite direction and make it seem like it was worse than it was. We use it as our foundation, but it shakes and shifts like sand. And either way, if we're living in the past or running from the past, we're still trapped by it. Here's a truth for you that should make perfect sense: You can't get past what you can't get past. How could you? So instead of trying to ignore it, or trying to recreate it, what we need to do is let it be what it was... and learn from it. It happened. But it's over. If going through it takes us somewhere better than it wasn't bad. And even if it was good, I believe there's something better. Because if it ended it wasn't the best of all. The best of all is love. And love never fails. Love lasts forever. Now don't get twisted on me: I've loved people in my life who have come and gone. When we say "love never fails" that doesn't mean it does exactly what WE want it to do. It means love does exactly what LOVE wants to do. And what love wants to do is GIVE. It doesn't want to take. The world... and the past... wants to take. Take everything you've got. Chew you up and spit you out. But you have a future. Your story isn't over yet. There's more to come. More... and better. I truly believe that. Because Ephesians 3:20 talks about, "...him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." There's something inside us. God's heart beating with love in our chests. And that power... the power of love... is able to do more than we could ask OR think. You think you've been through the worst... well, sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can climb to the highest heights. And sometimes when you hit rock bottom you get taken up in the wings of an eagle. You stop trying and trying and trying and then what's inside you comes out. Naturally. All by itself. Because it's too big and too good not to. Because you aren't keeping it down by dwelling in the past. Because you know where you are, and you know who you are, and you're dwelling in the present. Dwelling in love.

The thing about the past is... you can't do anything about it. It is what it is. You can't change it. You can't fix it. You can't make it better. But, on the other hand, you can't make it any worse either. I'll say it again: It is what it is. It happened. And since you can't do anything about it, you really only have two choices. 1. You can learn from it. 2. You can let it define you. Remember that scene from Lion King? Those of you who have seen it. Rafiki the monkey hits Simba with his staff. And Simba asks him why he did that. Rafiki says, "It doesn't matter. It's in the past." Now at this point Simba can let what happened define how he feels about Rafiki. He can let what has come before dictate what comes next. He can say, "You hit me. I don't like you." OR... he can learn from it. Which is what happens. Rafiki swings again... and Simba ducks. He learned from the past. There's an old saying that goes, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Because what goes around comes around. The same things happen over and over because we are all human and there is nothing new under the sun. We're all squirrels trying to find a nut. Most of the time looking for love in all the wrong places. Trying to get something we think we haven't got because we don't know (or believe, or understand) what we have got. And if something gets us a result--even if it's the wrong result--that's what we know. That's what we go back to. So many times we settle for what has come before because we don't believe it can get any better or be any different. It takes a lot to get hit, and instead of getting mad (or trying to get even) to wait until next time... and then duck. It takes a lot to turn the other cheek. It takes a lot to break the cycle. To stop letting what we've known be all we'll ever know. It takes... a more excellent way. It takes someone showing us something different. Giving us something to believe in. It takes the cross. Remember the Roman centurian who, when he saw Jesus die on the cross, professed Him as the Son of God? Seeing is believing. Jesus told us what love is all about. He told us that the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. But head knowledge isn't good enough. He had to SHOW us this love. He had to literally lay His life down for us. He had to bring us OUT so that He could bring us IN. Out of the bondage of sin and death. Out of "our story" our past and all the mistakes we had made, and into HIStory. Into His perfect, abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. He made our past stop being tense. He gave us a clean start. Not holding what we'd done against us. Forgiven. A clear conscience. Righteousness. Right-standing with Him. IN Him. Because He's in us. What comes next is so much more important that what has come before. What came before PREPARED us for what comes next... but now it's the fun part!

I want to pick up on an idea I kind of touched on in an early Rant. The idea that your experiences CAN define you, but don't HAVE to. Which is why I picked "Past Tense" for the title of this series. If you let it, the past can make you really tense. It can make you miserable. It can keep you trapped. It can be a ball and chain around your ankle that won't let you move forward. Because we define things--especially ourselves--by what has come before. That's what we know. That's what's real to us. So in the case of... relationships, for example, one bad experience can ruin us. We touch the fire, and we get burned, and we don't want to touch it ever again. We can very easily let one bad apple ruin the entire bunch. Because that's the sum total of what we know. And while the grass usually LOOKS greener on the other side, it's very easy to settle. Very easy to think, "No matter how green it might be... I can't have it." Because we never HAVE had it. And that's how our brains work. We slip into this snapshot mentality where we think how it is now is how it's gonna be forever. We think because we never have... we never will. But I constantly find myself amazed by things that I absolutely, positively KNEW were impossible. Until they happened. Which is my verse for today. "And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). See, we think it's impossible. But for God it's not only possible, it's likely. All of His promises are yes and amen. Which is to say we go through things to GO THROUGH them. To learn from them and grow from them. I'm convinced that we (I'll emphasize it again) GO THROUGH things for one of two reasons. 1. To learn and grow. 2. To have the experiential knowledge to help others through similar situations. That's one of the most powerful connections you can make. "I've been there. I survived. You will too. I'll help you." And that's when our past stops making us tense. It starts making us strong. And not what we think of as strength when we choose to hide from what has hurt us. You don't guard your heart by closing it down. You guard your heart by opening it up. By staying open to love. By knowing and believing that no matter what has happened, you ARE loved. You are LOVE. And that's the experience that MUST define us. The love of the Father filling us to overflowing. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--is our true identity. That's who we really are. History is HIS story. And we find ourselves in His story when we find Him in ours. We find ourselves in Him when we find Him in us. When we stop judging things by appearance and start judging righteous judgment. The past is over. It it finished. You can't do anything to change it. But you don't have to let it hold you back or pull you down. You can use it as a catapult to fling you into your destiny. You can use what has come before to ready yourself for what comes next. You're not defined by it, but you can learn from it!

In a sense, you get what you give. Because by giving what you've got... you experience it. You feel love, by loving others. You "get" happy, by Making Others Happy. Let me say it like this, "But Jesus replied, "I have a kind of food you know nothing about" (John 4:32 NLT). And then He explained Himself two verses later, "Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." See, we think it's all about GETTING, when in fact it's all about GIVING. Love IS giving. To live is to love and to love is to live. And to love is to GIVE. So life isn't about what you can get. It's about giving what you've got. Giving all that you are. Sharing with others. And I'm telling you, there's nothing more satisfying than--nothing that will give you more pleasure--than making someone else happy. That's the will of God. Loving others. That's what satisfies us. That's what nourishes us. We are blessed to be a blessing, right? So by sharing who we are and what we've got we truly BE who we are and we truly EXPERIENCE what we've got! It's about the connection that love brings. The connection that love IS. Love is the glue that holds everything together. We hold it together by giving it away. By knowing that what we have is too good, and too big, to keep to ourselves. It's the difference between being self-centered and being Christ-centered. It's loving God BY loving people. Because in order to be Christ-centered we have to be people centered. Jesus said the greatest love a man can have is to lay His life down for His friends. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God wanted the best for us, so He gave the best TO us. Jesus wanted us to have His life so He gave it for us, and He gave it to us. And we partake of this Divine Nature by letting what's inside come out. By knowing (and believing) that we are filled to overflowing with the very thing we desire. The very thing we need the most is our nature! Not the old man, carnal, beast nature. But the love nature that God gave to us when He filled us with His Spirit. When He cut away the flesh from our hearts to reveal HIS heart beating in our chests. When He showed us who we really are by showing us who He really us. He showed us who we are, and He showed us why we're here. We are here to be loved, and to love one another. To receive and release the love of God. To love one another as Jesus love us. I've kind of been focusing on the quote, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And my conclusion is that we pursue our own happiness by Making Others Happy. We focus outward with what is inward. The outpouring of the indwelling Spirit. We give what we've got and in that way we experience what we've got. We focus on others and then we don't have to worry about ourselves. We seek the Kingdom and everything else is added to us. We BE happy by Making Others Happy!

It's like the Wizard of Oz. What you're looking for is already inside you. So in order to "get" it... you have to give it. In order to experience it you have to share it. In order to feel love you have to love. In order to be happy... you have to Make Others Happy. That's the secret of life. It's not about getting. It's about giving. Knowing what you've got and letting it fill you to overflowing. So it comes out naturally. Happiness, according to dictionary.com, is pleasure about a certain thing. And we know the idea of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." So let's be happy about the pursuit. Let's be happy by making others happy. Let's be happy about the connection we have with each other. Let's work on the dreams of others instead of being selfish and self-centered. We are blessed to be a blessing. Not to be hoarders. What we have been given is too big, and too good, to keep to ourselves. We receive it and release it. We make it real by giving it away. By sharing it. The difference between being self-centered and being Christ-centered is being PEOPLE-centered. We love God by loving people. We don't step over people in order to get ourselves higher. We rise by lifting others up. We're all in this together. Helping you IS helping me. Because we're all members of the same body. Different parts, with different needs, but one body. One New Man. And the New Commandment for the New Man is to love one another as Jesus loves us. Literally to receive and release His love. It's when we focus on ourselves that we get messed up. When we focus on what we (think we) don't have instead of focusing on sharing what we DO have. If I'm too busy focusing on you then I don't have time to be selfish or self-centered. And, listen, I realize there's an aspect of taking care of yourself. Because a lot of the time it feels like if I don't take care of myself no one will. But the truth of the matter is... if I take care of you, and you take care of me, neither one of us has to take care of ourselves. And the deeper truth of the matter is... I'm already taken care of. Daddy's got my back. The Creator of everything loves me and has given all things into my hands. So if I take care of you--even if you don't return the favor--I'm still ok. I'm still taken care of. I'm not scratching your back SO THAT you'll scratch mine. I'm not giving in the hopes of getting. I'm scratching your back because you have an itch. Period. Because you have a need and I can fill it. And the byproduct of that is me feeling awesome. There's no better feeling than doing something for someone with no expectation of them doing something for you. Giving what you've got with no expectation because you're filled to overflowing with it. Making yourself happy (in a sense) by making others happy. Sharing so that you AND I can BOTH experience it!

If you want something... you have to give it. Or share it. Because you already have everything you could ever possibly need. You have been blessed with all Spiritual blessings. You have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Jesus did it all so you could get it all. And now you have it all. It's not about "getting" anything. It's about experiencing what you've got. God is not a genie in a bottle where you make a wish and hope you've been good for goodness sakes. God is a loving heavenly Father who gave you everything He had when He gave His only begotten Son. Jesus poured out His blood for you. He literally gave His life for you, and gave His life to you. That's what love is... giving everything you have and everything you are. But the key here is to understand that you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you have to receive it first. You have to let God love you before you can love others. And once you know (and believe) that you have what you need... that's when you can stop worrying about yourself and start concerning yourself with others. You can be Christ-centered (people-centered) instead of being self-centered. You can stop trying to make yourself happy, and you can Make Others Happy. You can EXPERIENCE what you've got by SHARING what you've got. What you magnify is what manifests. So if you magnify lack, that's what will manifest. If you go around lamenting all the things you don't have... it'll seem like you don't have anything. If you're always trying to get, you won't be able to enjoy what you've already got. And, as always, the best way to enjoy something is to share it. That's when it gets bigger. More real. That's when life is truly worth living. To live is to love, and to love is to live. You can't have one without the other, and you can't DO one without the other. Because they are the same thing. What I'm trying to say is... remember "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"? You pursue YOUR happiness when you pursue the happiness of OTHERS. There's nothing in this world that could possibly make you as happy as making others happy. Their joy MAGNIFIES your joy. It's a consuming fire that consumes everything but itself. It feeds on itself and grows and grows and grows. Happiness has nothing to do--at all, in any way--with selfishness. Getting something for yourself might "seem" to make sense. The more I get the happier I am, right? Wrong! The more I get, the more I need. But the more I GIVE... the happier I am. Because the more I give... the happier YOU are. It's counter-intuitive. It doesn't "make sense." But that's the way the Kingdom is. It's upside down and backwards. It's not supposed to make sense to the carnal mind. It's Spiritual. Happiness doesn't come from the outside-in. It's not external. It's from the inside-out. It's giving what you've got. Being who you are. Loving others!

Make Others Happy. I'm convinced that's the secret to happiness. And since our credo says, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," it seems to me that the pursuit is more important than the happiness. The journey is more important than the destination. Touching people's lives is what it means to truly live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Try this one on for size, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). When we stop trying to get... we are free to give. And when we give, we live. Because in the same way that living is loving, love is giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So you can't give happiness to others unless you have happiness. Remember the definition of happy? Being pleased about a particular thing? And we just saw "don't look at your own things, but at the things of others." We worry so much about what we think we don't have that we miss out on what we do have. What we have to share! When we look at others--guys, it's the difference between being self-centered and being Christ-centered. Because being Christ-centered means being people-centered. Remember when Jesus said, "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)? We love God by loving people. So when we look at others we can see their needs. And when we know what we've got we can meet their needs. And when we bring them happiness we experience happiness. It becomes real. Because when you share something... it grows. It's not just "mine" anymore. It's ours. Everytime I us the word "mine" with my son he corrects me and changes it to "ours." Because he knows what's mine is his and what's his is mine. He knows we're in this together. And I can tell you without a doubt that my greatest moments of happiness correspond directly with HIS greatest moments of happiness. Because we're connected. Making him happy MAKES me happy. HE is the particular thing that gives me pleasure. So I don't worry about me. I concern myself with him. And guess what? He's only five, but his whole life he's returned the favor. He's always had my back. He always makes sure I'm covered. Because he loves me. Because I love him. At five HIS happiness is still the most important thing to him... but he's already learning what true happiness is all about. It's not about getting. It's about giving. It's about people. It's about BEING happy and making others happy. Sharing what you have and who you are. Giving what you've got instead of worrying about what you don't have. Living for others and finding that they are worth it. Finding happiness in the pursuit. In the act of giving...

I don't know if I read this somewhere, or what but the term "Make others happy" somehow got stuck in my Spirit. We spend so much time focusing on happiness. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." That's what America is supposed to be based on, right? Be alive, be free, be happy. Or at least be able to PURSUE being happy. And that's actually an important distinction. Because there's a big difference between being happy  and pursuing happiness. But either way that idea of "happy" is right there. Front and center. Extremely important. So let's start at the beginning. Let's define the term. Dictionary.com defines "happy" as "delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing." And right there I see a pretty big problem. Because things come and go. So if our happiness is tied to a particular thing, it'll be an emotional roller coaster. Here today, gone tomorrow. Because things come and go. Nothing external ever lasts. That's why real, lasting change comes from the inside out. From knowing (and believing) that we have already changed. And just enjoying the ride as Jesus shows us the change that took place. As He reveals Himself to us, and through us, and in us, and as us. It's not about what you get. It's about what you give. Which is where my new acronym comes into play. MOH. Make Others Happy. I remember a time in my life when I did something for someone else. Something really big. Just about the biggest thing I could do at the time. And I did it without expectation. I did it not expecting anything in return. But guess what I got in return. I got to experience happiness. Because what I gave made the people I gave it to EXTREMELY happy. I got hugged just about harder than I'd ever been hugged before. I got to be a part of something. I was unbelievably happy... because I made others happy. I always say the best way to experience love is to love others. So, following that logic, the best way to make yourself happy is to make others happy. THAT'S the particular thing to delight over. Other people. Remember I said THINGS come and go? Well, people come and go too. But people are important. People are worth it. And think about this: An act of kindness might not change the world. But it can certainly change that person's world. And you never know, it MIGHT change the world. Because you put something positive out there. You made a difference. Now that person that you affected in a positive way might go out and do something spectacular. You made someone happy. And chances are it'll snowball. Because that's what love does; it feeds on itself. God is love, right? And God is a consuming fire, right? So love is a consuming fire. It consumes everything that's not itself and it grows and grows and grows. What was the movie called? Pay it Forward? I didn't see the movie but the idea is a good one. Even the stories you hear about people ordering at McDonald's and finding the person in front of them paid for their meal. Little things. My sister has a sign that says, "Do small things with great love." That's it, man. Pursue happiness... by making others happy. Experience love... by loving others. You have a gift. You ARE a gift. Share it. Receive it and release it. One more quote to finish off today's Rant: Good people are everywhere. If you can't find one... be one!