To be perfectly honest with you, I think we in the "church world" spend WAAAYYYYY too much time focusing on what we have been freed from. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's phenomenal when we talk about the chains being broken. When we talk about being freed from sin and death. That's magnificent. But it's not the be-all end-all. Because God didn't just bring out OUT of bondage. He brought us IN to the Promised Land. And if we never get past that focus of where we used to be, we'll never be able to enjoy where we are now. If we're always trying to overcome something that Jesus already overcame, then we don't really understand the finished work. If we think we're supposed to fight against sin then we don't understand Hebrews 12:1, which instructs us to lay asid the weight, and the sin that so easily besets us. And if all we're focused on is sin... that's what's going to dominate out lives. Because what you magnify is what manifests. Even if you're magnifying it in the sense of not doing it. Let me give you an example. You're in the car on the way home from a long trip. And you forgot to go to the bathroom before you left. So you set your mind to work. "I don't need to pee. I don't need to pee." What happens? Everything else fades away until there is only your need to pee! Even by trying to "overcome" the urge--that probably wasn't even there until you realized you forgot to take care of it before you left--what you really did was just make it stronger and stronger. Because you focued on it. You breathed life into it. You were so focused on what you needed to get out of, that you didn't give yourself a chance to enjoy what you were in. And to complete my analogy, either you made your parents pull over or you suffered the whole way home. You created a problem for yourself by trying to avoid a problem. Because you weren't avoiding it at all. You were focused on it. So. What I'm trying to say is, what we've been freed FROM is amazing. But if we stay stuck on it then we really aren't experiencing freedom from it. What we need to do is understand that when Jesus died, we died. And when Jesus was buried, we were buried. We don't need to carry that corpse around anymore. He gone! We don't have to deal with all the stuff that he had to deal with. We can lay it aside. Because when Jesus rose again, we rose again. To walk in newness of life. To experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us! He brought us out... and He brought us in. Out of trouble with sin and death, and into life! Out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land of rest! That's not where we might be someday if we [fill in the blank]. That's where we are right now because Jesus finished the work! HE brought us out, and HE brought us in!

It's the middle of April and Logan and I still have our Christmas tree up. Why? Because it makes my four year old son happy. He doesn't care--at all--what you're "supposed" to do with your Christmas tree once the season is over. He likes the lights, and the ornaments (and I think he keeps hoping more presents will appear under it). It makes him happy. So instead of trying to fit in with what everybody else is doing, instead of conforming to this world, he's following his heart. And most of the people who know that our tree is still up have given us the "standard" response: "You need to take that thing down already." To which I usually just smile and nod... and ignore them. I always think it's the funniest thing in the world when someone else tells me what "I need." Or what I "don't need." As if they know better. And, listen, I'm not saying people with experience can't help people. I think that's why we GET experience. I think we go through things so that we can help people through the same types of things. But when somebody tells me what I "need to do" it's a big turnoff. And I think that's where ministry has really gotten off-track. We don't need to tell people what to do. If you give people more rules all you really do is make more rule-breakers. What we ought to do--not that I'm telling you to do this... lol--is instead of telling people what to do we ought to tell people who they are. Instead of trying to get people to conform we ought to tell them that God already conformed them to the image of His Son. That's one of the reasons Jesus came to earth in the first place: To show us who we are by showing us who God the Father is! Because as He is, so are we in this world. We have been conformed to the image of God's Son. And that's why Roman 12:2 says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Paul is saying, "You've already been transformed (or conformed). Don't try to be someone you're not. Just be who you are!" But the only way we can BE who we are is if we KNOW who we are. Through the renewing of our mind. And guess what, the mind and the heart are the same thing. As you think in your heart, so are you. The mind of Christ is the heart of God beating with love in our chests. So instead of trying to fit in and make everyone else happy, maybe we should stand out and enjoy this gift of eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life that we've been given! And guess what else: When you stop trying to make other people happy by conforming to their idea of who and what you're supposed to be... that's when you can ACTUALLY make people happy by loving them with the love you are loved with. Instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, you can share what you've got--who you are--and have something that's real. A real relationship that is built on the only thing a real relationship can be built on--love!

I think the hardest part about not conforming to the world is ignoring what everybody else thinks. Because as soon as you start to go your own way--as soon as you start to follow your heart--people will tell you you're going the "wrong way." But here's a memory verse you can cling to: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). And just to reiterate, following your heart and walking after the Spirit... are the same thing! Walking by faith and not by sight is letting the Spirit lead you. And those that are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God. Because that's where the Spirit leads--He is the Spirit of truth and He leads and guides us into all truth. Into the truth that Daddy loves us. Into the truth of our true identity, the Father's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Those who are led by the Spirit are the Son(s) of God because those who are led by the Spirit are those who know and believe that the Father loves them. And when we have that kind of affirmation... when we know and believe that Daddy loves us and He's got our back... how could there be any condemnation? The condemnation never comes from Daddy. He is well pleased with us. The condemnation comes from the accuser. From the world. From ourselves. I'm absolutely convinced that the worst kind of condemnation is self-condemnation. Because we think we know ourselves the best. Because we're there for every awful, shameful thing we do. We see ourselves at our worst. (We also see ourselves at our best, but we seem to have the uncanny ability to ignore those instances. The bad always seems to outweigh the good. But here's the point: We aren't supposed to judge by appearance at all. Good OR evil. We're supposed to judge righteous judgment. We're supposed to see ourselves--and each other--the way Daddy sees us.) I'm telling you, the most frustrating thing in this world is when you're trying to do something you're not called to do. And I'm not talking about God streching you, because He will stretch you. He has big plans for you. I'm talking about when you try to be somebody you're not. When you try to "fit in." When you try to do what society tells you you're "supposed" to do. That's so frustrating because you just plain can't do it. You can't do something you weren't called to do. You can't be somebody you're not. And when you try and fail... guess what: that's where a lot of the condemnation comes from. That's when we get down on ourselves. But we keep trying to fit in. We keep trying to make that square peg fit into that round hole. But even if we do knock the edges off, it never really fits. It never feels RIGHT. I think people are so miserable so much of the time because they spend their lives trying to conform instead of spending their lives... living! It's like this: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working? Why do you spend your 3 T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) on things that can never make you truly happy? You struggle to scrape by, to build your own little kingdom, when the abundance of THE Kingdom--the Kingdom of Love--is available to you if you would walk after the Spirit and not the flesh! If you would stop trying to be someone you're not and just be who you are. Just let Jesus be who HE is in you, and through you, and as you!

Basically it's like this: You can listen to the world, and do what it tells you to do... be who it tells you to be... conform to it's image and try to "fit in." Or... you can listen to what your Daddy says about you. And for the record, here's what Daddy says about you, "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). Right? Because out of the two verses in the Bible about being conformed, one says, "be not conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2) and the other one says we were conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). And here's the key, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). What you BELIEVE is true about you is, for you, what is true about you! If you think in your heart that your a sinner, then that's what you're going to act like. You're going to run away from God because you believe He's mad at you. If you let the world bury you under all of that surface stuff, all of that "good and evil" appearance stuff... then what's deep down inside (the light of the world) will be hidden. But if you know and believe that Daddy's not mad AT you, but mad ABOUT you, then you can let your light shine. Not by trying really hard to MAKE it shine, but by believing that it's already shining. Not by trying to be someone you're not, but by being yourself. Your true self. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. As you think in your heart, so are you. What you believe is what is true for you. What you magnify is what manifests. And if you're running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to fit in to the culture of the day... then you're robbing yourself from the gift of God that you've been given. The gift of God which is eternal life. Which is knowing the Father and the One whom He sent. Knowing yourself in the context of Sonship. In the context of your true identity. When you know you were made to stand out, you'll stop trying to fit in. You'll stop trying to conform. You'll start living life the way it makes sense to you, not the say it's "supposed" to make sense to anybody else. I think one of the biggest problems we create for ourselves is when we compare ourselves (unfavorably, always) to others. It's the whole "the grass is greener on the other side" mentality. We think if we were like so and so things would be better. But they wouldn't. Because we aren't like so and so. You are you and that's the only person you can be. The only person you're SUPPOSED to be. And what works for someone else might not work for you. What works for you might not work for someone else. But if you try to conform, what you'll really end up doing is contorting yourself. Stretching yourself out of shape. Remember the square peg has to get rid of it's edges to fit in the round hole. And what are you without a little edge? Without a little personality? Without all of the you that makes you... YOU? Daddy's well pleased with YOU. With who you ARE. And who you are is enough. More than enough. Abundant! Because who you are... is love.

We have a compass deep down inside. It's called our heart. And I truly believe we get the most mixed up, and messed up, when we don't follow our heart. We get lost. We get distracted. We try to conform to this world and we end up miserable. Because the only way a square peg will fit into a round hole is if you cut the edges off. And if you do that... if you get rid of some of the stuff that makes you, you... then you might "fit in" but you'll never be happy. The word "conformed" shows up twice in the King James Version of the Bible. Yesterday we took a pretty good look at Romans 12:2. Today let's look at the other verse. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). See the difference? We are warned NOT to be conformed to the world. Because God foreknew and predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son! We shouldn't try to fit in because we were created to stand out! We were created in the image of God, right? But the problem was that we didn't know what He looked like. So we didn't know what WE looked like. That's why Jesus came; to show us the Father. To show us ourselves. Jesus isn't a window into what we might someday be. Jesus is a mirror that shows us who we really are! Because we're already complete in Him. He drew us into Himself on the cross, and He planted Himself in us. He took out any idea of separation that we created when we thought we were His enemies. God arose, and His enemies (that carnal mind, that guilty conscience) were scattered! He took the Law of Moses that was contrary to us, and against us, and He nailed it to the cross. He said, "Stop trying to act like someone your not! Learn of me and you'll learn who you really are. Then you can BE who you really are!" Guys, we have BEEN transformed. And now we can BE transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) by the renewing of our minds. The mind of Christ. The heart of God beating with love in our chests. The only thing that will ever make sense in this eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life is living a life of love. Because that's what this eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life is! It's not about winning the rat race--all that does is makes you king rat. It's about finding that thing that gives you joy unspeakable and doing that thing with every fiber of your being. It's about staying true to yourself, not losing yourself. Society doesn't like individuals. Society likes conformity. But a Son doesn't do what everybody else is doing, just because everybody else is doing it. A Son goes about His Father's business. A Son knows who He is, and behaves accordingly, no matter what anybody else thinks about it. Because a Son knows that His Father loves Him and is well pleased...!

This Rant series might seem a little bit "out there" but that's actually the point. Because I keep wondering why we try so hard to fit in when we were created to stand out! We've built this society where any little bit of individuality is looked at with scorn. "You aren't supposed to do that." Really? Maybe YOU aren't supposed to do that... but maybe I AM. And that right there is where we get into trouble. We listen to something--or someone--other than our hearts. Your heart is your compass, and it will never steer you wrong. But so many times we engage in this war of "the head vs. the heart." Where we think things have to "make sense." Where we think if we're not doing it the way everybody else is doing it, we're doing it wrong. Look at Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Now normally I really focus on the being transformed part. The renewing of your mind part. But for the next couple of days I really want to dig in to the "be not conformed" part. And the first thing I want to say about it is: If Paul is warning us not to be conformed to this world... that means we've already escaped this world. Because he didn't say, "Get out of the world." He said, "Don't go back." Like when the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground, and then once they were through the water came back. They had to keep going forward. They couldn't go back the way they'd came. Now let's start with a word study, so we really know what we're talking about. "Conformed" is number 4964 in Strong's Greek Concordance at it means, "to fashion alike, that is, conform to the same pattern (figuratively) : - conform to, fashion self according to." And the word, "world," is number 165 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "properly an age." The Message Bible renders Romans 12:2 like this, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture arouund you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." This world, this age, this culture... it's not the be-all, end-all. It's temporary. Look at how different the world is than even five years ago. So, really, trying to "fit in" or conform, is futile. As soon as you think you know the answer, the question changes. And while you were trying so hard to fit in... you lost yourself. That special thing that made you, you. Your heart. When you stopped following your heart and started following the crowd you let yourself be dragged down. And you weren't created for that. You were created to shine. You are the light of the world! There are things that only you can do. And if you don't do them... who will? Nobody can be you, but you. And you can't be you if you're trying to be someone else. If you're trying to fit in. If you're trying to do what society tells you you're "supposed" to do. If you're trying to conform. Just because "everybody's" doing it doesn't mean it's right for you. You need to find what's right for you. And then you need to do that thing to the best of your ability. Because if you don't, you'll never enjoy life. And since life is everlasting, that's a long time to suffer... I believe people aren't happy because they don't follow their hearts. They don't listen to the mind of Christ. They conform...

Love is the greatest thing in the universe. And laying down your life for your friend is the greatest expression of love you can have. The greatest of the greatest. Let me say it another way, "But he that is the greatest among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). So here's how I want to end this Rant series: A life is rest is not a life of inactivity. It is a life of service. A life of Holy Spirit-driven activity. A life of edifying others and esteeming them better (higher) than yourself. A life... of love. I get so frustrated sometimes with our selfish, self-centered idea of love. We think love is all about getting something. And it's not. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. And then His only begotten Son GAVE His life both for us and to us. And now that we've received it, we can release it. We can give what we've got. Share what we've got. We can stop looking for love in all the wrong places and we can look for it at the source. Every day my four year old son Logan and I say this, "Who is God? Love. What's His name? Jesus. Where does He live? In your heart." That's the basics that I'm teaching him. Because out of the heart flows the issues of life. Because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. It's all about the heart because it's all about love. And when we understand that we have love--that we are loved--then we can share it. We can love one another as Jesus loves us only when we know and believe that He loves us! So first we receive it, and then we release it. But, again, there's a difference between getting something you don't have, and receiving something you've already been given. We sometimes put way too much pressure on our idea of love. "I love you, so you have to [fill in the blank]." That's not how love works. Not real, true, agape, sacrificial love. Not the laying your life down for your friends love. That kind of love--the greatest of the greatest--gives without a thought of getting back. That kind of love doesn't demand it's own way. It doesn't expect anything. And, as hard as this is sometimes, it usually doesn't get anything. I've found that the more you love people, the more they look at you funny. They look at you like you have an ulterior motive. Guys... love doesn't HAVE a motive, love IS the motive. But even if it's met with skepticism... do it anyway. Because it's not about what you get. It's about what you've already got. If you love someone and they don't receive it... if you love someone and they don't return it... that's ok. Because you're not losing anything by sharing what you've got. Remember Jesus and the woman at the well? He was sustained by ministering to her. His food was to do the will of His Father. And you can't feel more loved than when you're loving someone. Regardless of how it's accepted, or whether or not it's appreciated. Don't look for the result. Don't get your hopes up. Faith, hope, and love remain. But the greatest is love. And I'm convinced that love never fails. It might not get you exactly the response you're looking for... but that's ok. Because by putting it out there, by laying your life down, by serving others and meeting their needs, you're putting God on display. You're showing a more excellent way. And people WILL be attracted to that. Because it's not the way of the world. It's different. And they might be skeptical at first--thinking it's too good to be true--but eventually they'll know it's so good it has to be true. They'll know it's the best, the greatest, thing going!

The greatest thing you can do is love someone. And the greatest love you can have is to lay down for life for them. Think about that for a second. Laying your life down. Putting someone else in front of yourself. Someone else's needs, or wants. Esteeming someone else higher than yourself. That's pretty great. But it's also impossible, unless you understand that that's exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross. He didn't just tell us what the greatest expression of love is. He SHOWED us. He layed His life down in the literal sense. He proved that He would literally rather die than be without us. He gave His life for us. And He gave His life to us. So now we have His life. Now we can partake of the Divine Nature. Now we can live a life of love. We can lay our lives down. We can give instead of trying to get. Give our lives to each other. Because Jesus gave His life to us. And that's what the New Commandment is. A New Man needs a New Commandment, right? "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other" (John 13:34 NLT). Just as Jesus loved us, we should love each other. Just as He laid His life down for us, we should lay our lives down for each other. There it is. The greatest thing we can do. Striving for greatness by focusing on how loved we are, and then letting that love overflow out of us. Naturally. Not trying really hard and inevitably failing. Not faking it until we make it. But simply receiving and releasing the gift we've been given. Sharing what we've got instead of trying to get something we (think we) don't have. And remember, in order to be great it doesn't have to be big. It doesn't have to change the world. Sometimes the smallest expressions of love can change one person's world! Sometimes just the effort of being there for someone else--putting their needs and desires ahead of your own--is enough to give them something to believe in. Sometimes that's just what they've been hoping for. And remember what we started this Rant series with: "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT). Faith, hope, and love. If you can help build someone's faith, and give them what they've been hoping for, by loving them... that's world changing. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. And faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's all connected. Because it's all about love. Love is what we all hope for. It's what we all want so desperately to believe in. It's the greatest thing in the universe. And when we know and believe that we are loved, when we CAN love on another (and thereby obey the New Commandment), we are doing what we were created to do. We are doing the greatest thing we CAN do. And I'm telling you, even though it IS a sacrifice, when you love someone, laying your life down for them doesn't FEEL like a sacrifice. It feels like an honor. It feels like joy unspeakable. It feels like the greatest thing in the world!

Sometimes we get words mixed up, and it really mixes us up. For instance, when we hear the word "great" I think we immediately conjure up images of big, expansive things. We make it all about size. But that can be a hinderance, because sometimes the greatest things are the smallest things. An ear when somebody needs to talk. A shoulder when somebody needs to cry. Small things, that to the person who needs them ARE great big things. You know the old saying, "Helping one person might not change the world, but it might change THEIR world." And that's what I want to focus on today. Because we aren't called to be history makers or world changers. We are called to love one another. And the greatest way to love someone is to meet them on their level. Look at Genesis 46:4, "I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again..." See what love does? It goes down to where people are--in the midst of their bondage, and pain, and sin, and death--and it brings them up. That's what Jesus did on the cross. He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He came to where we were, and brought us up to where He is. That's why, on this side of the cross, we are as He is. Because we are WHERE He is. We're in Him, and He's in us. We're in LOVE, and LOVE'S in us. It's like what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:22 (NLT), "When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some." In the King James it says, "I am made all things to all men." That's what it means to lay your life down. Not physically, but Spiritually. Finding that common ground with someone. Being what they need, instead of who the world has told you you are. Because let ME tell you right now who you REALLY are: You're Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. And love doesn't demand it's own way. Love goes down so it can bring others up. Not falling in love, but rising in it! And, again, sometimes that feels like a small thing. But sometimes the smallest things are the greatest things. Giving someone exactly what they need because your heavenly Father gave it to you. So you have it in Spades. You can share it. You can be all things to all people. You can find common ground. You can love. Because you ARE loved. Because you are LOVE. And the best part is, when you're simply giving out of the abundance of the gift you've been given... the sacrificial love doesn't feel like a sacrifice. You aren't losing anything, because you're sharing what you've got. And when you share something, it grows. Like a Holy Ghost wildfire that feeds on itself but doesn't consume itself. Growing and growing like the ever-expanding Kingdom of God (Kingdom of LOVE) that it is! So that small gesture turns into a giant, unstoppable force. The greatest force in the universe.... love.

So many times in life we get caught up in things. Unfortunately, it's usually the wrong things. We end up running around like a chicken with it's head cut off instead of striving for greatness. Now let me explain what I mean by striving for greatness. We know that the greatest is love. And the greatest love you can have is laying your life down for your friends. Esteeming others better (or higher) than yourself. But here's the thing: In order to GIVE love we have to first RECEIVE love. We have to focus on how immaculately, unconditionally, and perfectly we ARE loved by the Father. And while that might seem selfish on the surface, it's really not. The only way that love can come out of us naturally--not "fake it til you make it" or "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine"--is if we fill ourselves to overflowing. Ephesians 3:19 says it like this, "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Filled with the fulness. The greatest of the great. Sacrificial love that comes from inside. And here's the key: When you truly understand the nature of love... when you truly understand just how loved you are... the sacrifice doesn't FEEL like a sacrifice at all. In the Old Covenant King David said, "...I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing..." (2 Samuel 24:24 NLT). So don't get me wrong, love IS a sacrifice. Laying your life down for your friends is a big deal. But in the New Covenant it's not US who has the pay the price. Jesus paid it in full on the cross. He gave us His Spirit--the love receptor--so that we might know and believe (with that knowledge that passes knoweldge, heart knowledge instead of head knowledge) the love of God. So that we might fill ourselves with the fulness of God. Which is love. The fulness of God is love. What makes an abundant life abundant is love. It's all about love. So this gift that we give to each other--again, laying our lives down, or putting others first--doesn't really cost US anything. We were given the gift, and all we have to do is share it. That's the more excellent way. Not working for our bread by the sweat of our brow and then using it up and then it's gone. Jesus reversed the curse when He sweated great drops of blood. He moved us out of works and labor and into His rest. But look at what Hebrews 4:11 (NLT) says, "So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall." The English Standard version says, "strive to enter." Are we starting to get it? Striving to enter His rest is striving for greatness. And it doesn't come from what we DO, it comes from what we BELIEVE. When we know and believe that the work is finished, we'll stop laboring to finish it. We'll enter into that rest. We'll enter into the loving arms of our heavenly Father. We'll focus on His love for us and we'll see that it's too big to keep to ourselves. We'll see that it fills us to overflowing and comes out naturally! Striving for greatness is being loved, and loving with that same love. Sharing what we've got!