I know I mention this a lot, but I think about it a lot. I wonder about it a lot. Here's my question: What in the world are we talking about? We get so caught up in so many things that we miss out on what it's actually all about. And nowhere is this more prevalent than the "heaven or hell" religious mindset. We're so caught up in the afterlife that we miss out on the actual life. Jesus said it like this, "The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Life. Abundant life. Everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. That's the gift of God. That's what we've been given, and that's what we ought to be concerned with. And when you understand that an abudant life is simply a life full of love--when you understand that to live is to love and to love is to live--then you begin to see that it really is all about love. You begin to see that Jesus, the Word of God, IS love. God is love, right? So everything that comes from Him, or out of Him, is love. Right? So when we use "the word of God" to condemn people we've really missed the point. Look at 1 John 1:1 in the NLT. This is my key verse for this Rant series. "We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life." The Word of life. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the LIFE. The only Word that God has is love. In the beginning, when God spoke into the dark, formless, void, He said, "Let there be light." He shined the light of the world into our hearts in order to--in a sense--GIVE us form. To show us what we look like by showing us what HE looks like. To give us life by giving His life for us, and giving His life TO us. And I'm convinced that every time God spoke, every time He speaks to this very day, He is saying the exact thing. Because notice this: It's not the words, plural, of God. It's the Word. Singular. The Word of life. Which is love. That's who Jesus is. He is God in the flesh. Love in a body. He is the visible face of the invisible God. And since He lives in us that means WE are the visible face of the invisible God. That means He came with the ministry--the word--of reconciliation, and He gave US the same ministry. Not so that we can tell people how bad they are and how much they need to be reconciled, but so that we can share the good news that we HAVE been reconciled! God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. That doesn't need to happen. That's a done deal. A finished work. So when we speak the Word (of life) it's not about what we need to do. It's about what HE already did. It's about what's true right now. It's about the straight narrow way that HE made for us when He brought the mountains low and the valleys high. When HE made the crooked straight. It's about speaking life and watching it manifest. In earth as it is in heaven. The Kingdom came. It's here. And let me just ask this: If we have eternal life, why are so fixated on an "after" life? After what? Life is for living. That's what love is all about. That's whatt JESUS is all about. He isn't just the Word of GOD, He's the Word of life. The Word of love. (And yes, those ARE all the same thing). So when you speak... speak life. Let what's inside you overflow out of you. Talk about something worth talking about. L-O-V-E love!

A hard heart won't protect you. Quite the opposite, in fact. A hard heart will only hurt you and everyone you come into contact with. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you DO have. So if you let hurt, and pain, and bitterness, and fear harden your heart then you'll only have hurt, and pain, and bitterness, and fear to give. And listen, I'm not saying you'll never experience any of those things. Of course you will. What I'm saying is the heart is strong enough to take it. I KNOW a heart can ache, but I don't believe it can break. Not if we guard it and keep it. But remember what it means to guard and keep it: Not closing it down, but opening it up. Letting the love of God flow into, and through, and out of you! Answering the knock on the door without fear. Without expectation. Letting the healing rain soften the ground so that the seed of love can grow. That's what it means to guard your heart. God gave you a pure heart by cutting away the flesh and revealing HIS heart in your chest. And it's the pure in heart that see God. Focusing on Him (His love for you) is what KEEPS your pure heart pure. What makes the truth true... for you. So when exterior things--negative things--try to harden your heart, when you think the best bet is to put up a wall and make your heart steel... I'm here to tell you, "Don't do it!" Don't think you're protecting yourself by refusing to let anything in or out. Because--again--you can only give what you've got. So if you're holding on to hurt... you're going to hurt others. Without even meaning to. But simply because that's what you're holding onto. Let me say it like this, "Let go and let God." It didn't work out the way you thought it would? It didn't go the way you wanted it to? Let it go. Remember that all things work together for the good. Remember that everything in your life got you to this exact moment. And if you don't like it... change it. If you can't change it... change your attitude about it. But above all else, listen to your heart. The issues of life flow from it. Follow your heart and you'll never be lost. You'll be right where you need to be. Maybe just for a time. Maybe only for a season. But this attitude will allow you to learn and grow. This attitude will help you keep and guard your heart. This attitude can be summed up like this, "Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn." Guys, life is for living. And to live is to love. So if there isn't love flowing into, and through, and out of you then you're missing out on the whole point. You're missing out on your EPIC (Eternal Purpose In Christ) Destiny. We were created to be loved by God, and to love each other with that same love. But you can't do that with a hard heart. You can't give love unless you know and believe that you have love. That you ARE loved. That you are LOVE. It's ok to be soft. It's ok to put yourself out there. To be vulnerable. Because even if it doesn't go the way you think it should... love never fails. The Word already accomplished what it set out to do. So don't let the world change you. Change the world! A soft heart is a heart of love!

The issues of life flow from the heart. Did you catch that key word? Flow. The issues of life aren't forced out of the heart. And they aren't held in. Because the heart isn't closed down. It isn't hard. It's opened up. It's soft. And it's filled to overflowing with love. Which (using Logan logic) means the issue of life... is love. Love is what matters. Love is what makes life worth living. Love IS living. And living is loving. So the key to life is taking care of--guarding--your heart. Following your heart. Trusting your heart. Believing in your heart. I said this the other day when I was preaching--or I least I TRIED to say it--your heart, for the most part, lasts your whole life long. It starts when you start and it ends when you (IF YOU) end. It's the beginning and the end. Jesus is the beginning and the end. Love is the beginning and the end. Love is so important that we will literally give everything we've got in order to try to get it. But that's the trick: Love is a gift. It is freely given and it can't be earned. And not only can it not be earned, but it can only be received, because it has already been given! On the cross Jesus gave His life FOR us, but He also gave His life TO us. He did it all so we could get it all. The "all" He did was the cross. And the "all" that we got... was Him. He poured His Spirit out on all flesh. He gave us everything we would ever need to enjoy HIS abundant, eternal, everlasting, Resurrection Life! He blessed us with all Spiritual blessings. He gave us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We don't need to "get" anything. The good fight of faith is LAYING HOLD of eternal life. KEEPING our heart pure. Which is only possible because He GAVE us a pure heart. He cut away the flesh and REVEALED His heart beating with love in our chests. And now instead of works and labor (which don't work) we can rest. We slept, but our heart--deep within--was awake. It was yearning for that connection of love. And then the Voice of our beloved knocked at the door. Jesus is the door--the heart is the door--and Jesus is the One who was knocking. When we open the door the former rain makes the ground--the heart--soft so that the seed that was planted (after the latter rain came) can grow. So that the love inside us can flow. What's inside comes out. Or, I should say, what you BELIEVE is inside comes out. What you believe (either the world's report or the Lord's report) defines your reality. When you hear the Voice of the Lord knocking... that's the way of grace. The more excellent way. The way of love. And when you open the door--open your heart--TO that grace and love... that's the walk of faith. That's Peter stepping out of the boat and standing on the Word of the Lord. That's knowing and believing that we ARE loved, and loving one another WITH that same love. And guys... that's why we're here. To be loved by God and to love others with that same love. To receive it and release it. To partake of His life by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us. To be loved... and to love.

You don't guard your heart by closing it down, and refusing to let anything in or out. You guard your heart by opening it up. By responding to the voice of your Beloved knocking and letting love in. Let me use another picture: If you want a seed to grow you need to plant it in soft ground. A soft heart lets LOVE grow! And I want to use one of my favorite Bible verses to illustrate this. Hosea 6:3, "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." The latter and the former rain. And while that might SEEM backwards, it's really not. The former rain softens the ground so the seed can be sown. And the latter rain makes the seed grow, bringing forth a great harvest. But in the upside down, backwards economy of the Kingdom, the latter rain comes first. On the cross God poured Himself into us. He gave us everything He has--everything He IS. The latter rain. And then, after that, the former rain comes. To soften our hearts so that we can RECEIVE the gift (of Himself) that we've already been given. He did it all so we could get it all. And we have it all. That's a done deal. It is finished. So the journey is not to "get" anything, but to receive, to experience, what we already have. And we do that by guarding and keeping our hearts. The NIV verson of Hosea 6:3 begins, "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him." How do we acknowledge God? By acknowledging LOVE! And how do we acknowledge love? By knowing and believing that we ARE loved, and by loving one another with that same love! We keep our heart open to love. We don't make our heart hard, and try to protect ourselves from the heartache that love can bring. And listen, I know from experience that love CAN bring heartache. But I think that heartache really comes from the expectation we put on love. We think, "I love you, so you should love me back." But love doesn't work like that. So when it doesn't work like that we feel hurt. But that's not love's fault, it's the fault of our faulty expectations. Love is NEVER about getting. It is ALWAYS about giving. Love IS giving. And that's why love never fails: Because when you give--without expectation--your love is perfect. And perfect love casts out fear. You don't have to be afraid of how people will respond to your love. All you have to do is receive Daddy's love... and then release it. Share it. Spread it around. Keep your heart soft so the seed of love can grow. So what's inside you can come out. Not by you trying to force it out, but simply by you believing it's in there and then it being so big that it comes out naturally! Being loved and loving others is the whole point of life. To live is to love and to love is to live. The issues of life flow from the heart. It's all about love! A soft heart is capable of love, and that makes the owner of a soft heart capable of living the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus by letting HIM live HIS life in, and through, and as us!

Guarding and keeping your heart is vitally important. But understanding what it means to guard your heart--not closing it down but opening it up--is equally important. Because the heart is the door to everything. And if the door is closed nothing can get in or out. But if the door is open... that's when God's love flows to you, and through you! Look at Song of Solomon 5:2, "I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." Did you catch that? Even when we are sleep walking through life, our heart--buried deep down within--is awake. Yearning to connect on that Spirit to Spirit, holy to holy level. And look at what woke the heart up, the voice of my beloved that knocked on the door. (We're going to get to the knocking in just a minute.) The VOICE knocked on the door. The Word of God. Which is Jesus, which is love. Remember, He gave us a pure heart. And we keep it (pure) by using it as it was intended. By loving others with the love that we are loved with. We had a hard heart, but God circumized us. He cut away the flesh and gave us a soft heart. One that receive and release His love. He gave us His Holy Spirit--the love receptor. But--and I say this all the time--God is too much of a gentleman to force His love on us. According to Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Jesus--our true identity, the heart that beats with love in our chests, the door--stands at the door and knocks. He set a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and then He invites us to sup with Him. He made the way of grace, and we respond with the walk of faith. We respond by opening the door. By keeping our heart soft. By not letting hurt and bitterness and regret turn our heart to steel. We respond by staying open to love. Letting God love us. Letting God fill us to overflowing with His love--wtih Himself--so that it overflows out of us naturally. That's how we keep and guard our heart. By hearing our beloved knock and opening ourselves to His presence. By believing--not "blind faith"--because He gave us something (Himself, love) to believe in. You can't keep your heart safe by hiding it. That just hurts you and everyone around you. Because a heart isn't "safe." It's fearless. Love casts out all fear. I know we've all probably been burned at some point, but I don't believe a heart can break. It's too strong. It can ACHE, but it never runs out of love. Because it's connected to the unlimited source. And the key to love is... the more you give it away, the more you find that you have. You don't run out because you can't run out. Sharing things makes them real. Love is the realest thing there is. A soft heart is one that knows that it is loved, and loves others with that same love!

I just preached this last night, but I think it's important so I'm going to spend this Rant series really digging in and exploring it. But, as I often do, I'm going to give away the punch line first. Ready? Ok. Proverbs 4:23 in the NLT reads, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." But here's where the upside down, backwards Kingdom economy comes into play: In order to guard your heart you don't close it down... you open it up! But first things first. Your heart determines the course of you life. The King James says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Yesterday's sermon came from me asking Logan what I should preach about regarding love. He said, "The heart, of course!" Out of the mouth of babes, right? And catch this--if the heart is all about love, and out of it are the issues of life... then the issue (singular) of life is love! That's why the heart is so important. That's why it's so vital that we keep it. That we guard it. Let me say it another way, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). But, as always, this isn't a formula. This isn't an "if-then" statement. It's not, "If you become pure in heart, then you'll see God." As if you could somehow make your heart pure on your own. No, this is Jesus telling us HOW to do something. In this case, how to see God. We see Him with a pure heart. Because love flows out of a pure heart... and God is love. So here's where it gets magnificent. The cry before the cross, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). God's answer to the cry, "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). HE gave us that pure heart! Or rather, He cut away the flesh--with the circumcision made without hands--in order to REVEAL that pure heart. In order to reveal HIS heart (beating with love) in our chests! Purity of heart has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God. Because, again, it's HIS heart! His Spirit! His love flowing into us, and through us, and out of us! He took away the stony heart that was connected to the stone of the Law of Moses. The heart that was connected to that man-centered, performance-based religion. And He gave us a soft heart. A heart connected to love. He showed us who HE really is, and in doing so He showed us who WE really are. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. But no longer hidden. No longer closed off. No longer afraid. Not a hard heart that's afraid to lose what it's got, but a soft heart that knows it's connected to the unlimited source. Connected to the God who IS love! He is the vine, and we are the branches right? We don't produce the fruit of the Spirit (which is love) we simply bear it. We simply carry it to those who need it, but don't know they have it. We don't love in order to get something, we love because we have something. And we don't guard our heart by putting up a wall and not letting anything (or anyone) in or out. We guard our (pure) heart by keeping it pure! By receiving and releasing the love of God. By letting Him love us, and loving one another with that same love. Not by closing down, but by opening up!

In order to truly live--to partake of the Divine Nature and experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life that is the gift of God--we need to stop trying to finish a work that is already finished. We need to stop struggling to get something we've already got. We need to stop trying to do in order to be. And we need to understand that we already be. Jesus drew us all into Himself, and He planted Himself in us all. The key is not "getting" into Christ. The key is BEING in Christ. Being who we are, and where we are. And this "change" (really a manifestation of the change that already took place) comes with the renewing of our mind. By letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. We spend so much time trying to be someone we're not, or get something we think we don't have, that we end up robbing ourselves of what we already DO have. We miss out on being who we already are. This idea of our works and labor somehow making us a "better Christian" is about the biggest trap there is. Because the harder you work to try to grab the carrot, the more frustrating it is when the stick moves. Under that covenant, that religion, there's always one thing you lack. And the thing that was lacking... was the Holy Spirit. Luckily for us God poured His Spirit out on ALL FLESH. He did what we couldn't do. And He did it both for us, and as us. He didn't just give His life for us, He gave His life TO us. Jesus said He had come that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. HIS life. He came so that we could rest. So that we could flow. So that we could truly live. And this is what it means to truly live: Let God love you and love others with that same love. Receive it and release it. It's a gift. You can't earn it. What you ought to do--and really the best way TO receive it--is share it. Because it's too good to keep to yourself. And because things are really real when you share them. Movies are better when you see them with someone else. Food too. Everything's better when it's shared. Because it's better to give than to receive. You have to receive before you can give, but receiving isn't the be-all end-all is. You have to know and believe that you are loved before you can love. But being loved isn't the be-all end-all. Being loved and loving others is why we're here. It's why the Creator created us. To express His love to us, so that we might be expressions of that love. That's who we are. Right now. We are complete in Him. He did everything that needed to be done. He finished the work. So instead of trying to earn something that can't be earned, instead of trying to be someone we're not, all we need to do is believe. And guys, the only reason we CAN believe is because Jesus gave us something (someone, Himself, love) to believe in. When you've been convinced or convicted of something it's easy to believe in it. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. We aren't expected to be something we're not. We're expected to love one another with the love that Jesus loves us with. To BE loved, and to LOVE. To BE transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) and to BE in Christ (because we're already in Him, because He's already in us). We don't do in order to be. We do BECAUSE we be!

I really think in this world of ours there is too much trying and not enough flowing. Too much work and not enough rest (Spiritually speaking, of course). Too many of us spend our three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) trying to be someone we're not instead of being who we are. And that's why this life is so frustrating so much of the time. A round peg doesn't fit into a square hole. It can't. As hard as you try to be someone you're not... it'll never work. It'll never feel right. And I know this is kind of a departure from our theme of BEING in Christ (when we are all already in Him), or BEING transformed (into what we've already been transformed into), but I think it's important to say. Because if any man BE in Christ he is a new creature, right? But we always seem to be in the process of BECOMING a new creature. As if to say, "I'm not good enough yet, but I will be someday." Or my personal (least) favorite, "God's not done with me yet." I mean, what part of "It is finished" don't we understand? What part of "complete in Him" don't we get? God IS finished with you, in the sense that He did everything He needed to do. It's not a "change" that takes place--or needs to take place. It's the revelation of the change that TOOK place. It's making what's already true... true for you. By believing it. By BEING in it. Being in HIM. Even as He is in you. By receiving the gift of God and releasing it to those you come into contact with. Receiving it BY releasing it. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. John said it this way in 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." Did you catch that? We ARE Son(s) of God. Done deal. But it doesn't always appear that way. BUT when He appears (to us, and in us, and through us, and as us) that's when we BE like Him. Not when we TRY to act like Him. All that will ever be is an act. But when He appears. Because that's when we see Him as He is, and that's when we see ourselves as we are! Jesus is the Truth. The truth about the Father. The truth about the Son. The Truth about the relationship between God and man. The Truth about God IN man. He's the Truth about you! He's your true identity. The inner man. The hidden man of the heart. And when we stop trying to be someone we're not--some external, performance-based, religious idea of who we're "supposed to be"--that's when we can be who we are. That's when we BE in Christ, even though we're already in Christ. That's when we let what's true BE true. When we know it and believe it. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Faith is how we be. We hear it. We know it. We believe it. Faith is how we renew our minds--believing that He already renewed our minds. Not by trying to think Godly thoughts, but by letting God think His own thoughts in us. His thought--His heart beating with love in our chests. That's the flow. The river of living water. The love that everyone is thirsty for, and the love that we can provide when we BE who we are. When we receive it and release it. When we stop trying and start flowing!

We're human BEINGS not human doings. What we do flows from who we be. That's why it's so important to know (and believe) who we are. And who we are, in a Word, is Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God poured His Spirit out on all flesh on the cross. He drew us all into Himself when He was lifted up from the earth. We're in Him and He's in us. But in order to EXPERIENCE this truth, we have to BE in Him. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Did you catch the key there? If you BE in Christ you're a new creature. You already ARE in Christ, but until you know that and believe that you can't BE that. Old things passed away, but sometimes we hold onto them. Sometimes we don't LET them go. And watch this: All things ARE BECOME new. "Are become" is a phrase that means, "to become (come into being)." All things ARE new, but with our awareness of this newness all things BECOME new. Let me say it this way, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). We died when He died, because He had drawn us into Himself. So when He rose back to life (His very own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life) we rose back to that very same life! He didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us! And now we also SHOULD walk in newness of life. It's available to us. We CAN walk in newness of life. We ARE in Christ so we can now BE in Christ. Just as He is in us! We can partake of the Divine Nature. We can live His life by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice and letting Him live His life in, and through, and as us. We can stop trying to do and we can simply be. We can stop trying to finish the work--it is finished--and we can rest. We can BE still and know that HE is God. We can stop trying to live FOR God--as if He's our boss and we better do what He says or else--and we can start living BY Him. Noah was perfect in God's sight because he found grace in God's eyes and he walked WITH God. He didn't try to perform for God. He simply knew who he was and lived his life accordingly. That's the biggest difference between Adam (God's son) and Jesus (God's BELOVED Son). God loved them both, but Jesus knew it. He believed it. He let God love Him instead of trying to earn something that is freely given. That's the difference between the old and the new. Works and rest. Natural and Spiritual. Doing... and being... We don't do in order to be. We do BECAUSE we be. We don't try to be a New Creature in order to be in Christ. We ARE a New Creature because we ARE in Christ. So stop trying to be someone you're not and just be who you are!

If you know who you are you can BE who you are. You can stop TRYING to be someone you're not. And that's the difference between works and labor (which don't work) and rest. That's the difference between living FOR God (as if He's your boss or some such nonsense) and living BY God. Living IN God as God lives IN you. It's the difference between TRYING to transform, and BEING transformed into what we've already been transformed into. And that's the key. The work is done. It is finished. Everything that needed to happen... happened 2,000 years ago on the cross. See, in the beginning we were made in the image of God. But we didn't know what that image was. We didn't know what WE looked like because we didn't know what GOD looked like. So we tried to get enough knowledge about good and evil to be able to stop doing evil and do good. We thought it was all about us and what we were capable of and what we were doing. When in fact it's all about love. It's all about Jesus and what HE did both for us and as us. It's not about acting like Jesus--because all that will ever be is an act. It's about BEING who we really are by letting Jesus be who HE really is in us, and through us, and as us. 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." The first thing to notice is that Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world. Which means we've already been brought OUT of this world. To be conformed would mean to go back to where we were. The cross translated us out of the power of darkness--out of the world--and into the Kingdom. Paul's saying, "Don't go back!" And not only don't go back, but BE where you are. Be WHO you are. BE transformed, into what you've already been transformed into. Receive it and release it. Lay hold of the gift you've been given. How? By the renewing of you mind. By letting the mind of Christ (that's already in you) BE in you. There's that little word again. We've been given the mind of Christ, but we need to use it. We need to stop trying to figure out what God's thoughts are and just let Him think them in us. And besides, we KNOW what His thoughts are. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are the peacemakers because they are the ones who behave like Son(s). What am I saying? In order to BE transformed we have to BE peacemakers. Because that's what a renewed mind is all about. It's about love. Thoughts of love produce peace. Mark the perfect man, because the end of that man is peace. When you know you're loved, and you don't have to earn it, you're at peace. And then you rest. Then you can love. Renewing your mind doesn't transform you. You've already been transformed. Renewing your mind simply manifests the transformation. Simply manifests what is already true about you!