This is, to me, the whole point of Jesus making all things new: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptims 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). There's a lot to get into before you hit the punchline, but I love that punchline. Christ was raised from the dead (and us in Him) so that we SHOULD walk in newness of life. It's not just something we CAN do, it's something we SHOULD do. I preach a lot about how just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. But in this case, you absolutely should. Jesus said, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to dstroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The abundant life is the new life. And, by the way, the thief (in my humble opinion) is not the devil. It is YOU. You rob yourself of what you've been given by trying to get into the sheepfold any other way but the door. The door is Jesus. It's all about Him. Because it's all about love. God is love. Walking in newness of life is experiencing Jesus's life by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus. So instead of trying to be someone we're not (in order to get something we think we haven't got), we need to learn to identify ourselves properly. Not as someone who is trying to be like Christ... but as someone who lives in Christ! We live in Him because He lives in us. Christ in you the hope of glory. That's the newness. The trueness! That's what God revealed to us when He gave us His only begotten Son. In the beginning we were created in God's image. And then on the cross we were conformed to the image of God's Son. Our new life is HIS life. But, again, it is Jesus living His own life in us, and through us, and as us. We died when He died, and we rose again when He rose again. To newness of life. And here's the key: In order to walk in newness of life... you have to walk. God made the Way of Grace. We respond with the Walk of Faith. Everything we do is a response is what God has done. We love because He first loved us. He filled us up, and now we can fill ourselves up to overflowing with what He has filled us with. We can let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. The old has passed away and we don't need to drag it around anymore. Or let it drag us down anymore. We can lay it aside and we can walk. Walk by faith and not by sight. We can have all of these new things (that have already been given to us) by letting go of the old things and walking away from them. You don't have to fight. You can just walk away. Leave the past where it belongs--in the past. Learn from it and move on. Newness of life means you don't have to keep doing the same things in the same way. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, right? If you want something different, do something different. Unless you're building something. In which case... keep up the good work. Rome wasn't built in a day. Good things take time. Even baby steps are forward steps. The key is to keep moving forward. To experience newness of life by walking in it. Walking in your new nature. Answering to your new (true) name. Being who you are by learning who you are. Loving people by learning how you are loved (by God). Letting God love you and loving Him back by loving the people you come into contact with. All things are become new. Life. Your whole life. Every aspect of it. So you should walk in the newness of HIS life!

Today I want to look at our new name. And I take this concept directly from Revelation 2:17, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." This is a big verse with a lot of big important stuff in it. The first thing is he with an ear. Now, listen, I think prayer is so vitally important to a successful life. My dad's favorite Bible verse is "Jesus wept." Partly because it's the shortest verse in the Bible. My favorite Bible verse is "Pray without ceasing." Partly because it tops his verse by one word. Mostly because I think having a lifestyle of prayer is awesome. I love praying. Once upon a time I was asleep, and woke up my ex-wife (my wife at the time) because I was praying in tongues. In my sleep. I'm into it. But what I want to say about it today is that listening to what God has to say is just as important as speaking to Him. Possibly more important. He that has an ear can hear what the Spirit is saying. He who isn't listening... won't. The next thing we see is the idea of overcoming. Which I think is completely misunderstood. We aren't overcomers because we have the chance to overcome, or because we try to overcome. In John 16:33 Jesus told His disciples to be of good cheer because HE had overcome the world. JESUS is the overomer. We are overcomers only because we are IN the overcomer. He overcame. That's how we overcame. It's not something we need to do. It's something Jesus did. For us. And in us. And through us. And as us. When we understand that it's all about Jesus we receive that white stone with our new name written in it. Written IN it. It's the heart. Our new name is written on our hearts. And our new name... our true name... is Jesus. That's the new name of the New Man. And that's important because name means nature. You are not what people call you, but you are what you answer to. You name--your nature--identifies you. And the reason that nobody knows it except him that receives it is because nobody else can experience your "Christian life" except you. There are a lot of things in this life--both "naturally' and Spiritually--that are universal. We all go through a lot of the same things. That's why sharing our experiences is so important. If I've been through something, and now you're going through it, I can help you get through it. Because I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I've been through it. I can help you through it. And I WANT to help you through it. Because my new name... my new nature... is Jesus. Love. God in the flesh. Love in body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. What we need to do is stop answering to any other name than the one that we receive IN the white stone. And there's a whole deal that I don't have the room to get into right now about what that white stone meant to the people of Israel. In ancient Greece a white stone given by a jury meant innocent. While a black stone meant guilty. So you can see why that's important. We have been washed clean in the blood of Christ and we are innocent. Our sin has not only been taken away, it has been forgiven. We are new creatures. All of that old stink is gone. We can walk in newness of life with our heads held high. We can BE who we are by knowing and believing that we are who God says we are. We are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. We are loved... and that means we are love!

Our key verse for this Rant series is 2 Corinthinas 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." And yesterday we kind of touched on a few of these new things. Newness of life. A new name. A new heart. A new Spirit. A new commandment for a New Man. We looked at how the "new" was really the TRUE. A return to what has always been, but what has been hidden underneath all of the stuff that the world wants to pile onto us and weigh us down with. Stuff that we can (and should) lay aside. Today I want to focus on the word "behold." Because, quite frankly and quite literally, what you behold is what you become. What you magnify in your life is what manifests in you life. How you react to things determines how things go. Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to you. You don't have to take things personally, even if they are. It doesn't matter if someone meant it for evil--God can use it for good. All things work together for good. But seeing is believing. Behold! All things are become new. The problem is that we don't always see it. Look at Hebrews 2:8, because it spells this problem out for us. "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him." God has put all things under His feet. Heaven is His throne and the earth is His footstool. He is all-powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means nothing else has any power. Because God--love--IS the power. So that happened. On the cross. That's a done deal. The problem is that even though all things are under His--OUR--feet... we don't see things that way. We always see ourselves as struggling to overcome, when the truth of the matter is... you aren't an overcomer because you CAN overcome. You are an overcomer because you HAVE overcome. You're an overcomer because JESUS overcame! The answer is in the first four words of Hebrews 2:9, "But we see Jesus..." Look at what Jesus said in John 16:33, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." He overcame. He put everything beneath His feet. And because HE finished the work WE can enjoy the fruit of His labor. We can stop TRYING to overcome, and we can simply leave the old behind. We can stop trying to overcome and we can be of good cheer, knowing that He--in us, and through us, and as us--already did. What you see is what you be. If you see yourself as an overcomer who has already overcome... you'll stop struggling. You'll be able to rest. You'll be able to be still and know that HE is God. You'll be able to enjoy all of the new things that are available to you. Because you'll see it. And then you'll be it. You'll stop trying to finish a work that is already finished and you'll enjoy the gift (of eternal life) that you've been given. This life is a gift. It's not something you have to earn because it's not something you CAN earn. It was freely given. One more memory verse to close this Rant down, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). Jesus did what needed to be done and gave us what He wanted us to have. Now we have it... now we can BE it. Old things are passed away. Behold! All things are become new! 

It's a New Year. So what better time than now to look at some of the new things that were promised to us in the Bible (and came to fruition through the cross). I'm going to list some of them, and then over the next few days we'll really dig in to some of them. So let's start with 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." And that term "are become" means HAS become, ARE becoming, and WILL become. It's a done deal. The work is finished. Having said that, it is us coming into an understanding of that finished work that equips and empowers us to experience that finished work. It IS a done deal. It is BEING done in and through us, and it WILL be done when we come into the fullness and maturity of what that done deal means. And that goes for all things. In the Messianic rebirth of the world (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus) God remade the world in His image. The consuming fire of love burned up everything except itself (Himself). So we don't have to struggle with sin and death anymore. We can walk in newness of life. That's one of those new things. A new creature. Walking in newness of life. Revelation speaks of a white stone with a new name. Colossians 3:10 tells us that we, "...have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him." The NLT calls it "your new nature." To which I always like to add "new (TRUE) nature." Because, in reality, all of this "new" stuff is simply God bringing us back to where we were always supposed to be. This new man (which is his name and new nature) has a new commandment. But look at 1 John 2:7, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning." So the so-called "new" commandment--to love one another as Jesus loves you--is really the TRUE commandment. I think that, more than anything else, is what I want to say today to set the stage for this Rant series. When it comes to Spiritual things, what is "new" is really TRUE. And it has been true from the foundation of the world. It was covered up with all of the stuff that we sometimes accumulate and drag around with us. Surface stuff that we could be much better off just letting go. Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Let it go. Lay it aside. Don't struggle with it. It's old, and you don't need to have anything to do with it anymore. All things are become new. The old has passed away and the new has come forth. When you know the truth you don't have to fight against the lie, you can simply ignore it. You don't have to prove anything to anybody. You can let go and let God. HE is our refuge. HE is our protector. We don't have to defend Him. He will defend us. And, yes, that's a very new and radical mindset, but that's kind of the point. Out with the old and in with the new. It's not turning over a new leaf either. It's getting a whole new tree. No longer the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death) but instead the Tree of Life that gives us the fruit of the Spirit, which IS life. The fruit of the Spirit which is love! That's what we need to be focusing on and feasting on. That's what fills us up and gives us something to share with the people we come into contact with. That's how we experience, and walk in, newness of life!

There's this idea that seems to floating around in our collective mindset that says, "How I judge things is how they are." Like, if I think something about something, or someone, that's what's what. But let's be real for a second. How often do you know the whole story? Even when it's YOUR story. Which I believe is why Jesus warned against judging by appearance. There's a line in a song that says, "I can't tell you what it really is, I can only tell you what it looks like." And, when we stray outside of the Spiritual realm (if I can say it that way)... that's all we can do. The best we can do with our "natural senses" is tell you what it looks like. To us. Through our filter or lens of experience. Kind of like a "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME," sort of deal. Once you've been burned, it's really hard to want to touch the fire ever again. That's why I preach so much and so often about keeping your heart... by keeping it open. Keeping your heart open to love. Not hardening it, but guarding it by keeping it soft. Realizing and understanding that it is God's heart beating with love in your chest. That's where the true judgment comes from. Because after Jesus said don't judge according to appearance He told us to judge righteous judgment. Our key verse for this Rant series is Psalm 149:9, "To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD." If you're a saint (and you are) it's your honor to execute the judgment that was written. The judgment that was handed down from Father to Son. The judgment that AFTER Jesus gave His life for us, came, and stood as an eternal, abundant, everlasting, Resurrection Life sentence! Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly. That's the righteous judgment of God. That's what we have, so that's what we can give. And in the same manner as how we "forgive" people's sins by letting them know that their sins are forgiven... we "give" people this life by letting them know that God has given it to them. Spreading the good news of the gospel. Being a witness to what we have seen, and heard, and experienced... in the Spirit. Again, this isn't about your "natural" perception of things. This isn't about what it looks like on the surface. One of my favorite Bible verses is Genesis 50:20, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." This is one of my "stand strong" verses. My "going through a tough time" verses. (One of my other stand strongs is 1 Samuel 30:6, "And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." Sometimes I need to just encourage myself in the Lord. Fill myself up to overflowing with the love that I've already been filled with.) So it doesn't matter what it looks like on the surface when you can see the bigger picture. When you can see that the deep calls out to the deep. When you can see the righteous judgment, and not just the appearance judgment. That's when we can know and believe that all things work together for our good. That's when we can rest in the loving arms of our heavenly Father. That's when we can experience that life He has given us, by letting Him live it in us, and through us, and as us. Rest is not inactivity, it is Holy Spirit directed activity. It is judging righteous judgment. It is executing the judgment that was written in the Book of Life. Giving people what we've got no matter who they are or what they do. Just giving it because we have it. Just loving people because our heavenly Father loves us!

The judgment has already been made. It has already been passed down (from Father to Son) and written in the Book of Life. In fact... the judgment IS the book of life! Look at Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." That death took place 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. It took place when Jesus died. His death was our death. And, therefore, His judgment is our judgment. And if you notice... death can't BE the judgment because death came BEFORE the judgment. God's judgment was not a death sentence. God's judgment was (and is) a life sentence! An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life sentence. Jesus died so we could die. And He rose again so we could live. So we could walk in newness of life and experience everything He has to offer. I think it's important that we understand that truth too. Because God doesn't force His will on people. Sometimes He will move mountains to get people to hear Him (like Jonah in the belly of the fish). But if you don't want to pick up what God is laying down I don't believe He will force you to. I think that disappoints Him... but we DO have a measure of free will. He made it available to us. He made HIMSELF available to us. He gave us His heart. His Spirit. His Son. Himself. But whether we receive that is kind of up to us. God made the Way of Grace. We respond with the Walk of Faith. See, this life is all about a response to God and His goodness. It's not about trying to get God to do what we want Him to do. God did what HE wanted to do. He died for us. And rose again for us. So that we might not perish but have everlasting life. And we experience that life--not by trying to get it... but by knowing and believing that we have it. So when we're talking about judging, it's not about "Don't judge." It's about, "Judge the right way." Don't judge by appearance. Judge righteous judgment. Execute the judgment that has been passed down. Stop worrying so much about the "afterlife" and start living while you're here! We are kings and priests equipped and empowered to rule and reign on the earth. Right now. Not someday when we get to heaven... but right now! The days of heaven on earth. In earth as it is in heaven. That's what Jesus brought, because that's who Jesus is. He IS heaven. Heaven isn't just somewhere we go when we die. Heaven is where we went when Jesus died 2,000 years ago! He brought heaven to earth. He filled us with heaven. He made something so much better than what we thought we could ever have available to us. Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoseoever will, let him take the water of life freely." And to me this is not the Spirit and the bride saying, "Come... or else." This is the Spirit and the bride ringing the dinner bell and saying, "Come and get it!" This is the call for us to come and receive what is available to us. Whoever is thirsty... come and drink the water of life. Freely. Happily. Joyfully. Fill yourself up so you can empty yourself out. And then fill yourself up again! Don't worry about running out, because you are connected to the unlimited source. Philippians 4:6 tells us to, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." You don't have to be careful with grace, or mercy, or forgiveness, or love. You can be extravagant with it. You can be generous with it. You can give what you've got without having to worry about losing what you've got. You experience love by giving it away. Because love is giving. That's the judgment of God, and that's what we are to execute!

It's all about giving what you've got. But that can be tricky when you think you've only got "bad" stuff. Whatever you believe--be it the lie of the world or the report of the Lord--is what will manifest in your life. So it's important that you know the truth. If you know the truth you can ignore the life. You don't have to struggle with the lie, or defeat the lie. You can simply ignore it. Don't give it any time or space or attention. What you feed is what will grow. What you starve will wither and die. And that's such a big difference than fighting. Just deny it your attention and ignoring it. Not even dealing with it or giving it any space or place in your life. You don't need the lie. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of God." Now, I don't think this is talking about chasing your thoughts all over the place. That's a rabbit hole that leads to stress, anxiety, and suffering. Better just to let go of any thought that doesn't line up with the Word of God. You don't have to believe everything you think, is what I'm trying to say. And that has everything to do with executing judgment, because you execute the judgment that was written. You don't have to "figure out" what people "deserve." You can simply tell them the good news of the gospel. If you remit (or forgive) sins, they are forgiven. Because you are taking what is already true and sharing it with people. You aren't making them earn anything. You're simply giving them what you've got. Not "forgive in order to be forgiven," but, "forgive BECAUSE you are forgiven." That's the way of the New Covenant. We have been given--equipped and empowered with--everything we need. At this point it's all about receiving and releasing. At this point it's all about giving what you've got. Experiencing what you've got by giving it away. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. And let me say this--Everybody's sins are forgiven. That's a done deal. But you can make what is true... true for people by letting them know. By walking in the truth. By showing them the truth. Something can be true but not feel like it. So we manifest that truth. In ourselves and in each other. We bring what is true to life by knowing it and believing it. The same with God's righteous judgment--that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life sentence that was passed down from Father to Son. We make that truth... true... by sharing it. By telling people the good news of the gospel. By letting people know that they don't have to run FROM God (because He is not mad at them) but instead they can run TO God (because He is mad about them)! It's such a mindset shift. Knowing that God is not mad at you. That His judgment is not something bad, or hurtful, or something to be feared. His judgment is the best thing that has every happened. It brought the dead to life. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and then Jesus drew us all into Himself, died on the cross (so we could have that second death that we needed to have) and then rose again so we could walk in newness of life. So we could experience HIS life by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. That's the key to life--knowing who we are, which is who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in you. Knowing that we are loved... so that we can love. So that we can be who we are. So that we can live!

I guess you can say it like this if you want: It's not our job to judge, it's our job to execute the judgment that has been written. It's not our place to decide who deserves what. It's our place to give what our heavenly Father has given us... to everybody we come into contact with. Because that's His judgment: It wasn't a death sentance, it was a life sentence. An abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life sentence. Passed down from Father to Son. And it wasn't just for Jesus. Because when Jesus was lifted up from the earth on the cross He drew all men into Himself. And He planted Himself in all men. He drew us out of Adam and into Himself. Out of the old and into the new. Out of the lie and into the true! See, in the Old Testament it was, "Do in order to get." Or, "Do in order to be." But in the New Testament we don't do in order to be, we do because we be. We don't do in order to get. We do because we've already got! I think one of the best examples of this is comparing and contrasting Luke 6:37, which is Jesus speaking, and saying, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." But before we compare that verse we need to understand that Jesus, at that moment, before the cross, was still preaching under the Old Covenant. That was the Law. Do, and then you can have. Forgive, and then you can be forgiven. Now look at Ephesians 4:32, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving on another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Old Covenant: Forgive and you will be forgiven. New Covenant: Forgive, even as God has forgiven you. And notice that God didn't do it for your sake. He did it for Christ's sake. When Jesus was on the cross and prayed to His Father, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," that kind of settled the matter. We don't need forgiveness. We have forgiveness. Which (and I don't want to get too far into this but...) kind of makes me wonder how, if God forgave us all for Jesus's sake, how could anybody "go to hell when they die"? But I'll just leave that there. My point for today is, we don't have to do anything to get anything. We don't have to make anybody else do anything in order to give them what we've got. We don't have to judge. And we certainly don't have to judge by appearance. We can, and should, judge righteous judgment. We can simply take the judgment that has been written, or handed down, and execute it. We can execute this life sentence. By speaking life! Let me finish with my forgiviness example. "If you forgive the sins af any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23 NKJV). See how powerful we are? We can keep people trapped in a cycle of shame and torment. We can be bitter and hard-hearted. We can ignore the judgment that was written and we can have horrible relationships withe people. If we don't forgive them--even though God has--how can they experience that forgiveness? And, yes, I'm sure there are people out there who don't care if you forgive them or not. Yes it's true that forgiveness is the key that opens the cell door, and then opens your eyes so that you realize YOU were the one in jail the whole time. Forgiving someone frees YOU from that bad connection or relationship, just as much as frees someone else. Let me end by saying this: You can judge people. You really can. We judge everything all the time. But there's a more excellent way. And His name is Jesus. His name is love. There was a judgment written to the entire world and it was our heavenly Father saying, "I forgive you. I am reconciling myself to you. I love you!"

I think there are a lot of misunderstandings about the Bible. I mean, you can pretty much make it say anything you want to by taking things out of context and that old twisted Scripture. But I can't fix all of that in one sitting. So the sacred cow I want to knock over in this Rant series is the idea that we are not supposed to judge. And I know where this idea comes from: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7:1,2). People take that and say, "Jesus said don't judge!" But think about it. That's crazy. We judge everything all the time. We make snap judgments. We make considered judgments. We put things in boxes and catagories every second of every day. And if you really read what that passage says, Jesus was telling us HOW to judge. If you don't want to be judged harshly... don't judge harshly. Because whatever you give... that's what you will receive. And, listen, I'm talking about your dealings with other people right now more than anything else. Because the way it works Spiritually is not "Give what you want to get." It is, "Know what you have so you can give what you've got." You're not trying to earn anything from God. You're simply receiving and releasing His gift. But look at what else Jesus said, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). Again, not telling us NOT to judge, but telling us HOW to judge. And this one, to me, is key. Because those snap judgments we make are almost always based on appearance. If someone lies to us, we judge them a liar. Done and done. But we oftentimes don't take the time or put in the effort to get the whole story. We just judge harshly and move on. We feel vindicated in our judgments. "He lied to me. Game over." Well, that's fine, I guess. I can understand where someone is coming from. But at the same time, you're cutting someone off or cutting them out of your life on what MIGHT BE a misunderstanding. Sometimes it's worth it to put a little effort into the relationship and find out what's really going on. Sometimes things below the surface are happening and we can't just ignore those things. And I haven't even touched on what I really want this Rant series to be about yet. Psalm 149:9 says, "To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD." That's my key verse for this series. Executing the judgment that has been written. Which, of course, means we need to know what that judgment is. I can't tell you how many times I've heard preachers say something along the lines of, "Jesus had a death sentence." Talking about how God was angry and just absolutely, positively HAD to kill someone. And since Jesus didn't want God to kill US, He stepped in. But think about that. Jesus saved us... from God? Jesus saved us... from Himself? I don't think so. God didn't not kill Jesus. Man killed Jesus. Man chose to nail Him to a cross and pierce His side. And, really, NOBODY killed Jesus, if you want to get right down to it. Jesus gave up the ghost. He made the sacrifice willingly. But my point is: God's judgment--the judgment that was written, or handed down, 2000 years ago--was not a death sentence. It was a life sentence. An eternal life sentence. And that is what we can execute. That is what we can judge. That's the righteous judgment. That's what we have. So that's what we can give. That's our honor as saints. So WHEN you judge, simply judge righteous judgment. Simply execute the judgment that was handed down from Father to Son!

Love is giving. When your heart is full of love, you will have that intense desire to give what you've got. You'll see a need and you'll WANT to fill it. That's what it means to do things heartily--doing something to the best of your ability, because it's in your heart to do it. And that's God working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Look at 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." That sets up the Divine Order of things. That sets up how everything works, and flows. That sets up the New Commandment--to love one another as Jesus loves you. It all starts with God. And, really, it all ends with Him too. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end. Love loves us so that we can love love back by loving the people that we come into contact with. All good and perfect gifts flow from the Father of lights. And if our heavenly Father is the Father of lights... that means WE are the lights. Jesus referred to Himself as the light of the world, and He referred to us as the light of the world. It's the same light. His life is the light of men. His love is what lights the way. Shows us what to do, and how to do it. So when you have--I started this Rant series asking my son what I should write about. He said giving to the poor. So when you have this desire inside your heart... that's God. You should always follow your heart. Every time we pass someone on the road with a sign asking for help... my kid wants to help them. And we can't always do it, but when we can... we do. It's the small things in life that are the big things in life. It's the little things that you can do... that you should do. Because they aren't really little at all. Sometimes they make all the difference. Let me say it like this: You aren't called to change the world. You're simply called to love. But when you love someone... you change THEIR world. When someone has lost hope, and then you show them a more excellent way, you restore something in them. You bring them back to a place they had given up on. A place that is so much better than this idea of the world that we have accepted. We have accepted that things are bad and getting worse. That it doesn't matter what we do because nothing ever gets better. But that's a lie. That's what the world would have you believe. In order to keep you right where you are. God doesn't want you to stay right where you are. He wants you to constantly and consistently move upward and onward. Upward and GOD-ward. He wants you to receive and release His love, and in that way improve things. Improve things for yourself, and for those around you. That's what love does. I spent a lot of time not too long ago Ranting about the garden inclosed. And about how everything that is needed is already in the garden. About how it is only when the wind (of the Holy Spirit) begins to blow that what's inside comes out and everybody can begin to enjoy it. So don't keep what you've got inside. Let it out. Fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Know it and believe it. Receive it and release it. Do what you can do, when you can do it, for whoever you can do it for. Don't despise small beginnings, and don't worry about the things you can't do. Just do what you can. Just be who you are. Give what you've got. By knowing and believing that you've got it. That's what love is. Love is giving. Knowing you have something worth giving... and giving it. Laying your life down for your friends. Letting what's inside come out. Helping people however and whenever you can. Just being the you that you were created to be. That's what this life is all about and that's what this life is for!