Love is giving. That's my definition. "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me" (2 Corinthians 12:15 NLT). Giving everything you have and everything you are. That's what God the Father did when He gave His only begotten Son. He gave us everything. He wanted the best for us, so He gave the best TO us. He wanted us to stop perishing and to have everlasting life. So He gave us the one and only thing that could bring us out of death and into life! Look at 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." The difference between death and life is, in a Word, love. No love, no life. Know love, know life! Because love is giving. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So in order to give everything you have and everything you are... you have to know what you have and you have to know who you are. And the way we know what we have and who we are... is by knowing Jesus. He is our true identity: God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. 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." It is the knowledge of who God is in us that equips and empowers us to know who we are in Him. It the knowlege of who we are that allows us to BE who we are. It is the knowledge of what we have that equips and empowers us to use what we have. To GIVE what we have. And, again, what we have... who we are... is love. You can't love until you know that you are loved. We love, because He first loved us. You have to receive before you can release. But you receive SO THAT you can release. You fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with, and that's how what's inside comes out. Because whatever you believe is inside WILL come out. It has to. It's too big not to. Your belief in it MAKES it come out. Not by effort, but by faith. Whatever you put your faith in--be it the lie of the world or the truth of God--in what manifests in your life. So you don't have to try to make anything happen. What needed to happen... alreadly happened. What needed to happen... was the cross. That was when, and how, we (who were already created in His image in the beginning) were conformed to His image. That's when we stopped wandering around in the dark and began to see that the light was shining. The light of the world. The light of life. The light of love. The light that shines in order to help us see clearly. The light, which is the Word, which is love, that is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. It shows us where to go... by showing us who we are. It shows us how to get to where we need to go by showing us how to love. And this is so good to me--God shows us how to love... by showing us how we are loved. The New Commandment for the New Man is to love one another as Jesus loves us. So all we have to do is, one more time, receive and release His love. Let Him love us and love Him back by loving each other. Fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of the gift we've been given. Experience and enjoy that gift--of eternal life--by giving it away. By sharing it. By laying our lives down for our friends, and by understanding that we destroy our enemies by MAKING them our friends. It's not about hurting people who have hurt us. It's about loving people... because God loves us. It's about giving what God has given us. Giving everything we have and everything we are without worrying about how it is received. Simply giving it because it is too good to keep to ourselves!

When you give what you've got, you experience what you've got. And, since love is giving, when you give what you've got you experience love. I think that's pretty awesome. In the literal sense of the word meaning it inspires awe. I don't think there's anything more holy, or sanctified, or purposeful, or needful, or empowering than loving someone. Giving what you've got. And, again, in that way experiencing what you've got. Love is never about getting, because love is giving. We give what we have. We know and believe that we have it. We fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. But, since this is the Christmas season, I want to spend a little time on looking at what Jesus brought to us when He was born in that manger. Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." I really think this verse gets to the bottom of things in a very real way. What was missing before the cross... we peace and good will. Look at the state of affairs before the flood (which is type and shadow of the cross). "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). That's why the earth needed to be washed clean. Fast forward to the New Testament and Ephesians 5:26 says, "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." The Word is Jesus. The word is love. We HAVE been sanctified and cleansed. That's not something that needs to happen, that's something that already happened. 2,000 years ago. And, really, from the foundation of the world. So now that we have a clear understanding of the finished work (and the glorious truth that the work is finished) we can begin to operate in, and experience, this dimension of peace and good will. We don't have evil imaginations in our hearts anymore because God took that stony heart from our flesh and gave us HIS hear of flesh! He wrote His Law--the New Commandment for the New Man which is to love one another as He has loved us--on our hearts. Really, it is HIS heart beating with love in our chests. It is Jesus (God in the flesh, love in a body) living His life in us, and through us, and as us. It is God giving us everything we need so that we can give it to those people who we come into contact with. It is God filling us up with His love (with His Spirit, with Himself) so that we can fill ourselves up to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. And when I say "filling ourselves" I don't want you to think it's something you have to DO. We fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with simply by receiving it and releasing it. By knowing it and believing it. By fighting the good fight of faith and laying hold of the gift that we've already been given. It's not about GETTING anything. It's about using what we've already got. Giving away what we've already got. Love is giving. We need to really focus on having an attitude of gratitude. Not always lamenting what we don't have, but instead using what we do have. Again--receiving it and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. Releasing it by receiving it. Experiencing what we've got by giving it away. By sharing it. That's what this life is for. That's what this life is all about. 'Tis the season of giving. That's what Christmas is really all about. For God so loved the world He GAVE His only begotten Son. We love (we give) because He first loved us. Because He first gave to us. That means we have something to give. Something worth giving. And we have the ability to give it!

It is the season of giving. Which, when you think about it, should probably be all day every day anyway. Because our heavenly Father has already given us the greatest gift there is. Look at Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." That's it, man. The gift of God. Eternal life. And not just any life, but Jesus's own eternal, everlasting, abundant, Resurrection Life of love! See, on the cross Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us. He did that, but it was more than that. He also gave His life TO us. Because He wanted us to have it. So that we could experience it as He lives His own life--because nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus--in us, and through us, and as us. And in the exact same way that we are blessed... to be a blessing... Jesus gave... so that we could give. So that we might have something to give. Something worth giving. Because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. That's why it's so vitally important to know what you do have. To know it and believe it. To receive it and release it. To let what's already inside you come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. What you believe is inside you WILL come out. It has to. It's too big and too powerful not to. So the key, again, is knowing. Receiving. Look at 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." And I think the key to the whole thing is right there in the end of the verse. How do we fight the good fight? How do we lay hold of the gift we've been given? By professing it! By filling ourselves to overflowing with what we have been filled with! By letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Receiving and releasing the love of God. And look at this--you can't give what you don't have. So if you love someone, if you give what you have and who you are, that means that, on some level, you believe you have it. You believe you ARE it. Because if you didn't, you couldn't. If you didn't believe you were loved, you couldn't love. You wouldn't be able to give it if you didn't have it. Faith works by love. Love is what we put our faith in. Jesus said, "Have faith in God." That's our foundation. Our Rock. That's what we stand on in order to keep from being shaken. It's all about God, which means it's all about love. And love is giving. Love is never about getting, because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. So the key is knowing what you've got, in order to give what you've got. The key is being careless--in a very real sense--with your love. Not sitting on a high horse judging people in order to decide whether or not they "deserve" your love, but lavishing it on everybody you come into contact with. Love is not like anything else in the world. You don't diminish it by giving it away. You increase it by giving it away. You magnify it by giving it away. You multiply it by giving it away. And you are connected to the unlimited source and supply of it in any event. You couldn't run out of love if you tried! So don't overthink it. Don't worry about it. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. Just give what you've got. See a need and meet it. It's pretty simply. If someone's hungry... feed them. If someone's cold, and you have two coats... live out of your abundance and give them one of your coats! Do what you can do, for whoever you can do it for, wherever you're at. Everybody needs love. Everybody. So there are plenty of opportunities to give it. 'Tis the season!

Love is giving. So let's look at that for a few days. And let's start with Luke 3:10-11, " And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." What should we do? See a need and meet it. Live out of our abundance. Because notice--and this is important--John the baptist didn't say, "Give your coat away and freeze to death." He said, "If you have two coats and someone has zero... give them one. Now you have one AND they have one." I believe there is a lot to be said about ministering out of your hurt, or your weakness, or your experience. A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. If you've been through it, you know better than someone who hasn't. And if you've been through it, you know a way through it. A map is nice, but a guide who has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt knows the best way through. Sometimes because they've experience the worst way through. But my point is--it's not that hard to love people. It's not that hard to see a need and meet it. And, yes, sometimes people are too proud to show you what they need. Sometimes it takes a little work. Sometimes you have to build that connection. Find out where they're at and where they're coming from. But sometimes it's really simple. If someone is cold... they need a coat. If someone is hungry... they need some food. Basic human needs. And Jesus spoke about this a lot. Giving to the poor. That's what my son said I should Rant about today, so that's where we are. His heart has always been for those in need. If he sees someone begging on the side of the road he always wants to stop and help them. Give them something. That was on Jesus's mind and heart. A lot. For example, "Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the porr, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Matthew 19:21). If you want to be complete, or mature, or perfect... give to those in need. And giving to those in need--those who have nothing to give to you--is that pure, sacricial, agape, God love. It's giving simply because you have something to give. Giving simply because what you have will help someone else. Which, by the way, is what love is. Giving everything you have and everything you are simply because you have it and someone else needs it. Not worrying about what you get from it. Simply giving because you can. Think about that--in this world where people are obsessed with getting, getting, getting... taking, taking, taking... you can show a more excellent way. Freely you have received. Freely you can give. Once you have received... you have something TO give. And since it is the love of God that we are receiving, we have the best thing in existence to give! The thing that EVERYBODY needs. You can love unconditionally because you have what everybody needs. Like I said, it can take some effort to find the best way to love someone. But the other side of the coin is simply seeing a need and meeting it. If someone is hungry... feed them. If someone is cold and naked... clothe them. I've found that it is hard to hear a sermon and really get anything out of it if your stomach is grumbling because you heaven't eaten anything in a while. So we need to make sure to take care of people both physically and spiritually. And I'm telling you, when an empty stomach gets filled up... that can be a religious experience! That will really get someone's attention. That's the way to show people Jesus--by showing them love!

Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord. That's our motivation. That's why--and how--we do what we do. Do it to the best of your ability, because it's in your heart to do it. Let what's inside come out... by knowing and believing that it's in there. That, to me, is what it's all about. That's the secret, and the key, to life. Experiencing Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love by letting Jesus live it in you, and through you, and as you. A life of rest is not a life of inactivity. It is simply a life of being still and knowing that HE is God. Knowing that God is love. Knowing the ultimate truth of the universe that says, "God is love and He loves you." Receiving and releasing that love. Look at John 13:34, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love another." That's the New Commandment for the New Man. That's how we live this life--loving as we are loved. This life is all about love. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Those aren't just connected, they are the same thing. You can't have one without the other and you can't do one without the other. It all comes down to the heart. Keeping your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the issue of life. Which, again, is love. What else could flow out of your heart? God took your stony heart and replaced it with His heart. God's heart in beating in our chests as He tells us, in that still, small voice, "I love you, I love you, I love you," with every beat of His heart in our chests. All we need to do is listen. All we need to do is let what's inside come out by knowing and believing it's in there. That's how we do whatsoever we do unto the Lord. We don't worry about who we are loving. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. Let God love you and love Him back by loving the people you come into contact with. So let's take "deserve" out of the equation. Instead of trying to decide whether or not someone deserves your love, you should be getting to know them so that you can love them to the best of your ability. Because people love in many different ways. And people receive love in different ways. If you want to truly connect with someone, it's important that you love them the way THEY need to be loved. It's important that you get to the point and the place where you see a need in someone and meet that need. That's wisdom. That's compassion. That's love. So don't think about "why" you "should" love someone so much as thinking about HOW you CAN love someone. The heart is only concerned with love. Either trying to get it because you think you don't have it... or giving it away because you know that you do have it. Either way, you're following your heart. Everything flows from the inside out--even when you think you're trying to fill the inside with what comes from without. The problem is when you look for love in all the wrong places and run around like a chicken with its head cut off. The problem is when we rob ourselves of the gift we've been given instead of experiecing and enjoying that gift by giving it away. By sharing it. So do what you do heartily. As unto the Lord. To the best of your ability. Because it's in your heart to do it. That's what makes life worth living. That's how you experience Jesus's life by letting Him live it in you, and through you, and as you!

The issue of life flows from the heart. The issue of life... is love. If you're doing things heartily--to the best of your ability, because it's in your heart to do it--then you're letting love guide the way. It is God working in us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. I think one of the biggest truths we need to accept and understand is tha nobody can live Jesus's life... except Jesus. No matter how hard you try, in your own strength, you can't be anybody other than who you are. So the key is to find out who you are. Who you REALLY are. Which is who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Letting Jesus live His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love in you, and through you, and as you. That's how this whole thing works. Receiving and releasing the gift of God that we have already been given. Not trying to get anything, or earn anything. At my old church we used to say, "I have no lack because my God has no lack." We don't have to have that poverty mindset. We can live out of our abundance. Look at Genesis 12:2, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." God gives us what we need... so that we can give it to those who need it. God blesses us... so that we can be a blessing. We receive what He has given us... and we release it! We receive it BY releasing it. We release it by receiving it. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So if you give someone something (say, love, for example) that means that, on some level, you believe you have loved. You believe you ARE loved. Because if you didn't have it, you couldn't give it. So love is an act of faith. Believing that we love because He first loved us. Believing that we have something to give. Something worth giving. Something that others need. And, yes, everybody needs love. Especially the people that seem the most unloveable. They need love the most, because they aren't getting it. Because they're hard to love. So don't look on the surface. Don't judge by appearance. Judge rughteous judgment. Understand that "deserve" has nothing to do with it. Nothing to do with anything. Just love whoever you come into contact with the best that you can. Let the love inside of you come out without worrying about who, what, where, when, why, or how. And, listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't use wisdom. Love comes in lots of shapes, sizes, and flavors. People express love in different ways and people receive love in different ways. The five love languages, right? So, to me, the easiest way to do it is to simply see a need and meet it. If someone is cold, and you have more than one coat... live out of your abundance. Bless them with the blessing you have been blessed with. That's practical. That's where the rubber meets the road. That's simple. And it doesn't even always have to be a physical need. Sometimes someone just needs an ear to hear. Sometimes someone just needs a hug. Or just needs you to be there for them. To know that--even if you can't "fix the problem" for them--at least they don't have to go through whatever they're going through alone. I think lonliness is one of the hardest things in the world to deal with. It is not good that man should be alone. So get in where you fit in. Do what you can do. Do it the best you can do it. And do it for love. In love. By love. Because of love. A little bit of love goes a long way. Especially when people feel like they have NONE. So follow your heart. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing it's in there. Whatsoever you do, do it as unto the Lord. Heartily. To the best of your ability, because it's in your heart to do it!

David was known as a man after God's own heart, right? Which didn't necessarily mean that he HAD God's heart. On that side of the cross it was, at best, a type and shadow of what would be available after Jesus finished the work. So what we see in Paslm 51:10 is the cry of David's heart. We see that he was AFTER God's heart. He WANTED God's heart. "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Now, as a real quick aside, I think there is a lot t be said about that word "renew." Especially in the context of what we're talking about in regards to the cross. To renew something means to bring it back to what it originally was. To restore it to how it was always meant to be. So this idea that man started out as "bad" and needed to be turned to "good" doesn't always hold a lot of water with me. Man was created in God's image in the beginning. What needed to happen was not a change from bad to good, but a shift from dead to alive. We needed to be conformed into what we were created to be. Which, of course, is a big part of what the cross was all about. Stripping away everything that didn't line up with our true identity as the Son(s) of God. Burning away everything but the consuming fire itself (Himself). Purging us. Cleansing us. Washing away all of the surface dirt that hid who we really were the entire time. When it's dark out, it's hard to see clearly. But when the light of the world shines we see that we ARE the light of the world! It doesn't just shine ON us, it shines IN us, and OUT of us! So we don't have to cry out the same way David did. That's the point I'm trying to make in my roundabout way. We don't have to search after God's heart. Because we have it. And we KNOW we have it. Look at Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." That's the shift that took place on the cross. We traded our ashes for His joy. Our stony heart for His heart of flesh. And when we understand that we don't have to be after His heart--because we HAVE His heart--that's when we can begin to do things heartily. That's when we can really experience the joy of living from the inside out. Because we DO live from the inside out whether we know it or not or believe it or not. Whatever you believe is inside you will come out. It has to. Your faith in it makes it too big to stay inside you. So the key is knowing and believing what is really in there. Understanding that we HAVE a "new" (true) heart and a right Spirit. Understanding that what is inside of us... is God. Love! And knowing and believing that love is inside is what allows us (equips and empowers us) to fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. To let what's inside come out BY knowing and believing that it's in there. Receiving and releasing the love of God is the key to everything. The secret of life is receiving and releasing the love of God. Keeping your heart by keeping it open! Understanding that God HAS filled you with His love and then filling yourself up to overflowing WITH that love by loving the people you come into contact with. Doing things heartily (as unto God and not unto men) means doing things to the best of your ability, and because they are in your heart to do them. Letting love guide your way. Doing everything we do in love. Out of love. Because of love. For love. If you let love guide your way you will always get to where you're supposed to be. Love never fails. God knows the end from the beginning. He--love--will carry you through. And that's not something you need. That's something you have. That's what (and who) you are!

There are, in my opinion, two parts to doing things heartily. There's doing it because it is in your heart to do it, and there is doing it to the best of your ability--as unto God, and not as unto men--taking "deserve" out of the question. Let me say it another way, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The will--doing it because it is in your heart to do it--and the the do--doing it to the best of your ability. And did you notice that it is GOD working in oyu to accomplish those things? It is the God who is love that empowers you... to love. Because, let's get real, what else could come from the heart BUT love? I say nothing. I don't think the heart is concerned with anything other than love. I think the heart is extremely single-minded. What happens is that we don't always listen to our heart. There's this gigantic thing about "head vs heart" that's out there, right? The battle? Or at the very least the balance? Trying to make sure we don't let one rule over the other. Well... I'm not really sure where that came from, but I'm here to say that your heart ought to be in charge. And that your heart is the mind of Christ. So we're good either way. I'm here to say follow your heart, because it won't lead you astray. Now, as a caution, what this DOESN'T mean is that you should be that "fool in love" type of deal where you do nonsense in order to get someone to love you. Sometimes that sort of thing works in, like, romantic comedies. But let's be real--if you have to convince someone to love you, is that really love? If you have to beg for something, even if you get it, is it really worth it? But I digress. What I'm trying to say is--love WILL make you go the extra mile. But not in order to GET something, but simply to GIVE everything you've got. To lay your life down for your friends. And to realize that you destroy your "enemies" by making them your friends. My dad taught me a long time ago, "You can never be too nice to people." And, really, being nice to people isn't that hard. It gets hard when we start looking at the idea of whether or not they deserve it. Because deserve has nothing to do with it. You don't give because of what people give you. You give because of what GOD has given you. Look at 1 Joh 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." And, really, the word "him" is in italics, which means it was added. So you can read this verse, "We love, because he first loved us." Honestly, it works either way. Because we love Him BY loving each other. The point is that we receive and release His love. Love is giving. So you can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. God had to first give us love so that we could then give that love. Receiving it and releasing it. That's the New Commandment of the New Man--love one another as Jesus has loved you. Let His love (that's already in there) in and out. Keep your heart by keeping it open. Do what you do because it is GOD doing it in you. It is GOD working in you both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. He wants you to love... so He loves you. He gives you what He wants you to have... what He wants you to share. What He wants you to give. That's how God has always operated. He provides what we need so that we can give it to each other. He fills us up so that we can fill ourselves up to overflowing with what He has already filled us up with. He loves us... so that we can love Him back by loving each other. He loves us... and because of that, we can love. Because of that we ARE love. Because of that we can do whatsoever we do... heartily. To the best of our ability, and because it is in our heart to do it!

I talk about this idea a lot: How we should do things heartily--to the best of our ability, and because they are in our hearts to do them. So for the next few days I want to really dig into this idea. And what it boils down to, for me, is simply following your heart. But this can be tricky because sometimes we think following our heart means trying to get what the heart wants. And, listen, when it comes to decision making... a lot of the time we get really mixed up when we THINK we're following our heart. We look for love in all the wrong places and get twisted up and lost. Here's the deal, "Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). The heart is vitally important to this life. Out of the heart flows the issues--or issue, singular--of life. And I say singular because the issue of life... is love. What else could it be? The heart is only concerned... with love. What else could it be? And the way we keep (or guard) our heart is not by shutting it down. I think that's the natural first instict once you've been hurt. Shut it down and keep it from happening again. But here's the deal: Life dings us all. We all get hurt in one way or another at one time or another. That's just part and parcel to life. But if we shut down and hide from love... what we're really doing is shutting down and hiding from life. Because love and life aren't just connected, they are the same thing. The way you keep you heart is by keeping it open! Keeping it open to love. Not giving up on love... ever. Because love will never give up on you. Ever. Love never fails... because love endures. And while it might be a long and winding road, it ALWAYS gets us to where we need to go. Psalm 119:105 tells us that, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." If you have a lamp and a light, you can always see where you're going. And that allows--equips and empowers--you to get where you're going. If you don't know where you're going, it's hard to get there. But if you can see the path clearly, you can stay on that straight and narrow way that leads to life, even in the midst of the twists and turns. Life may throw you a curve, but if you keep your eye on the ball you'll be ok. And remember, every hit doesn't have to be a homerun. Sometimes you just need to get some wood on the ball. Small victories are still victories. Even baby steps forward still count as progress. And that's the key: Moving forward. Life will always try to knock you down, but if Jesus is holding you up (and He is) you'll always be able to keep moving forward. So let your heart be your guide. Do things because of love. Do things with love. Do things in love. Guys, for real, it's all about love. Love is what makes life worth living and love is what makes it possible to live. Because to live IS to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected, they are the same thing. One more memory verse for today, our key verse for this Rant series: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (Colossians 3:23). When our focus is on God--loving God BY loving people--that's when things get really simple and really easy. That's when the love God has put inside us can truly come out! That's when we can truly live!

When Jesus said He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, He brought something with Him. He brought the love of God. That love is what makes the abundant life... abundant. That love is the difference between life as we have always known it... and His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love! He took us out of where we were and brought us into where He is. WHO He is. Which, for the record, is heaven. He gave us the days of heaven on earth. So that we could experience everything He has for us. So that we could experience everything He is IN us. It's all about love. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Look at Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." When we had nothing to offer, Jesus gave us everything. Everything He has and everything He is. Simply because He loves us and wants us to have it. Simply because His life is more excellent than the one we were struggling through. No true parent wants to see their children suffer and struggle. And, listen, as a parent I can say that there are some battles I can't fight for my kid. Some things he has to go through in order to get to the other side. But having said that, I'm doing everything in my power to teach him HOW to get through those things. To set him up for success. To put him in the best position to succeed that I can put him in. I always quote the verse in Provebs that speaks of training up a child in the way he SHOULD go. So much and so often we spend all of our attention on the negative stuff. Even in the context of trying to get rid of it. "Get the sin out of the camp." But whatever you focus on is what becomes your reality. If you're constantly focused on the "bad" stuff, that's what your life will be filled with. What you feed is what will grow. What you starve is what will wither and die. So all you have to do is set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth. All you have to do is focus on the good--the God, the love--and watch THAT become your reality. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. You don't have to fight the darkness. All you have to do is shine the light. This little light of mine, right? I'm gonna let it shine. Just let your light shine. That's how you experience the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that is the gift of God! Not by trying to earn it--it's a gift. You can't earn a gift. You must simply receive it and release it--but by knowing and believing that you already have it. And experiencing it by giving it away. The gift is love. Love is giving. Jesus gave His life for us when we had nothing to give to Him. But now we have something. Now we have His life. His love. His Spirit. Now we can stop trying to get something we think we haven't got, and we can simply rest in the truth of what we have got. We can let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Receiving it BY releasing it, and releasing it by receiving it. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we have already been filled with by being still and knowing that He is God. Think about this--you can't give what you don't have. So if you make that first step and love someone... that means, on some level, you believe you are loved. Otherwise you couldn't even make an attempt at it. So don't be afraid of giving what you've got. That's how you experience it and enjoy it. That's how you experience the Resurrection Life that you've been given. You experience that life... by living. By loving!