"It just needs a little elbow grease." That's our solution to most problems. Try harder. Make it happen. Force it to work. But that's an Old Covenant mindset. Jesus said, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). That's the whole mindset of DO in order to BE. The violence of human effort trying to take the Kingdom by force. But notice He said, "UNTIL NOW." Because when Jesus arrived on the scene everything changed. He wasn't a priest of the Levitical system of the Law of Moses. He didn't come to cover up our sins. He is the Lamb of God who TOOK AWAY the sin of the world. Sin, of course, being unbelief. He took away the lie that says you have to do in order to be. He brought us out of the bondage of sin and death and translated us into the Kingdom. We couldn't do it, so He did it for us and as us. We couldn't get there on our own merit or in our own strength. No matter how hard we tried we couldn't take the Kingdom by force. And now, because of the cross--because the work is finished--we don't have to take it at all. We can receive it and release it. We can rest. And I know the concept of "rest" gets a lot of attention in Christian circles. I know it's something we all desperately want. But it's not something I necessarily think we completely understand. So for the next couple of days I'm going to Rant about rest. Not because I have it all figured out, but because I write in order to figure it out! So this is what hit me yesterday when I was talking to a friend about rest: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly" (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG). Rest isn't something we just DO, or something we fall into. Rest is something we LEARN. Like everything else. I tell my three year old son Logan EVERY DAY that as long as he's learning and growing... it was a good day. And that's how it is with rest. We know the work is finished. And yet we still run around trying to finish it. Because we don't know what it means to rest. We don't know how to rest. And the only way to learn how to do that is to walk with, and work with, the One who finished it. To see how Jesus behaves now that He has finished the work. And here's the key to THAT: It's not Him AND me, it's Him IN me. It's Him AS me. When Jesus reveals Himself TO us, He reveals Himself IN us and THROUGH us. So we're not looking at Him and then trying to do what we see Him do. That's right back to works and labor. You can't force it. It's the UNFORCED rhythms of grace. So I guess what I'm saying is: Don't stress about rest. Focus on who you are in Christ, and who He is and you, and learn to let it flow. Stop worrying so much about what you're doing (or not doing) and simply begin to BE who you really are!

When the weight of the world (external forces) press down on us, it's uncomfortable. And when we know there's something better available, it can be almost unbareable. Which is why it breaks my heart when I see people settling. People taking what the world throws at them and trying to make the best of it. Because even the best of the world doesn't compare to the least of the Kingdom! This idea that we can pick and choose from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the tree of death) and have the good without the bad... just doesn't work. It's all from the same tree. And the only way to free ourselves from that vicious cycle of not being able to do what we want to do, and only being able to do what we DON'T want to do... is to get off that tree completely and onto the Tree of Life. In other words, "...be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2). And this has always been the best part of that verse to me: "Be not conformed." That means we CAN be conformed to the world. Which means we are NOT, presently, conformed to this world. We've already been translated out of the power of darkness and into the Kingdom. It is finished. It's a done deal. The point of Romans 12:2 is, "Don't go back to the world. You've already been saved. You've already been redeemed. Don't go back! Don't let the weight of the world crush you. Be transformed (into what you've already been transformed into) by the renewing of your mind. By letting the mind of Christ that's already in you, BE in you." It doesn't work from the outside in. It works from the inside out. Jesus said it like this, "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man." Not what goes in, but what comes out. Because you can't give what you don't have. It has to be in there to come out. And, because we are already filled with the Holy Ghost, there's no room for anything to come in and defile us. Jesus, the light of the world, said this about external forces, "...for the prince of the world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). Darkness can't affect light, but when the light shines, the darkness has to flee. So here's what I think I've been trying to say in this series: We don't have to carry the weight of the world all by ourselves. We can share it with one another. And if I take care of you and you take care of me, then neither of us has to worry about taking care of ourselves. And if we can stop focusing on all of the stuff that is screaming for our attention, trying to distract us or bring us down or crush us, then we enjoy the fruit of Jesus' labor. His labor was the cross and the fruit of the Spirit is love! The Kingdom within us is bursting out and nothing can stop it, or stand against it!

There's in a line in a song that goes, "I can't tell you what it really is, I can only tell you what it feels like." And even though, as believers, we KNOW what it really is--It is finished--it seems like so many times we get lost in what it feels like. We get crushed under the weight of the world. We let external forces define our reality. We run around trying to "change things" in our own strength, with our own human effort, instead of resting in the arms of the One who already changed everything. On the cross Jesus remade the world in His image: the Messianic rebirth of the world. And because of that rebirth, we were conformed into His image. That's why Paul said be not conformed to the world. Because we have already been conformed to something else. To someONE else. We were already translated out of the power of darkness and into the Kingdom! That's a done deal. That's not something that needs to happen, that's something that already happened. That's not something we need to do (or CAN do), that's something Jesus already did both for us and as us. So. We know what it really is. We know that we are IN the Kingdom, and we know that we ARE the Kingdom. And that belief, that faith, is what allows us to walk by faith and not by sight. Standing on the Rock (Jesus, love) is what keeps us from being shaken. Trying to follow in Jesus' foot steps will cause us to fall. Trying to change things that have already changed is doomed for failure. But letting Jesus make His own foot steps in our feet KEEPS us from falling. Resting in a finished work is what allows us to enjoy the fruit of Jesus' labor. And that's what abundant life is all about. Not about surviving, but thriving. Not about suffering for a few years and then getting to heaven when we die (if we were good enough), but about experiencing the days of heaven on earth! That's the difference between being IN the world and being OF the world. Let me say it like this, "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:9-10). Kings and priests to reign in heaven. Wait. No. Kings and priests to reign ON THE EARTH. We spend so much time trying to escape the earth and get to heaven that we seem to miss the truth that Jesus brought heaven TO earth! The Kingdom isn't somewhere to get to. The Kingdom is within us! And that means wherever we go we're in the Kingdom. That means the weight of the world is powerless against us because the Kingdom is ever-expanding. You can't crush it. You can't stop. You can't even hope to contain it. We have been filled to overflowing with the Kingdom (righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost) and it flows out of us (naturally) like a river of living water! So instead of trying to change things, instead of trying to overcome the world, and GET TO the Kingdom, we have been equipped and empowered to live in, and out of, the Kingdom right now. We don't have to take what the world throws at us. We have the unlimited economy of the Kingdom at our disposal!

The weight of the world pressing down on us. So much STUFF trying to bury us. Distract us. Control us. And listen, I'm not saying you don't have to take care of business. You do. Bills aren't going to pay themselves. The Apostle Paul said it like this, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). So I'm not saying do nothing. That's not what rest is. Rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed, Holy Spirit POWERED activity. And when you're in a posture of rest, that's when things can get easy. That's when you can shrug the weight of the world OFF of your shoulders, because you are not being conformed to the world, but you are being transformed by the renewing of you mind. That's when you can stop SERVING mammon, if I can say it that way, and instead serve God by offering your body as a living sacrifice. Not trying to figure out things that YOU can do for God--Jesus didn't come to be ministered to, He came to minister to us--but simply surrendering yourself to Him so that He can do whatever He wants to do in you and as you and through you. I think one of the reasons we get so caught up in the world is because we're focused on ourselves. Self-centered instead of Christ-centered. Selfish instead of selfless. Jesus came to serve. So when He does whatever He wants to do in and though and as you... when you're operating from a posture of rest... guess what that looks like: It looks like YOU serving others! It looks like--instead of trying to change your world--you helping someone else with the weight of THEIR world. This revelation came a long time ago: If I take care of you and you take care of me then neither one of us has to worry about ourselves. But we've lost this idea of community somewhere along the way. We've started looking at needing help as weakness instead of wisdom. Only if you can "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" are you a strong, functioning member of society. Well, according to Genesis 2:18, "...It is not good that man should be alone..." God created a helper for man. He knew that we are stronger together. And that's what love does. It holds things together. It makes an unbreakable bond. And since that bond is the Kingdom, and since the Kingdom is within you... the weight of the world cannot prevail. It cannot crush us when we are ALL holding each other up. Galatians 6:2 says it like this, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." The perfect law of liberty. Free FROM the unbelief that is sin. Free FROM thinking we have to do in order to be, and we have to do it ourselves. Free TO love one another. Free TO esteem each other higher than ourselves. When we all work together, the weight of the world isn't very heavy at all. When we're helping someone else we don't have the time, treasure, or talent to worry about ourselves. We don't NEED to worry about ourselves. What's outside might try to force it's way in, but what's inside comes out naturally. Works and labor don't work. But rest knows and believes that the work is already finished. Knows and believes that all we have to do is receive and release the love of God. The love that we are full of. The love that we ARE!

It's almost like we put more focus on the external (world) stuff than the internal (Spirit) stuff. Like we think, "If I just get through my to-do list, then I can spend some time with the Lord." The Apostle Paul put it like this, "But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife" (1 Corinthians 7:32-33). Now I'm not writing a Rant about marriage, but we DO understand that we (the church) is the Lamb's wife. So what I believe Paul is saying is the same thing Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." It's this idea of where we put our "Three T's," our time, talent, and treasure. It's this idea of God not wanting to be a PART of life... but God wanting to BE our life, because He IS life. And that, really, is our only defense against the weight of the world. Because the world will crush you if you let it. Not because it's mean, or malicious, or anything like that, but simply because no matter how hard we try we CANNOT do it on our own. And when we think there are areas of our life where God isn't... man, that's when we can get ourselves into BIG trouble. But I'm here to tell you that God is everywhere all the time. He promised He would never leave you nor forsake you. And even more than being everywhere all the time... He lives in you! So wherever you are, there He is! He moved into the neighborhood and He's never moving out. He made YOU into a house for HIM to live in. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The visible address of an invisible God. The Kingdom of God is within you! And the Kingdom is ever expanding. So no matter how much it seems like the world is trying to crush you... what is really happening is the light is shining and the darkness can do nothing but flee! Now let me clarify something: I'm NOT saying we should try to fight against the world. God SO LOVED the world that He gave His only Son. But I'm also not saying we should comform to the world. We have been transformed, and we BE transformed (into what we've been transformed into) by the renewing of our mind. What I'm saying is: we need to embrace the world. We need to shine the light of the world (that we are) and show the world that transformation that took place. The ever expanding Kingdom that is within us (that we, in fact, are) just needs to come out and then the weight of the world will be lifted. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The Message Bible calls it the Unforced Rythms of Grace. So here's the question: How do we let this light shine? Not by trying really hard to shine with works and labor, but simply by knowing and believing that the light (Jesus, love) is already shining in us! Because if it's shining IN us, then it shines THROUGH us. That's how we operated IN the world, but not OF the world. That's how we "only serve one master." Not by cutting ourselves off from the world, but by shining our light IN the world! What's internal comes out and effects the external! Then everyone can see the change that took place on the cross, and everyone can experience the love of God!

This Rant series is for all of us (me included) who find it easy to get caught up in everything else that's going on. Who find it easy to focus on external stuff. Who sometimes get buried under the weight of the world. And what we're really going to explore for the next couple of days is the truth found in John 15:19, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." We're in the world, but not of the world, right? I think sometimes it feels like the world is trying to bury us for that very reason: Because what the world has to offer no longer appeals to us. We can't just accept things as they seem to be. We know there's a more excellent way and we refuse to settle. This, I really think, is why we seem to struggle so much. Things don't "look right," if I can say it that way. And we spend a lot of time and energy trying to "change things." This is a formula for disaster. Because, the bottom line is, things don't need to change. Things changed 2,000 years ago on the cross. So if we're trying to finish a work that is already finished... of course we're never going to be able to feel like we're accomplishing anything. Like the thief and robber who tries to enter the sheepfold any other way except the door (Jesus) we are robbing ourselves. We are struggling against the weight of the world, when Jesus already rolled the stone away! We are trying to change things on an external level when Jesus changed us (past tense) from the inside-out. The Kingdom of God is within you. It doesn't come from observation--from observing the external Law of Moses, or from looking with our natural eyes. What things look like are NOT always what they really are. That's why we walk by faith and not by sight. In the world... but not of the world. Not compatable with the world. Uncomfortable with the world. And I'm not saying we should allow ourselves to be uncomfortable with the PEOPLE of the world. Jesus was a friend of sinners. The only people Jesus ever got mad at or turned away were religious folk. Because He knew they weren't interested in what He had to offer. But as far as the people in the world go... I'm not saying we should be comfortable with everything they do, but we have to accept them for who they are. We have to show them something different than what the world shows them. We have to show compassion, instead of condemnation. Grace instead of Law. We can't pile on, because the world is already burying and crushing people. People who don't know what's inside them. People who don't know who they really are, where they really are, or why they're here. Let me say it this way: The fire in us is always hotter than the fire we're in. The Kingdom inside of us--righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost--CANNOT be crushed by the weight of the world. And because of that, we can help bear others up. We can help carry that weight. We can share the Kingdom!

Here's what we (religious folk) seem to THINK freedom is: "I can do whatever I want (bad stuff) and not get in trouble." That's the problem they seem to have with the grace message. But here's what freedom REALLY is: "I'm not in bondage to sin anymore. I don't have to try to earn what I desire. I don't have to do in order to be. I am now free to receive and release the love of my Father." Look at Matthew 20:27-28, "And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." When Jesus was talking about saving us, or ransoming us, or freeing us... He linked it to our ability to serve one another. Our ability to GIVE, not get. And that's true freedom. Bondage is trying to build your own kingdom, so to speak. Freedom is knowing that you already live in (and already ARE) God's Kingdom, and simply sharing what you have (who you are)! I don't believe anybody WANTS to do "bad stuff." But that's the trap of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You get some knowledge about what to do and what not to do... and then you have to walk it out in your own power. The problem being, of course, that you don't have any power. Jesus came and fulfilled the Law of Moses because we were 100% unable to do it ourselves. Which was the actual point of the Law of Moses. It wasn't given so that the people would keep it. They couldn't. You can't. It was given in order to SHOW that nobody can keep it. It was given as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. You can't... but He did. And He did it both for you and as you. He brought you out of the bondage of works and labor and into the rest of the Finished Work. He did what we couldn't do. What we really wanted to do deep down... but couldn't. Remember Paul's description of the struggle under the Law? We can't do the things we want to do, and always end up doing the things we don't want to do. That's not freedom. We were slaves to sin (unbelief), but now--because of the cross--we are slaves to righteousness. We have been transformed. Conformed to the image of Jesus. Now instead of "doing in order to be," we do BECAUSE we be! What we do flows from what we believe. From WHO we believe that we are. From who we are in Christ, and who He is in us. And Jesus, more than anything else, was a servant. Not a slave trying to be a son, but a Son who was moved with compassion and motivated by love. A Son who didn't come to be ministered unto, but came to minister to us! A Son who was free to wash people's feet. A Son who was free to give what He had. That's true freedom. Knowing and believing that you are loved--so you can stop looking for love in all the wrong places--and loving one another with that same love. That's the perfect law of liberty, and the New Commandment. That's what it means to have passed out of life and into death. We're not trying to earn love. We're free to receive it and release it!

Here's the thing I think some people miss about the grace message: Just because we're not under the law doesn't mean we're lawless. See, the Law of Moses was contrary to us and against us because all it could do was point out what we did wrong. It was the government of condemnation. That's why Jesus fulfilled it and nailed it to the cross. He took it out of the way in order to establish a New Covenant. A covenant in which our sins and iniquities are remembered no more. Not so we can keep doing them, but so we can be free from them! Romans 6:1-3 in the Message Bible says it like this, "So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we've left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn't you realize that we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace--a new life in a new land!" We WERE in bondage. Then Jesus ransomed us and set us and free (and made us free). Not free TO sin, but free FROM sin. Sin is the bondage we were in. But, thanks to the cross, "Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living" (Romans 6:18 NLT). Think about that. Before the cross--under the Law--we had no choice but to sin. We couldn't do the good we wanted to do, and always ended up doing the evil we didn't want to do. It was a vicious cycle that no matter how hard we tried we couldn't escape. Because we were eating from the wrong tree. Not the Tree of Life, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We were trying to perform--in our own strength--and were failing miserably. We couldn't do it. So Jesus came and did it (both for us and as us). And now--because He became sin for us and made us the righteousness of God in Him--just like before the cross we couldn't do anything but sin... now we can't do anything but righteousness! Because what you do flows from who you are. Before the cross we were sinners (unbelievers) because we didn't have anything to believe in. Jesus gave us the measure of faith by giving us something (love) to believe in. He brought us out from under the Law of Moses and put us under grace. Under the perfect law of liberty. "...and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Corinthians 3:17). Liberty. The opposite of bondage. But, again, not liberty TO SIN... but liberty to LOVE! Because where the Spirit of the Lord is... there is love. And no longer are we under the bondage of the elements of the world. No longer are we trying to earn love by the sweat of our brows. No longer are we simply trying to "get away with stuff." We've ascended into a higher realm. A heavenly realm. The realm of the Spirit, and the realm of the Kingdom. The realm of being loved, and loving one another with that same love!

Bondage. Slavery. Working to earn something that can't be earned. That's what sin is. Because sin is unbelief. And by "unbelief" I mean not believing in Jesus. Not believing the ultimate truth of the universe--that the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands. Not believing that Daddy loves us just the way we are, and is revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us so that we can KNOW who we really are. That's the trap of religion. That's the trap of the Old Covenant. The the lie that the serpent hissed in Eve's ear way back in the garden. "You have to DO in order to be." That's man-centered and performance based. And it's NOT what God wants for us. God gave the people of Israel the Law because THEY wanted it. The carnal mind is emnity against God. It doesn't understand God (love) because it CAN'T understand God (love). That's why, after the Law had fulfilled it's purpose--bringing us to the end of ourselves, and to Christ--Jesus finished the work. He gave us His Spirit. And the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) more than anything else... is our love receptor. He is what allows us--equips and empowers us--to receive the love of God. To know and believe the truth. See, deep down we know everything. But we don't understand what we know. We don't believe what we know. Because it seems too good to be true. "Jesus did all the work and all I have to do is rest in Him?" That's almost unbelievable. It's so much easier to believe: If I do good I'll be rewarded, and if I do evil I'll be punished. That "makes sense." To the carnal mind. And that's exactly what Jesus came to do away with. He came to ransom us out of that bondage. To free us. And not only to SET us free, but to MAKE us free. See, Jesus didn't come to improve you, He came to remove you. He came to crucify, kill, and bury the old man so that the New Man could be quickened, raised, and seated. He came to pass us out of death and into life by showing us love. By giving us the ability to BE loved, and to love one another WITH that love. It's amazing to me that people look at a relationship with God as bondage, and "being able to do bad stuff without getting in trouble" as freedom. That's completely backwards. Trust me on this one: In our "Christian" walk we don't ever have to give up anything that we're not better off without. We finally have the freedom to shake off those chains. To lay aside the sin that so easily besets us. To be who we really are instead of working all our lives trying to be someone we're not. It's not about what you do. It's about who you are and what you believe. Because what you do flows from who you are and what you believe. If "getting away with bad stuff" is your motivation, then you need to think about what you really want out of life. And here's the spoiler alert: What you really want out of life is to be loved and accepted. That's what everybody wants. And that's what we've been given. That's the gift of eternal life. That's freedom. Freedom to be loved and to love one another. That's what it's all about.

Sin is not freedom. Sin is bondage. And sin is not what you DO. Sin is what you BELIEVE. Or rather, what you don't believe. If you don't believe that Jesus finished the work on the cross, then you will try to take the Kingdom of God by force. You will tryin to take what is freely given by violence (or human effort). Basically... the good that you want to do, you won't be able to do, and the evil you don't want to do is all you'll be able to do. You'll be stuck in the pit, if I can say it that way. Stuck on a hamster wheel. Spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere. Banging your head against the wall and only getting a headache. That's the trap of religion. It looks like you're working hard but all you do is wear yourself out. That was the problem with the Old Covenant: It demanded perfection without being able to produce it. It was the government of condemnation and all it could do was point out what was wrong with you. But watch this: "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:3-5). See... before the cross we WERE in bondage. We WERE dead in our trespasses and sins. We couldn't do any better because we didn't know any better (and you can't believe something that you don't know). Enter Jesus. We were trying (or thought we were trying) to get up to Him. But in order for it to work He had to come down to us. He wrapped Himself in flesh. He met us right where we were at. He said, "You can't do it. But it's ok. Because I'm going to do it for you, and I'm going to do it as you." Then He redeemed us. He fulfilled the Law. He met every obligation it could put on us. He ransomed us. He freed us. And then He put the Law aside because it was contrary to us and against us. The word, "bondage" in our Galatians passage is number 1402 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to enslave (literally or figuratively)." We WERE slaves to elements of the world. Before the cross we had this old man, beast nature, and there was nothing we could do to rise above it. It took Jesus dying (again, both for us and as us) to bury that old man. To get rid of him. To empty us out of all the old so that we could be filled with something new. And the something new... is Jesus Himself. The New Man. The New Creation. Not a slave, but a Son. Not a beast nature, but the love nature! Now we are free to do what we REALLY want to do. And what we REALLY want to do is be loved and love. What we REALLY want to do is not, "do bad stuff and get away with it." That's not freedom. That's bondage. That's selfish. Freedom is not getting (especially since we already have it all and don't need to get anything). Freedom is giving. Love is giving. And it's all about love!