My sister has a sign in her room that says, "Do small things with great love." And when I saw it, it hit me in the heart, right between the eyes. Because I think sometimes we feel as if we're not doing enough for God. When the plain and simple truth is... God already did everythiing for and as us! I really don't like this idea of, "Jesus is my boss." Because that's the mindset of a servant, or a slave. AND that puts a sense of separation between Creation and creator. As if to say, "Jesus is over there bossing me around and I'm over here trying my best to do what He says." That's the Old Covenant. And even IN the Old Covenant that wasn't what God wanted. He didn't give the Law of Moses so that we could follow it and then get a pat on the head (Good boy!). He gave it so that we could see how powerless we are to follow it. He gave it as a school master to bring us to Christ. To get rid of our faith in ourselves so that we could have faith in HIM. But, again, (at least in my case) we always have this idea that we're supposed to be doing things FOR God. And that kind of mindset goes hand in hand with, "I'm not doing enough for Him." Look at Matthew 10:40-42 in the Message Bible, "We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God's messenger. Accepting someone's help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I've called you into, but don't be overwhelmed by it. It's best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won't lose out on a thing." The smallest act of giving or receiving. A cup of water for someone who is thirsty. The small stuff IS the great stuff! Meeting someone's need. That's what love is all about. That's what Jesus did in His earth walk ministry. And He went to degrees that "religious folk" would probably condemn these days. He went to parties and when the booze was running out He turned water into wine to keep the party going! He didn't condemn people for drinking and having fun. He loved people unconditionally. (And I'm not advocating drinking. I'm just saying we don't always have to be the sheriffs of the Kingdom. If somebody wants to do something, they're probably going to do it. And if you condemn them... then you've lost them.) If we slow down and really focus on connecting with each other on a personal level we won't get overwhelmed. We'll experience the RELATIONSHIP that IS eternal life. We'll be able to be loved and to love with that same love... because we aren't running around trying to "save the world." You weren't called to be a world saver or a history maker. You were called to be a Son. Called to receive and release the love of your Father!

Here's what I think I'm trying to say about the straight and narrow way: You don't GET on the way by what you do. Jesus got you on the way when He took up abode in you. Because He IS the Way (and the Truth, and the Life). The way isn't somthing we walk out (in our own power). The way is something that we walk in by believing. We walk by faith and not by sight, remember? What you do doesn't dictate where you are. Where you are dictates what you do. Look at 1 John 3:7, "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." And I can see the "religious folk" interpreting the verse like this, "See? You have to do righteousness in order to be righteous!" But that's not what it says. It says faith without works is dead. It says if you do righteousness... it's because you ARE righteous. Not the other way around. That's why John added, "even as he is righteous." What we do flows from what we believe. It flows from who we are. Our actions don't define us. Our identity defines us. That's why it's so important that--through the Holy Spirit--we listen to what our Father says about us. HIS opinion is the one that matters. And His opinion is that we are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Jesus became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Our righteousness doesn't come from what WE do, it comes from what HE did on the cross. And BECAUSE we are righteous... we DO righteousness. Because we are already ON the straight and narrow way--you know, the one that leads to LIFE--we are free to live. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is LIBERTY. The Law constricts and condemns and tries to keep us in a box of does and don'ts (mostly don'ts...). But Jesus came that we might have LIFE and have it more ABUNDANTLY. He didn't come to stop us from living. He came because we were already dead and we needed to be made alive! That's what the Way is... it's love. A life of love. What's in us coming out of us as we believe it and receive it and release it. And here's how I want to end this Rant series: I was wondering why the way was narrow when love is literally the biggest, greatest, most ever-expanding force in all of the universe. And here's what Daddy said, "It's narrow because you can't receive it except through revelation." We think a lot of crazy things about love. That's why I'm currently preaching the year of love every Wednesday. Because we need to explore what it REALLY is so that we can understand the true nature of God. The true nature of ourselves. So that we can understand the straight and narrow path that we're on. So we can know what it means to be loved unconditionally, and so that we can love each other that same way. I hear people say "there's only one way to God." And I agree. But to me, that one way is love. It's the Way of Grace that Jesus made on the cross. And we respond to that Way with the Walk of Faith. By believing what is true. By receiving and releasing the love of God that lives in us!

When Jesus finished the work on the cross He made the Way of Grace available to us. He put us on the highway of holiness... by filling us with HIS holiness. By filling us with Himself. And we respond to this Way with the Walk of Faith. Not by walking in our own strength, or our own power, but walking by faith. By knowing and believing that the work is finished. Because when you know and believe that the work is finished--that JESUS finished the work--then you can stop with the works and labor and you can rest. And I know I always say this, but I'm going to say it again: Rest is not inactivity. Resting in Him who finished the work doesn't mean you do nothing. It simply means you let Him do whatever He wants to do in and through and as you. I've preached and Ranted on this a lot, but really it's the difference between, "walking it out," which we try to do in our own power, and, "walking IN it," which is what Isaiah 30:21 literally commands us to do: "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." And notice this... the Word comes from BEHIND us. Because the finished work is not in our future, it's in our past. The work IS finished. And, really, it has been finished from the foundation of the world. The cross simply brought it to fulness, completion, and manifestation. Notice also that the Word doesn't punish us when we stray from the path. It redirects us. It speaks of our identity, and builds our faith by testifying of Jesus (who IS our true identity). That's what the Apostle Paul did in his letters to the churches. He said, "There's some stuff going on that shouldn't be going on. Here's who you really are and here's what Jesus did to SHOW you (transform you...conform you) who really are. I'm convinced the only way we can walk this straight and narrow path that leads to life is by knowing who it is that's really walking. It's not us trying to follow in Jesus' foot steps. It's Jesus making His own foot steps in our feet. It's Jesus (who IS the Way) walking the Way with our feet. It's not what we do. It's who we are. And who we are... is Jesus. Who we are is God in the flesh. Love in a body. And--you knew I was going to get here eventually, right?--that's what it's all about. This straight and narrow path isn't about following a bunch of rules so you can be society's idea of "good" or "holy." This straight and narrow path (that, again, lead to LIFE) is love. That's who Jesus is, so that must be what the Way is. It's love. Love leads to life because to live is to love and to love is to love. We always think of it as denying fun (because if it's fun it must be a sin, right?) so that we can get to heaven when we die. But that's NOT what Jesus came to do. He came to give us LIFE and that more abundantly. An abundant life is a life filled with love. And when we stray off the straight and narrow path--when we do anything other than love--that's when the Word redirects us. That's when the Word reminds us that we ARE loved and that we are LOVE. THAT'S the path, and all we have to do is walk in it. Know it and believe it. Receive it and release it!

The straight and narrow path... the straight gate and the narrow way that IS Jesus... the highway of holiness... does NOT come from trying (and inevitably failing) to keep the Law of Moses. The Apostle Paul put it like this, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Really think about that for a second: When you're under the Law... sin has dominion over you! Some "religious" people seem to think that if you follow the Law you'll be free from sin. But in actuality, the opposite is true! Because the Law can only point out what you do wrong. It can't help you do right. It's the government of condemnation. And there is NO condemnation in Christ! Why? Because we are not called to try to live Jesus' life by following the Law. As a matter of fact--and I know this is a big can of worms to open--Jesus didn't even keep the Law! And isn't it interesting that Jesus, who broke the Law by healing people on the Sabbath (among other things) is referred to as Him, "...who knew no sin..." (2 Corinthians 5:21)? Jesus KNEW no sin because He KNEW who He was! Sin is unbelief. Sin is the erronous belief that God will only love me if I do the right things. And Jesus knew that His heavenly Father loved Him... not because of what He DID, but because of WHO HE IS. That's the New Covenant in a nutshell. God no longer remembers our sins and iniquities. He washed us clean with His blood. He made us new. He fulfilled the Law and put it away, establishing a New Covenant that isn't about Laws you keep... but IS about a life that keeps you! So the question is: If God is NOT an angry taskmaster punishing us for every mistake we make... what keeps us on this straight and narrow path? The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." Why do we do what we do? Because God loves us! The LOVE of God constrains us. Not the fear of God's punishment. The GOODNESS of God leads to repentance. Not the meaness. Let me say it this way: We stay on the straight and narrow path because we know it's a more excellent way. Like the love slave in Deuteronomy 15:16 we know it's better to live in Daddy's house than to live anywhere else! So we nail our ear to the door--like John did when he laid his head on Jesus' bosom--and we begin to hear the heartbeat of God! We begin to hear the message of the Holy Spirit from the inside-out: "I love you, I love you, I love you." And that love constrains us. That life keeps us. We don't TRY to walk the straight and narrow. We simply respond to the Way (of Grace) that Jesus made for us (and as us) on the cross. And we respond to that Way with the Walk of Faith! Not by how we act, but by what we believe. Because we act OUT of our beliefs. We believe we are loved... and then we love!

Sometimes in order to understand what IS being said you need to understand what ISN'T being said. So. I'm NOT saying you can do whatever you want and there are no consequences. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right? Newton's third law of physics? Everything you do is important and everything you do matters. It effects things. But what I AM saying is that if you focus on trying to "fix" your actions you will always be working and laboring and you will never be able to get where you want to go. Instead of focusing on our actions, we need to focus on our beliefs. Because what we DO flows from what we BELIEVE. That's why I can say, "It's not laws you keep. It's a life that keeps you." See, the Law of Moses (which was never given to Gentiles in the first place) demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. That's why Jesus fulfilled that Old Covenant and established the New Covenant. The Law was never meant to be kept... it was always meant to bring you to Christ. So if you think following the Law, or keeping the Ten Commandments, is the straight and narrow way that leads to life... well, quite frankly you're in the wrong covenant. Now, AGAIN, I'm not saying you can do whatever you want without consequences. But the simple fact is: You CAN do whatever you want. That's the measure of free will that we all possess. We don't have to enter into life. We don't have to receive or release the love of God. The amazing thing about grace is that while I CAN do whatever I want... I no longer HAVE to do "sin." We seem to think "sin" is freedom, but really it's bondage. And it's a bondage that we have been freed from. Jesus IS the door to the sheepfold. He IS the gate that leads to life. But what He does is, He stands at the door and knocks. The door is our heart. Or rather--after the flesh (of human effort) is cut away from our hearts with the circumcision made without hands--God's heart is revealed in our chests. And it beats with love. We can only walk the Walk of Faith (the straight and narrow path) because the One who IS the Way lives inside of us! Look at Isaiah 35:8, "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." The Highway of Holiness. But notice it says the unclean shall not pass over over it and fools won't make it. What is a Biblical fool? The one who says in his heart there is no God. Or the one who says, "No, God." What I'm saying is: We can't get there on our own. Through our own effort. We can only walk on this highway because Jesus--who, again, IS the way--made the way for us. The way of grace. The straight and narrow path. Not rules and religion, but love and relationship. That's what everlasting life is: A relationship between a heavenly Father and His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased! Not pleased because of what we do, but pleased because of who we are!

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). I like this verse, but I think it's kind of tragically misunderstood. I think some people have taken this mean, "You have to walk the straight and narrow path--follow the Law of Moses--in order to get into heaven when you die." But... that's not what Jesus said. He said straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to LIFE. He wasn't talking about what happens when (if) you die. He was talking about LIFE. Abundant life. Eternal life. Everlasting life. Resurrection Life. And let's be clear, Jesus wasn't giving us a formula. He wasn't putting a yoke on us. He was doing what He always did--He was talking about Himself and the cross. He IS the gate (or door) to the sheepfold, and He IS the narrow way. This idea we have where we have to fit into a strict and religious box of do's and don't's... even if we COULD do that (which we can't) it wouldn't make us alive. I'm convinced that's there's a huge difference between "living" and being ALIVE. When God breathed life into Adam's nostrils he was a living soul. But that was the problem. He was living, but he was living in the soul realm. The earth realm. He thought--and, as always, when I talk about "Adam" I'm generally refering to "Adam and Eve"--if I get enough knoweldge of good and evil I can walk the straight and narrow. I can live this life through my human effort. I can earn my bread by the sweat of my brow. But, again, that's impossible. And it's not what God ever wanted for us. God wanted (and wants) us to have a relationship to Him. To live BY the Father. To live WITH the Father. To live OUT OF the Father. It's not laws you keep, it's a life that keeps you. It's not what you do "for" Jesus. It's what Jesus did for you and as you, and what Jesus is doing IN you. So why are there few that find it? Because most of us are sinners and are on the highway to hell? Or because most of us--especially the "religious folk"--are trying so hard to earn something that can't be earned that we miss out on the gift that was freely given? Look at Isaiah 40:4, "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." This is what happened on the cross. On the cross Jesus made that straight and narrow way available. He got all the bumps out of the road, if I can say it that way. The ground at the cross is level. It's smooth. It's equal footing for everybody. That's where our confidence--and our ability--to walk this Walk of Faith comes from. It comes from Jesus walking the walk with our feet. It comes from Jesus talking the talk with our mouth. It comes from us living His life by letting HIM live His own life in and through and as us. It doesn't come from works and labor. It comes from rest. It doesn't come from us doing the work. It comes from the finished work.

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14). Here's what I'm trying to say in this Rant series: We don't have to wait for God to move... because He already moved. This OLD TESTAMENT verse is, to me, really a prophecy of the cross. Because the cross is where God moved. The cross is where God strengthened "our" heart by giving us HIS heart. In fact, there is no verse in the King James Version of the Bible--in the New Testament--that has the words "wait" and "God" in the same verse. Because we're no longer waiting. What needed to happen... happened. And now we are equipped and empowered to rule and reign on this earth as kings and priests. Jesus strengthened our heart by igniting a fire in it. The Holy Ghost wildfire of love! And He ignited that fire in us by filling us with His Spirit--with His mind, His heart. We don't need anything except revelation. Because the revelation of Jesus literally reveals to us what we have. What we have and where we are and WHO we are and why we're here. And when we know--and more importantly when we UNDERSTAND--all of those things... that's when all of those things begin to manifest in our lives. That's when what is already true... becomes true for you! Jesus started the engine, if I can say it that way. And now we can put the pedal to the metal! Jesus said we would do all the things He did and greater things! He didn't want us to sit idle and wait for Him to do something. He empowered US to do something! The question of, "What is God going to do for us?" needs to shift to, "What is God doing THROUGH us?" And what He's doing THROUGH us is exalting Himself. What He's doing THROUGH us is manifesting His glory. What He's doing THROUGH us is expressing Himself. Expressing His love. Why would you need your heart to be strengthened unless you were going to use it? And what would you use your heart for if not for loving people? Because, as always, that's what it's all about. It's all about love. God created us so that He could love us, and so that we could love Him and each other with that same love. So that we could love Him BY loving each other with that same love. I'm so convinced that many times we get this simply truth screwed up. We ignore people because we think we need to "serve God." Serving people IS serving God. Jesus said whatever you do unto the least of them you do unto Him. We can't ignore the human element. We need to esteem each other. Help each other. Build each other up. Edify each other. Because when we do that... our fire spreads. We ignite that same passion and that same love in each other--not by demanding it FROM each other, but by giving it TO each other. And, again, to close this series, it's not something we need to wait for. It's a present reality. It's in us. And when we know and believe that it's in there... it comes out naturally!

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). I love this verse. But I think in some ways it has become more of a hinderance than a help. I think we've taken "being still" and turned it into, "doing nothing." And that's a problem. I think we've taken the idea of God being exalted among the heathens, exalted in the earth, and we've turned it into, "as soon as God exalts Himself things are really gonna change for the better." Guys... WE are the earth that God is exalted in! When WE are among the heathens--when we are LOVING the heathens--that's when (and how) He is exalted! He doesn't do anything apart from us. In Him we live and move and have our being and in us He lives and moves and has His being! So while we're waiting for God to do something... He's waiting for us to take what He's done and run with it! Jesus said it like this, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father" (John 14:12). The way this whole "Christian life" works is NOT God doing everything for us. He already did that in a very real way 2,000 years ago on the cross. The way it works is God doing everything IN and THROUGH and AS us! Look at Philippians 2:13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." It's God working in us. And that's where the "want to," the will, and the "power," the doing, of His good pleasure comes from. We always think we have to like force ourselves to serve God. But what God WANTS us to do is be still and know that He is God. What God wants from us is not for us to serve Him. Jesus said He didn't come to be served, but to serve. What God wants from us is a relationship. Not laws you keep, but a life that keeps you. Jesus already started the fire. And its a fire that consumes everything except itself. Like the burning bush in the desert that drew Moses' attention, this fire feeds on itself but never burns out. Love feeds on love. The more you love, the more you FEEL loved. But if you're waiting until you feel it before you do it... if you're waiting for God to do something that He's already done... then all you're really doing is robbing yourself. All you're really doing is missing out on what is available. There's a difference between "being still," operating from a posture of rest, and doing nothing. Rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Rest is what happens when you know and believe that the work is finished. You don't try to finish it anymore. You do the same works... and greater works. Because you're equipped and empowered TO love by BEING loved. And love is the greatest work of all. Love is what the cross was all about. Jesus showed us the greatest expression of love that exists by laying His life down for us. And then He picked it back up and gave it to us!

I like to think that the fire that Jesus ignited in our hearts is unstoppable. And, in the big, universal sense, it is. His government and His peace has no end. But, in the individual sense, this isn't always the case. There is so much more available to us than we seem to realize. So we rob ourselves of the gift we've been given because A. We don't know what we've got or B. We are trying to earn it. So while the truth is the truth whether you believe it or not... until it's true for YOU it won't manifest in your life. Let me say it like this: "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it..." (Song of Solomon 8:7). But at the same time we are instructed to, "Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). So while it CAN'T be quenched... WE can quench it. Jesus said it like this, "Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition..." (Mark 7:13). See, there's a more excellent way available. But unless we receive it it doesn't really do anything for us. We're waiting for God to do something when HE'S waiting for US to do something. He already did what He's going to do. We don't need a move of God. We need a revelation of Jesus. We don't need God to do something, we need to know what He did. And what He did was the cross. What He did was He finished the work. Watch this: Jesus said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled!" (Luke 12:49 AMP). That kindling, that igntion, took place on the cross! And because of that there is Holy Ghost wildfire running wild over and through and in the earth! The God who IS a consuming fire burned away all the chaff and continues to burn with a white hot passion of love for us! And all we have to do is believe it. All we have to do is mix the ingrafted word with faith. All we have to do is NOT quench the Spirit. The Spirit is always speaking in a still, small voice. All we have to do is listen. All we have to do is let the Spirit lead us. And how does the Spirit lead us? By testifying of Jesus! By testifying of our true identity! Not by saying, "Do this or else." That's not how the Spirit leads. The Spirit leads by saying, "Daddy loves you." And out of the love everything else flows. Out of that love WE begin to do what we were created to do--which is to be loved and to love one another with that same love. We can stop trying to earn God's love when we know and believe that God loves us. And when we stop trying to earn the free gift of eternal life... then we can start living it! Living it by letting HIM live HIS abundant, eternal, everlasting, Resurrection Life in and through and as us! Don't quench the Spirit. Stop waiting for something that has already happened... to happen. The fire IS kindled. It's burning in our hearts right now. It's on the inside and it's coming out all by itself. Not a beast nature but a love nature! Not God doing something FOR us (He already did that) but God doing something IN us! And through us! And as us!

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). When Jesus arrived on earth He brought something with Him. He is the King of kings, and you can't be a King without a Kingdom. He brought heaven to earth. He made the true and glorious creation of God available to us. And look at where He put it: The Kingdom is at hand. Or, if I can say it this way, the Kingdom is IN our hands! That phrase, "is at hand," is number 1448 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "to make near, that is approach." Jesus opened the door to the Kingdom because He IS the door to the Kingdom! And this is so amazing to me. The root word of G1448 is G1451 which means, "to squeeze or throttle." The throttle is in our hands! And all we have to do is give it a squeeze! Remember yesterday we saw that Jesus ignited the Kingdom--ignited that Holy Ghost wildfire--inside of us. He did the work and put us in a position to enjoy the fruit of His labor. It was a labor of love and the fruit of the Spirit is love! Love, the thing that we have been yearning for since the beginning, is in our hands! The Holy Spirit is our love receptor, and through the Spirit we can receive and release the love of God. The love that IS God. He equipped and empowered us to live His life by giving us His Spirit. By giving us His mind and His heart. He brought us out of the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom! That's where we are. That's a fact, Jack. But, unfortunately, not everybody knows this glorious truth. Not everybody knows who they are (Jesus), where they are (the Promised Land), or why they're here (to be loved and to love with that same love). That's why I wrote The Answer Trilogy. Because if you don't know the answer to those three questions, then you really don't know anything at all and your life will be a constant struggle to find the answers. To find meaning. You'll bang your head against the wall, and all you'll end up with is a headache. Because God doesn't want, or need, or expect us to find these answers out on our own. It's called revelation, and it's one of the main reasons Jesus wrapped Himself in human flesh and dwelt among us. God doesn't expect us to "figure it all out." In fact, according to Job 26:14 (NIV) all we know of God is, "...the outer fringe of his works..." And I realize that's an Old Testament verse and an Old Testament understanding. I realize we have an unction from the Holy Ghost and we know all things. I get that. But at the same time... we don't understand everything we know. Oftentimes we wander around like strangers in the land of promise simply because we don't know what's available to us. That's why Jesus told us to REPENT. He told us to think differently. To let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. To use that throttle that's in our hands. Guys, we can't get any closer to God than we are right now. He lives in us. But we CAN get a greater realization of Him. We CAN receive what we've been given and begin to enjoy it. We CAN receive it and release it. Because it's at hand. IN our hands. Jesus already started the ignition. All we have to do is squeeze the throttle!