It seems like we're always waiting for something. Always waiting for God to move. We never want to do anything ourselves, but we want to God to do everything for us. And then we end up blaming God when things go wrong. I've heard the question so many times, "How could a good God do this?" Or, "How could a good God let that happen?" Or, on the flip side, we blame the devil for everything. "The devil made me do it." Or, "The devil's really fighting me." The key seems to be that either way we don't want (or take) any responsiblity. We're waiting. It's not us. It's... fill in the blank. And listen, there WAS a time when waiting was appropriate. In fact, up until the cross that was one of the best things anybody could do. Because before the cross waiting for a move of God was appropriate. But then the cross happened. God moved. And when He moved... He moved INTO us! We don't need a move of God. We need a revelation of Jesus. Jesus--and the finished work of the cross--IS the move of God that everybody was waiting for. Now, because of the cross, we don't have to wait anymore. We have been equipped and empowered to rule and reign as kings and priests on the earth. Let me say it another way, "'I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama--compared to him I'm a mere stagehand--will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out'" (Matthew 3:11 MSG). Logan, at three, understands the rules of a race. You wait until the starter says, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Then you rev it up. Then the race starts and you put the pedal to the metal! I guess what I'm trying to say is... stop waiting for what has already happened to happen! In our verse in Matthew, John the Baptist was telling the people 2,000 years ago what was about to immediately come to pass. And I love how the Message Bible puts it. Instead of saying Jesus would baptize us with fire it says Jesus will ignite the kingdom life (a fire) within us! Jesus is the driver who started the engine! He lives in and through and as us. He ran the race. He won the war to end all wars. He finished the work. We don't have to wait anymore... for anything. The only part of this finished work that SEEMS unfinished is the Holy Spirit changing us from the inside out. Because while in once sense He already HAS changed us, in another sense it is a life-long journey of "changing." Or rather, of discovering the change that took place. What really happens isn't that we change more and more. What really happens is that the change comes out more and more! It manifests more and more. That's what's so glorious about this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life; it isn't something to "get." It's something we have. It isn't something to earn. It was freely given when Jesus laid His life down both for us and as us (and when He picked His life back up both for us and as us). It's here. It's now. It's available. Stop waiting and start your engines!

The cry of our heart: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). God's promise to us: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19). This all happened on the cross. The cry of our heart was answered when God gave us HIS heart. He made us new. A new heaven and a new earth. A new mind (or heart) and a new body. New on the inside equals new on the outside. Because what's in you is what comes out of you. What you know, and believe, and confess, is what manifests. The important thing to realize though, is that while (in a sense) God is constantly renewing things... in a grander sense He has ALREADY made all things new. The kingdoms of the world ARE BECOME (have become, and are becoming) the Kingdom(s) of Christ. When we look in the mirror with an unveiled face and behold the glory of the Lord, we are changed into that same image from glory to glory. We start at glory. We start at, "complete in Him." Because let me ask you this: How much more perfect could you be than to have the Perfect One living inside you? Our perfection (or completeness) doesn't come from our behavior. You don't act a certain way and then say, "Wow, I must finally be complete. I turned over that new leaf. I've arrived." No. You realize that you ARE complete, you realize that you HAVE arrived, and then you stop trying and start resting. When you stop trying to be Jesus, that's when Jesus can be Himself in and through and as you. I'm telling you, nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. Nobody can live up to the standard of the Law of Moses because the Law demands perfection without being able to produce it. The Law is the Old Covenant... and if ALL THINGS have been made new then that means we aren't IN the Old Covenant anymore. The cross crossed out the Old (fulfilled it and put it away) and brought forth the New. And the New Covenant IS the new creation that we are in Him. The New Covenant is: Jesus took away your sins, and forgave your sins, and forgot about your sins... so you're no longer a sinner. There is no condemnation in Christ. There is no OLD in Christ. All of that stuff passed away. The Old Man was buried when Jesus was buried, and when Jesus rose back to life ONLY the New Man rose with Him and as Him. We have to let go of that which is dead and buried. We have to lay aside the sin (or unbelief) that so easily besets us. And, because of the finished work of the cross, we CAN let it go. We CAN lay it aside. We CAN keep our affections on things above and not on things on the earth. Because WE have been made new. And all of creation is just groaning and waiting for us to manifest. For what's in us (the light, the Spirit, the fire, the LOVE that IS God) to come out of us like a river of living water. And guess what: If all your life you've yearned for love... and now you know and believe that you are loved... that's new. That's the whole point. That's what it's all about. The love of God filling us to overflowing so that we can BE loved and so that we can love one another WITH that love!

I love this idea of a new day. A fresh start. It's so hopeful. And here's my thoughts on hope. Let me link two verses together: "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12). And, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). See, this glorious transformation in which the old passed away and all things were made new... that happened on the cross. That's not something that we have to hope for. That's not something we have to hope will happen. That's something that already happened. Because if it hasn't happened, if it's deferred, then it makes the heart sick. I'm absolutely convinced that the cry of the heart is to be loved. That's what all of humanity wants, when you boil it down to the most basic level. And that's why people are so hopeless so much of the time. They're trying to get something that they think they don't have. But when the desire cometh--and it came on cross--it's the Tree of Life. Our hope is IN Him because our hope IS Him! And that's why the revelation of the mystery is so important. That's why understanding that before the cross Jesus--in ONE human body--was God with us. But now, because of the cross, Jesus lives in EVERY body. Not just God WITH us, but God WITHIN us. Christ in you is the hope of glory. But look at what the Amplified Bible says about that: "...the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the Hope of [realizing the] glory." We're not hoping the glory will come. We're not hoping Christ will live in us. We're hoping that we REALIZE what it means that the glory HAS come! Realize what it means that Christ DOES live in us! And that, in a nutshell, is what it means to be made new. No longer Adam, but Jesus. No longer a beast nature, but the love nature. No longer the old man, but a new creation in and as Christ! But if we're hoping that we'll get there someday... then we've missed the truth that we're already there. We are COMPLETE in Him. We don't need anything except knowledge. And I'm not talking about head knowledge. I'm talking about heart knowledge. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Hearing what the Holy Spirit is whispering in a still, small voice. Hearing what the heartbeat of the God is whispering in the depths of our being. "I love you. I love you. I love you." That's the Truth that the Holy Spirit leads and guides us into. That's what makes all the difference between what was (before the cross) and what is. Love is literally the difference between life and death. If you don't know and believe that you are loved, then you're the walking dead, stumbling along in darkness and trying to get something you think you don't have. But if you DO know and believe the love of Christ... then you are equipped and empowered to live the abundant, everlasting, eternal, NEW Resurrection Life of Jesus by letting Him live His life in and through and as you!

I've kind of been focusing on the bigger picture so far with this Rant series, but today I want to bring it down to the personal level. And I want to say it like this: You are not stuck where you are. God allows u-turns. It says so on my Bible case. Every day is a new day and there's a fresh start available to you. You don't have to keep going the way you're going. I think sometimes we take a step in the wrong direction--we make mistakes, bad decisions, whatever--and then the next thing you know we are running full speed in the wrong direction just to justify that first step. Or just to feel like we're moving forward, even though we're not. Here's what I'm saying: You can stop, you can recalibrate, and you make it new. That's what's so great about this "Christian" life. Everything that Jesus is and everything that Jesus did on the cross is available to us. We are connected to the source of everything--which is love--and all we have to do is let what's inside of us come out... by knowing and believing that it's inside of us! I read somewhere that the two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out way. That's what life is about. It's not about getting to where the world tells you you're supposed to be. It's about enjoying the ride. It's about being loved by the God who is love and loving each other with that love. It's not about taking what the world throws at you. It's about laying hold of the gift of eternal life that you have been given by your loving heavenly Father. This life does not have to be what it has always seemed to be. It doesn't have to be "the way it is" just because that's how it's been. Guys, it came to pass, not to stay! The old heaven and the old earth passed away. The new heaven and the new earth--the new Jerusalem--came down out of heaven from God. The Kingdom came when the King finished the work! He established the Kingdom. The kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdom(s) of God! We don't have to keep going how we've been going! We have the right, and the authority, and the power to release the Kingdom of God. That's what all of creation is groaning for and waiting for. We're always waiting for God to do something... when He already did everything He needed to do. On the cross Jesus remade the world in His image. He conformed US to His image. He changed everything... restored everything... made everything new. And now, in your own life, that newness, that freshness, is available. All you have to do is receive it and release it. Know it and believe it. The way of grace is available. All it takes is the walk of faith. All it takes to make what is true, true for YOU, is the faith that comes from hearing the Word of God. You're not stuck. You're not powerless. You're a king and a priest equipped and empowered to rule and reign on the earth. YOU were made new, and because of that transformation nothing ever has to be the same again!

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 11:15). All things are made new in Christ. This is what happened on the cross. Jesus brought the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. But look at our verse: The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord. Jesus didn't throw away what was already there. He simply made it new. Put it under new management, if I can say it that way. And the way it's phrased there, "are become," means HAVE become and ARE becoming. That's what the manifestation of the finished work is all about. There's something that's absolutely true--and His name is Jesus--and as He reveals that truth--as He reveals Himself--to us and as us and through us then what is true becomes true for us. When we KNOW and BELIEVE the truth, that's when it manifests in our lives. And I love this part too: Great voices in heaven were giving witness to the change that took place on the cross. They were confessing the truth, and that's when it became a reality. Now look at this: the new management that is the Lord ruling and reigning forever and ever... that's us! We were made new. We were drawn into Him even as He planted Himself (and His incorruptible seed... His mind... His heart...) in us. We are kings and priests with the power and authority and dominion to rule and reign on the earth. WE are the new managment. WE are what all of creation is waiting for. The manifestation of our true identity both in and as Jesus! In and as God in the flesh. In and as love in a body. Because it's all about love. Love is the new law of the land. God (who is love) is the law of our being. And the Holy Spirit is our love receptor. He is what allows us to receive and release this new deal. This New Covenant. This love. When Jesus went to the cross and remade the world in His image He got rid of everything else. He got rid of sin, and suffering, and death, and darkness. And He shined His light so that we could see what it's all about. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel. And it's not a freight train coming your way. It's the light of the world. It's the revelation that all things are new. You are new. You are not who the world says you are. You are who DADDY says you are. The world has no power because A. God is all-powerful. And that doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means there is no other power. And B. The world has become the Kingdom. The old heaven and the old earth passed away. The old body and the old mind were buried when Jesus became the old man (Adam) and was buried. And then He rose again as a new creation. And since we were in Him when He did it WE were buried and WE rose again as a new creation. The old rules don't apply. The New Commandment is to love as we are loved by Jesus. To receive it and release it. And now, because all things are new, we can do so!

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful" (Revelatin 21:5). I think this is an appropriate Rant series to start on New Years Day. It's a hopeful day. A day full of limitless possibility. The beginning of something. A while ago I Ranted about the idea of turning over a new leaf. And I tried to illustrate the truth that WE don't have to (and can't) turn over a new leaf. But we HAVE been grafted into a whole new true. That's the simple truth of the matter: It's not something we do. It's something Jesus did (both for us and as us) on the cross. Which is what Revelation 21:6 says, "And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." See, JESUS (He that sits upon the throne) made all things new. And I said MADE because in the next verse He told us--on the cross He told us--it is done. It is finished. When we try to make ourselves new, we miss the point that we have already been made new! And this is so glorious to me: God didn't say He made all new things. He didn't give up on us and try something different. He didn't try Plan A and then have to go to Plan B. Jesus IS Plan A. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the new thing that all things became at the cross. Jesus remade the world in His image. Mankind was created in God's image in the beginning. But because man didn't know what God looked like, man didn't know what HE looked like. So on the cross man (who was already created in God's image) was CONFORMED to the image of Jesus. He was made new. He wasn't discarded, He was redeemed! And not just man; all things. Jesus remade the WORLD in His image. Everything. That's why all of creation is groaning and waiting for the manifestation of the Son(s) of God. Because we shape our reality by what we believe... by what we say, or confess. We have the power and the authority to rule and reign on the earth. What we release into the earth is what we HAVE in the earth. Because what's in us comes out of us. And, with this conformation of our true identity as Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body--what's in us (what we KNOW and BELIEVE is in us) is love. That's the new thing that Jesus made all things. Jesus is all in all. There's nothing that was made that wasn't made by Him. And what He made... is Himself. Himself in us and through us and as us. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there really are limitless possibilities. Limitless opportunities--not to make ourselves new, but to be who we really are. Limitless opportunities to love. To release what we have received. To truly live the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life that is the love relationship between the Father and the Son, simply by letting Jesus--letting love--do whatever He wants to do in and through and as us!

Let me say it like this: First God made the Way of Grace. This is Jesus--He literally IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus came down to the earth (bringing heaven with Him) and prepared us for a relationship with God by showing us the Father. That was God's part of the deal. Our part is the Walk of Faith. And that's what eating the Passover Lamb--with our shoes on our feet and our loins (or minds... the mind of Christ) girded--prepares us for. Because what's in you comes out of you. If you want the life of Jesus to manifest in AND AS your life, then you have to have that life inside you. You have to know and believe the love of Christ. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in. He is the Spirit of Truth and He leads and guides us into all truth. He lets us know how prepared we are by testifying of Jesus. Testifying of the finished work. Letting us know who God is, and who we are. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Because we are dead and our lives are hid in Him. So in order to find ourselves, we have to look to Him. We have to look in the mirror with an unveiled face in order to see the glory of God (in us) and when we see it... we be it. When we see that glory we are changed into the same image FROM glory to glory. But the key is that when we look in the mirror we see ourselves. We see our TRUE selves. We see Jesus. Preparing to live Jesus' life really means preparing to let Him live His own life in and through and as us. That's the mystery that has been revealed--Christ in you the hope of glory. The hope of REVEALED glory. The hope that is not deferred (because hope deferred makes the heart sick) but the hope that was realized at the cross. Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. It is the manifestation of what is true. And that's why our part is the Walk of Faith. Jesus did the work. When we BELIEVE that the work is finished, that's when (and how) we can enjoy the fruit of His labor. And the fruit of Jesus' labor--the fruit of the Spirit--is love. That's what this is all about. That's what the Holy Spirit prepares us for. It prepares us to BE LOVED by God. He always has and always will love us. That's not in question. That's not just what God does. That's who God is. But there's a difference between God loving us and us BEING loved by Him. And the difference is knowing and believing. Somebody can give you a gift, but if you don't know about it, or if you don't believe it, then you can't enjoy it. God's wants us to enjoy this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. That's why Jesus gave us His Spirit. That's why Jesus showed us the Father. To prepare us for this journey of life. To prepare us to love by showing us that we ARE loved. That we are LOVE. So when we study to shew ourselves approved, we aren't trying to GET approved. We are showing (ourselves) that we ARE approved. We are seeing what is true, and that truth is manifesting in and through and as us!

The way we prepare to live this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is by finding out what it means that Jesus is living HIS abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life in and through us! See, we're not trying to live Jesus' life. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. So it's imperative that we understand that we ARE Jesus. That He lives in, and through, and as us. And in order to prepare for that type of unity with the God who is love, we have to let the mind of Christ that's already in us BE in us. The people of Israel ate the Passover Lamb with their shoes on their feet and their loins girded. 1 Peter 1:13 connected the girding up to the mind--the mind of Christ. And the mind of Christ, or the Holy Spirit, prepares us for this relationship with our heavenly Father by testifying of Jesus (our true identity as the beloved Son of God in whom He is well pleased). We saw yesterday that John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus and then Jesus prepared the way for us. And now we prepare ourselves simply by knowing and believing the truth of the gospel. We prepare ourselves by receiving and releasing the love of the Father. That's what this (I'll say it again) abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is all about! To live is to love and to love is to live. So how do we prepare to live? By letting God love us. That was the biggest difference between Adam and Jesus. Adam was the son of God. Jesus was (and is) the BELOVED Son of God. Not because God didn't love Adam. Of course He did. God IS love. But because Adam didn't know God loved him. Adam believed the lie that said he had to do something in order to be like God. Whereas Jesus knew exactly who He was (and is) and He knew exactly who God was (and is). Jesus allowed Himself to BE loved of God. That's what the BELOVED Son aspect is all about. And that's how we prepare to love one another... by letting ourselves be loved of God. That's what Jesus said the New Commandment is: Love one another as Jesus loves you. Let me say it another way. You can't give what you don't have. So you have to receive the love of God before you can release it. You have to prepare to love by BEING loved. You have to know and believe the love of God before you can love with the love of God. Let me end this Rant with a picture of war. "Love is a battlefield," right? Well this is how it works, "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" (1 Timothy 6:12). Fighting the good fight of faith is simply laying hold of what we already have. We've been given a gift and now we must be prepared to RECEIVE that gift. We have to know what we have before we can enjoy it. And what we have is love. What we have (one more time) is the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Jesus!

Isaiah 40:3 tells us about, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." When it comes to the subject of preparation, we need to understand what we're talking about (girding up our minds, eating the Lamb in order to be ready for the journey) but we also need to know WHO we're talking about. This verse in Isaiah is not telling US what to do. It is prophecying of John the Baptist. John was the end of the Levitical priesthood, as he transitioned the ministry over to Jesus and the Melchesidek priesthood. That was a large aspect of the earth walk ministry of Jesus, a large aspect of the finished work of the cross; Jesus moved us out of the Old Covenant and into the New Covenant. Out of a Law you keep, and into a life that keeps you! So the preparation the WE do is a result of the work that JESUS did. God doesn't require anything from us that He doesn't first provide TO us. He created oxygen before He created a man who would need oxygen to breathe. He sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus... and He sent Jesus to prepare the way for all of humanity. Jesus said it like this, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:3). Unfortunately, in some ways I think this verse is very misunderstood. People think that the carpenter Jesus was going up to heaven in order to build a mansion for us--as long as we said the right words and did the right things in order to "get past the pearly gates" when we died. Guys... when Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us He was on the way to the cross! He wasn't as much concerned with bringing US to heaven as He was bringing heaven to US! See, Jesus understood something about heaven. Heaven isn't a location. Heaven is the mind of Christ. That's why Jesus was able to describe Himself to Nicodemus as, "...the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13), even though He was standing on the earth. So in a sense heaven IS the place that Jesus was preparing for us. But, again, not just a place for US to go, but US as a place for heaven to go! Way back in Deuteronomy 11:21 we (as the seed of Abraham, which is Christ) were promised, "...the days of heaven upon the earth." Heaven isn't just a place you go when you die. Heaven is where you went when Jesus died on the cross! Heaven is where we are right now! But I guess what I'm trying to say is that in order to LIVE in heaven--in order to BE where we are, BE transformed into what we've already been transformed into--we need to be prepared. We need to seek the Kingdom. And I don't mean, "Seek it because we don't have it, but we want it." Because we already have it. I mean, EXPLORE the Kingdom. RECEIVE the Kingdom. ENJOY the Kingdom. Find out what's available to us (prepare) and then manifest the truth (walk in it)! If it's in there, it'll come out. But only if you KNOW and BELIEVE that it's in there!

Preparation, Biblically speaking, is all about the mind. And notice I DIDN'T say it's all about the brain. When we're talking about a peace that passes understanding, then we're not talking about something the brain can comprehend. We're talking about the mind of Christ. The heart of God beating with love in our chests. We know that as we think in our HEARTS so are we. So if we let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us, then we can think love. And if we think love in our hearts... then we ARE love. It's all about love. And I've heard it said, "You can be as close to God as you want to be," but that's just not true. You can't get any closer to God than you are right now. The truth is, "You can be as close to God as you realize you are!" It's all about seeing, because seeing is believing. If you SEE the finished work... if you SEE the death of the Lamb... that's when what is already true becomes true for you. But I'm telling you, it takes a little bit of preparation. I understand the power of an unexpected experience with God--that's what Saul had when God literally knocked him off his donkey--but after that initial encounter we can't just expect to be able to do nothing AND grow and mature. 1 Peter 1:13 says it like this, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." This is a direct parallel to the eating of the Passover Lamb that we saw yesterday. The Lord told Moses to tell the people of Israel to eat with their shoes on and their loins girded up (Exodus 12:11). To me it's about the deep calling out to the deep... and the deeper you go in Him the deeper you WANT to go! I don't read my Bible because I think if I read it enough I'll be blessed. I read my Bible because I KNOW I'm blessed and I want to know how I got blessed, and what the blessings are all about. I read my Bible to find out about Jesus. (Now let me clarify something: It's more important to KNOW Jesus than it is to know ABOUT Jesus. The Bible is the best place to start, but it is no substitute for a relationship with the heavenly Father.) The Bible speaks ABOUT Jesus, but the Holy Spirit IS Jesus speaking in and through and as us. The Spirit is always speaking. But are we always listening? And this isn't about condemnation. I'm not saying you better listen up or else. I'm saying, if you WANT to hear then you need to listen. If you WANT what's available then it behooves you to find out what's available. If you want a greater revelation of who Jesus is--and who you are in and as Him--then you need to gird up your mind. You need to LET the mind of Christ that's in you BE in you. You need to prepare. You need to be ready for what God has you. Jesus told a parable about three dudes who were trusted with money. And one of them wasn't prepared. He dug a hole in the ground and hid what he was given. And it didn't produce anything. The incorruptible seed that is Christ is bringing forth a great harvest in those who are prepared for it!