I've heard people talk about "working" for God. Seen a bumper sticker that says, "Jesus is my boss." And while I guess I can appreciate the sentiment... our "Christian" lifestyle is so much more than that. Because, let's face it, most of us who have jobs punch out at the end of the day and forget that place exists until we have to punch back in. It's literally just a job. But when we're talking about Jesus... well... look at John 11:25, "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." What I'm trying to say here is that there's more going on than work and taxes. I'm saying there's more available to us than just "working" for God. He IS life. Look at Acts 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being..." I always say it like this, "God doesn't just want to be a part of your life. He wants to BE your life. Because He IS life!" Now what does this have to do with our vocation, or our calling, or the invitation that God has extended to us? Well... everything. Because that invitation is for us to live. Jesus came that we might have LIFE and have it more abundantly. He came that we might experience and enjoy His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. He came that we might know love. And in knowing love... in knowing that we ARE loved... love. To live is to love and to love is to live. If we have any sort of "job" on this earth--beyond what it takes to pay the bills, I'm talking about--it is to love one another as Jesus loves us. That's the new commandment, right? For the New Man. That's why we were created. God (who is love) wanted to express Himself. To us, and in us, and through us, and as us. He wanted to express love. And you can't love without something (or someone) to love. Love does not exist in a vacuum. My point is, if we live in Him, and move in Him, and have our being in Him... that means we live in love, move in love, and have our being in love. I can tell you, there are times when I don't want to do stuff. Times when I'm tired. Times when I'd rather be doing something else. And every single time that happens I have this thought--in a still, small voice deep inside me-- "Yeah... but you love them." And then I do it. I bend over backwards for people. Go the extra mile. Do things that other people won't do. And I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, or break my arm patting myself on the back. I'm simply saying, when love is your motive there are no excuses. When my knees hurt, but I still go for a walk with my kid... that's a labor of love. It's my calling to be his dad. And I endeavor to walk worthy of that calling. To do everything I can to be the best dad that I can. Maximum effort. While staying in my lane. Doing what I can do--what God has appointed and invited me to do--heartily (to the best of my ability and because it is in my heart to do it). It is the power of God working in us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. HE has put that desire to love one another inside of us. And, yes, sometimes that gets twisted and we think love means someone else should do for us. But love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. So don't look at your calling as a "job." Don't see it as something you're obligated to do, or something that you just have to get through. Embrace your calling. Do it because it is what makes you... you! And do it with love. For love. Because of love!

Here's where I think it gets a little bit tricky: "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Corinthians 7:21). And I say tricky--even though it seems really simple--because it seems like all we ever want to do in this life is get out of our lane. Be someone we're not. And I can kind of understand the rationale behind that. It's kind of like, "If you want something you've never had you have to do something you've never done." But we've twisted that stretching, that getting out of our comfort zone, into, "I have to be someone I'm not in order to get what I think I haven't got." See, here's the plain and simple truth: We are who we're supposed to be, and we have what we're supposed to have. God conformed us to the image of His Son on the cross. After creating us in His image in the first place in the beginning. HE did all of that. We couldn't do it, and weren't supposed to. You can't earn a gift. You can't be someone you're not no matter how hard you try. At the end of the day, you are who you are. So instead of fighting that, we ought to embrace it. We ought to let our light shine, instead of trying to hide it. Or instead of trying to shine a different color light, if I can say it that way. We need to abide in OUR calling. I need to abide in MY calling, and you need to abide in YOURS. Look: I can't do it all on my own. I need what you've got--who you are--and you need what I've got--who I am. Things work out better when we work together. It's all about harmony. Pieces of a puzzle fitting together so that the whole picture can be seen. Paul wrote about this when he wrote about us all being different parts of the same body. The body of Christ. And one part of the body isn't more important than another. They (we) all just have different tasks. Different strengths. Different weaknesses. And, listen, I've said this many times: Asking for help when you need it is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of wisdom. We're all in this together. If I can do what you can't, and you can do what I can't, then together we can do it all. Did I mention that things work out better when we work together? But when I don't stay in my lane... it's a two-fold problem. Because 1. I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing, so that isn't getting done. And 2. If I'm doing your part (badly) that isn't getting done either AND I'm robbing you of your chance to do it. So what I'm saying is: Just be who you are. Just do what you can do. Learn to say no. Learn to respect your limits. Anybody who would push you past what you're willing or capable of doing is not someone you need. And, again, I'm not talking about stretching. I'm not talking about doing more than you THINK you can do. I'm talking about--once you've given something (or someone) everything you've got... that's either enough, or it's not. I'm talking about knowing when to say when. Knowing that there are things you can do, and things you can't. And knowing that that's ok. Be you. Nobody else can. But don't try to be someone you're not. Nobody can do that, either. You vocation, your calling, your invitation, is not to put on a costume or a mask. It is to just simply and truly be yourself. That was who God wanted when He made you. So that is who you should be. Not someone else. You. Be you!

The thing about walking worthy of your vocation, your calling, is that you can't do it without walking. Rest is not inactivity. It is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the only thing the Spirit of love will ever direct you to do... is love. So our vocation, our calling, our invitation, is... at the most bottom line basic level... to love. Mother Teresa once said, "Do small things with great love." That's why we're here. Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." This is one of my favorite verses, so I try to use it a lot. But it fits here for a couple of reasons. Number one: Doing things heartily means doing them to the best of your ability and because it is in your heart to do it. And number two: Doing things as unto the Lord and not unto men. We get so wrapped up in our wrong-headed sense of "justice" sometimes. Figuring out if we can love someone based on whether or not they "deserve" it. When, in fact and in truth, deserve has nothing to do with it. Love is for all. For God so loved the WORLD. He doesn't judge us by our actions. He doesn't just by appearance. He judges righteous judgment. And, according to Psalm 149:9, "To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD." God gave His judgment on the cross. And it wasn't to kill His only begotten Son. It was to raise Him back to life. God's judgment was not a death sentence. It was an everlasting life sentence. And it is or vocation... our honor... to execute this judgment. To take what God laid out and give it to people. To take life and give it to people. That's the picture we see when Jesus decribes Himself as the vine and us as the branches. He produces the fruit and we bear it. We make it available to those around us. That's our calling. To be loved, and to love each other with that same love. That's why we were created. The God who is love wanted to express Himself, so He made us. Now He expressess Himself--His love--to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Now He fills us up to overflowing so that all we have to do is fill ourselves with what we've already been filled with. Now we simply have to let what's inside come out. By knowing and believing that it's in there. That's how we walk worthy of our calling. Not going around and deciding (on arbitrary ideas) who deserves love and who doesn't. But simply letting the love that is already inside come out all over whoever we come into contact with. I always say it like this: I like everybody, because it's easier that way. Holding grudges, and being bitter... man, that stuff will mess you up. Letting someone else live in your mind rent free? That's nonsense. Let it go. Let go and let God. Love them anyway. And find that when you love people no matter what... not only are you happier, lighter, and more free... but you're making everybody else and everything else better too. You're improving the environment. You're preaching the gospel to the whole world. That's what we were created to do. To leave things better than we find them. To walk by faith. To DO something that actually matters. And that something... is love!

I think one of the biggest struggles we have in this life is finding out who we are. Why we're here. That age-old question of "What's this life for?" We spend so much time and energy on it. Trying to fit in. Trying to stand out. Trying to be someone. Trying to do something. That's so much trying. And, listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't give this life your all. I'm a maximum effort guy. Go big or go home. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Where we get into trouble, where we struggle, is when we let exterior forces define us. We let our past define us. We let our mistakes define us. We let our own dim view of ourselves define us. What we should be doing is letting our heavenly Father define us! Look at Ephesians 4:1-2, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love." In other words, "Be who you are. But be quiet about it. And let other people be who they are." And it's that word, "vocation," that I really want to key in on in this Rant series. It is number 2821 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "an invitation." That's what I'm talking about when I say God is too much of a gentleman to force His will on you. He makes things available. He invites us. Revelation 22:17 says, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." It's available to us. It has been given to us. It's not, "Come or else." It's "come and get it!" Now watch this. Watch what happens when you come. Watch what happens when you take of the water of life. Jesus said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). And again in Revelation 21:6, "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." There's a clear invitation to us from God. Come. If you're hungry, come and eat. If you're thirsty, come and drink. And when you do--when you receive what God has given to you--you will also be able to give. Because you will HAVE something to give. Receiving and releasing. Letting what's inside come out. That's our "job." That's our calling. That's our vocation. It's you being you. Me being me. For me, it's writing. I'm a writer. And writer's write. That's what God invited me to do by equipping and empowering me to do it. For you, it might be something else. Be it teaching. Or playing music. Singing. Dancing. Playing a sport. Whatever it is that sets your soul on fire. That's what you were created to do. And that's what God WANTS you to do. It is the power of God workin in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He put the want to in your heart. And the ability to do that want to. So stop trying so hard to be someone you're not. Embrace who you are. BE who you are. Who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Doing what you do in love. For love. Because of love. It's all about love. Your calling, your invitation, your vocation... is to live. To love!

When you stumble, that at least means you were walking. You were doing something. Trying something. And that, friends, is a big part of what grace is all about. Look at 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." Growing in grace. Grace to grow. Once you think you have everything figured out, that's when you get stuck. That's when you stop growing. And, look, according to 1 John 2:20, "...ye have an unction from the holy One, and ye know all tihngs." We know the ultimate truth of the universe: That God is love and He loves you. That the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. We know what we need to know. The never ending life-long part of the journey is coming into the fullness of that truth. Testing the height and depth and length and breadth of that love. Experiencing that love by giving it away. Letting God love us and loving Him back by loving each other. That's what this life is for. That's what this life is all about. And the only way to truly fail... is to fail to keep trying. The only way to truly stumble is to operate outside of love. If you make a mistake out of love, it's not really a mistake. It's a learning moment. It's, "Ok. That didn't work. Let me try something else." According to popular history, it took Thomas Edison 1000 tries before he created the lightbulb. And when asked how it felt to fail 1000 times he said, "I didn't fail 1000 times. The lightbulb was an invention with 1000 steps." It's all about how we look at things. If we always get down on ourselves or beat ourselves up... we'll eventually stop trying to do anything at all. We'll stop living. And there's a big difference between just being alive and actually living. To live is to love and to love is to live. If you stop loving people just because they don't accept it (or for any other reason, really) then you're robbing yourself of the life you've been given. Robbing yourself of the gift of God. Look. We are connected to the unlimited source of love. The God who is love lives inside us. That means we can use that love lavishly. We don't have to worry about running out of it, or not having it because we've given it away. We can live abundantly. We can live out of our abundance. We can stumble... learn from it... and keep moving forward. We can trust God to keep us from falling. We can receive and release His love. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Experience it with every breath we take and every move we make. We can live a life free from fear and condemnation. We can walk by faith and not by sight. If you're on that straight and narrow road that leads to life you're on the right track. It may have some twists and turns but you will--for sure--get to where God wants you to go. Remember Jonah and the whale? God can be pretty persuasive. And I'm not saying He forces His will upon us. I believe we have a measure of free will. I'm simply saying He knows what's best for us and He really REALLY wants it for us. So if we're willing to show up, He will do the rest. It is the power of God working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. HE will bring it to pass. HE will keep us from stumbling and falling. All we have to do is take it step by step!

Look at 1 John 2:10. "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." That's about as simple as I can make it. If you're loving people, you're walking in the light. Walking by faith. If you're loving people, you're fulfilling your purpose in life. That's why you were created--to be loved by God and to love God back by loving people. It's really that simple. The problem we find ourselves getting into is when we get our priorities twisted. It's God and people, man. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. We need to renew our minds. To repent. Which means to think differently about something in light of something else. We need to think differently about... everything. In light of the cross. We need to see things cross-eyed. We need to stop getting down on ourselves every time we mess up. The only true stumble is not loving. The only true sin is not believing. Jesus took away the sin of the world (again, unbelief) by giving us something (somONE, Himself, Love) to believe in. That's why one who is born of God cannot sin. It's not about all these actions. Your actions flow from your beliefs. What you believe--and I'm talking about what you REALLY believe--is what manifests in your life through your actions. I'm not saying your actions aren't important. They are. What you do matters. What you do has consequences--be they good, bad, or ugly consequences. What I'm saying is that behavior modification is a stop-gap at best. It doesn't bring true, lasting change. Because if you're only doing something (or not doing something) to avoid getting in trouble... that means your heart isn't right. Everything we do should be done heartily--to the best of our ability, and because it is in our heart to do it--unto the Lord. That means deserve doesn't have anything to do with anything. That means loving people no matter who they are or what they do. Giving everything we have and everything we are no matter what. That's what love is. Love is giving. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing it's in there. That's why we were created. And when we live that life of abundance... listen. Sometimes things won't go the way we think they should. Sometimes we love someone as hard as we can and it doesn't make any difference. Or it doesn't seem to make any difference. Sometimes all you can do is plant a seed. And you might not ever see that seed grow. That's ok. Some plant, some water, but it is God who gets the harvest. Don't worry about it. Just do your best and forget the rest. Just do what you can do. If you're acting out of love, you can't fail. If you're loving people... you're in the light. And if you're in the light, you can't stumble or fall. Jesus can, and will, keep you from falling. And He will pick you up if you do fall. It's not how hard you can hit. It's how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Life happens. People won't always accept you. That's ok. Just keep doing what you can do. The world needs you. It needs what you have and who you are. So don't get discouraged. Don't get down on yourself or beat yourself up. Just keep on keeping on. Just keep on loving people!

We think we're horrible. I mean, really, as a people, we think the worst of ourselves. And usually of each other. We wonder how we could possibly be loved by anybody. Let alone God. Especially God. Because, like me myself, God knows every horrible rotten thing I've done. Here's the thing though: Love is not about what you do, or what you've done. Love is about who you are. And who God is. Paul writes at length about what could possibly separate us from the love of God. And his conclusion is... nothing. Nothing can seperate us from the love of Christ. God loves us because God is love. Period. You can't do anything to make Him love you less. And--while you CAN make Him proud of you--you can't do anything to make Him love you more. God loves you the most that anybody can love anybody. What we need to do is stop seeing ourselves in the worst way possible. Stop thinking that our stumbles and falls and failures and mistakes disqualify us or make us less than. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with an open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." I love this verse. It's one of my favorites. And my favorite part is the phrase, "From glory to glory." See, we're not starting at the bottom and trying to claw our way to the top. We have already been conformed to the image of Jesus. We are already who we are supposed to be. Ephesians 5:27 tells us that Jesus presented us to Himself as a bride without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing; holy and without blemish. We start at glory. We don't start at crap. And think about it--how could we improve if we didn't have what we needed TO improve? If it wasn't already there inside of us, how could it come out of us? The key is to look into the glass, or the mirror. Look with an open face, and see Jesus. Seeing Jesus in the mirror means seeing Jesus inside you. Seeing your true identity. Seeing yourself as you truly are. Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. We have that love inside of us. Which means it can come out of us. We are who we need to be. Which means we can BE who we need to be. One more memory verse. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). That's where we start. At glory. At the righteousness of God in Christ. And no ammount of stumbling can take us out of that glory. When you make a mistake, you are simply the righteousness of God who made a mistake. It doesn't change who you are, or disqualify you from God's love. What I'm saying is: Grace is a messy atmosphere. Because grace equips and empowers people to live. And living isn't something that fits into a box. Living is loving. However that needs to happen. Whatever that looks like. So don't worry about fitting into a box. Don't worry about trying to be someone you're not. Embrace who you are. The righteousness of God. The love of God. That's who you are. Do that. Be that. And don't worry about anything else. If you stumble, keep going. If you fall, get back up. Learn from it and grow. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus!

There's a quote from the Rocky Balboa movie that I think really says what I'm trying to say in this Rant series: "You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" See, we always judge ourselves so harshly. We are our own worst critics. Probably because every time we stumble and fall... we are right there. When we do the worst things we could possibly do... we are right there. We know what the worst things are, because we are doing them. But look at Proverbs 24:16, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." It's not about stumbling. It's about walking by faith. It's not about falling down. It's about getting back up. This life is hard. And this life is messy. But the only way to "win" is to show up. The hardest part about life... is living. But that's also the best part. Life is not a spectator sport. You get out of it what you put into it. As the old Beatles song says, "the love you take is equal to the love you make." Because love is giving. It's not about getting anything. It's about giving what you've got. Loving others as Jesus loves you. Receiving (which is completely different than taking) and releasing the gift you've been given. Sharing what you have. Giving what you've got by knowing what you've got. That's how winning is done. The only true failure is when you fail to keep trying. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. It doesn't matter if things don't turn out the way you think they should. What matters is showing up. What matters is rolling with the punches. A quote from a good pastor friend of mine goes something like this, "A setback is just a set up for a comeback." And who doesn't love a good comeback story? Tough times don't last. But tough people do. So don't let things wreck you. And don't let YOU wreck you either. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Ask yourself, "Is this worth getting upset over?" And, listen, some things are worth getting upset over. If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything. But if you get upset about everything... you'll always be upset. That's no way to live. Sometimes you have to just turn the other cheek. Sometimes you have to just let God (LOVE) hold you up. You can't fight every battle. And, really, the only one left is the good fight of faith. Jesus won the war to end all wars. The good fight of faith is simply laying hold of that gift that we've already been given. Receiving (and releasing) the truth that God is love and He loves us. That is what equips and empowers us to walk by faith. To stumble but not fall. And then, as we mature more and more, to not stumble at all. If love is the goal... it's attainable. Because God loves us. We love, because He first loved us. All we have to do is let Jesus be who He is in us, and through us, and as us. All we have to do is keep moving forward. Keep our eyes on the prize (which is Jesus, which is love, which is our true selves in the manifestation of maturity and perfection) and keep moving forward. And tomorrow we're going to look at why this is possible. Spoiler: Because we move FROM glory TO glory!

I really want to talk about this idea for the next few days because I think it's important. If you've followed the Word Without Walls ministry for any length of time you probably know that I love pro wrestling. And that one of my favorites from back in the day was Mr. Perfect. He was so cool, man. Those videos of him doing everything... well... perfectly. Whether it was shooting pool, or diving into a pool, shooting hoops... the man threw a perfect spiral to himself. He was just perfect. Never messed up. Never made a mistake. And that's what the world thinks perfection is. That's what a lot of us strive for. We think weakness is a problem. We think making any kind of mistake is a failure. But I'm here to say, you can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any. You oftentimes have to do it wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning and growing. Perfection, Biblically speaking, means maturity. And I think the most mature thing you can do when you make a mistake is own up to it, learn from it, and move forward. Now watch this: "He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him" (1 John 2:10). This, friends, is an entirely different way of looking at things. If we understand sin as unbelief, we can really get on board with a verse like 1 John 3:9, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." People are always like, "We're all just sinner!" And I think that has a lot to do with Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But nobody seems to mention the next verse: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." See, we WERE all sinners... before the cross. Then the cross happened. The point of Romans 3 is to show that change FROM sinner TO saint. To show us what the cross did. To bring us out of that sin consciousness mindset. So that we can stop struggling with sin. Again, if sin is unbelief... we were sinners (unbelievers) until the Lamb of God took away the sin of the world by giving us something (someONE, Himself, love) to believe in. And now that we know and believe, we cannot--by definition--unbelieve. A believer cannot unbelieve. That tracks, right? So when we're talking about stumbling... and we're saying, "Those who love cannot stumble," then stumbling must mean something other than messing up. It must means something other than making a mistake. In this context stumbling must mean... not loving. And that's the key. Because it's all about love. If you're doing what you're doing heartily--to the best of your ability and because it's in your heart to do it--you can't fail. Because love never fails. It might not always look like what you think it should look like, but it will always be what it's supposed to be. If you have your head held high and you're walking by faith, you don't have to worry about stumbling or falling. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). God keeps us from falling. Love keeps us from falling. Perfection is loving as Jesus loves you. Receiving and releasing the love of God. There is nothing more perfect, or holy, or important than that!

Here it is, the grand finale of this Rant series. Phillipians 2:13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." His good pleasure--for Him to be our God and for us to be His people... that loving relationship between heavenly Father and beloved Son in whom He is well pleased--translates to our good pleasure. He works in us. LOVE works in us. Both to give us the want to, and the ability to. Love empowers us to love. When you know and believe that you are loved, and when you receive and release that love, that's when you experience it. Letting what's inside come out is how we experience and enjoy what is inside. God's good pleasure becomes our good pleasure. Look at Acts 20:35, "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." We experience what we've been given... by giving it away. We have been given a gift. The gift of God. The good fight of faith is laying hold of that gift that we've already been given. Believing that we have it. The fight is not trying to get something we think we don't have. The fight is believing we have what we've been given. It was God's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. That already happened. Now we seek the Kingdom--not in terms of getting something we don't have, but in terms of exploring what we do have. We focus on the Kingdom, and on our place in the Kingdom, and as our identity AS the Kingdom, and in that way we live in, and out of, the Kingdom. We enjoy the Kingdom. The days of heaven on earth. Think about this: How good does it feel when someone you love is proud of you? That's the good stuff, man. That's the real thing. And that's how God feels about us. He is well pleased. He is happy with how things are going. And that doesn't mean everything is "perfect" in our idea of nothing ever going "wrong." It simply means He knows the end from the beginning. It means we can make slow and steady progress and still get where God wants us to go. In fact, it means we can mess up and still get where God wants us to go. The key is to see this bigger picture. To learn and grow. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any. And you learn more from failure than from success. Sometimes you have to crawl before you can walk. It takes time. Maturity is a process. And our heavenly Father is there for us (and with is) every step of the way. He cheers when we take those first steps, and He picks us up and dusts us off when we fall. Nothing can separate us from our heavenly Father's love. Nothing can take us out of that place of favor. We are the apple of His eye. His favorite. His love for us is so strong that He literally gave Himself to us. His Son. His Spirit. His love. His life. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it. So that we could enjoy it, by sharing it. God's good pleasure (what makes Him happy) is our good pleasure (US being happy). That flows from love. God loving us and us loving Him back by loving each other. Receiving and releasing the gift (of love) that we have been given!