Jesus is God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. That is the meausre of His stature. Love. And when we measure Him... we are really measuring each other. The whole God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body aspect. Because... as He is, so are we in this world. His measure is our measure. His stature is our stature. When God looks at Jesus He sees us. And when God looks at us He sees Jesus. So when we look at ourselves we need to see Jesus. And when we look at each other we need to see Jesus. In fact, we need to stop looking AT things and people (judging by appearance) and we need to start looking INTO things and people (judging righteous judgment). And here's the coolest part--the light inside me is drawn to the light inside you. The deep calls out to the deep. We don't have to force it. Drawing lines in the sand and trying to make people fit into our box--our idea of what we think people (including ourselves) are supposed to be--only ever ends up in frustration and disappointment. People are going to be who they are no matter what you think or feel about it. So the better thing to do (the more excellent way) is to love them regardless. Loving people is how we take THEIR measure. Not expecting them to live up to our idea... and, really, not even tolerating them for being who they are... but embracing people for who they are. People don't have to live up to your expectations. Let me say that again: People don't have to live up to your expectations. God created each and every one of us. Differently. There's nobody who can be exactly who YOU want them to be at every second of every day. People aren't robots that you can program. People are weird. And messy. And mysterious. What is true of them one day might not be true the next. Because we are all learning and growing. We are all evolving, in a sense, if I can say it that way. We are all coming into the maturity of the perfect man. Learning and knowing and understanding who Jesus is, and understanding that we have already been conformed into His image. See, it's not us becoming more like God. It's us understanding that we ARE like Him, and understanding what it means to BE like Him. We don't take the measure of the stature of Jesus in order to see how far short we fall. We take the measure of the stature of Jesus to see where we really are. To see WHO we really are. And then to BE who we really are by letting Jesus be who HE really is in us, and through us, and as us. And, to make it as simple as can, who God is in us, and through us, and as us... is love. In Him is the fulness of the Godhead bodily. All of God--all of love--in a body. Bursting at the seams to get out. Flowing out from the inside. When we know what's inside, that's when it comes out. Naturally. Because what you believe is inside you WILL come out. It has to. It's too big and too powerful not to. So my point for today, for this Rant series, is that once you take your own measure... and you know how much love you are loved with... that's when you can take someone else's measure and love them with all the love that you have!

When you take the measure of the man, you're kind of sizing him up, right? Seeing what he's all about? What he's made of? And I'm sure you've heard the old expression that Christians are like tea bags. If you want to see what they're made of you have to put them in hot water. Which is to say, it's easy to be "good" when there's no resistance. It's easy to be nice if you're all by yourself. It's only when you're confronted with things that you can truly find out how you will handle them. It's easy to have an idea, "I would do this, this, and this." But when the rubber meets the road, when the chips are down, that's when you find out what you're made of. Which is to say, that's when you have an opportunity to find out what JESUS is made up. To me, the verse about His strength being made perfect in our weakness is about us giving it over to Him. Knowing that we can't... but knowing that He will. Knowing that we don't have to... because He will. Knowing--with a knowledge that passes knowledge--that our heavenly Father has our backs. Knowing that He will do anything for us... because He has already done everything for us. Everything that needed to happen... happened on the cross. Everything we could ever need... was given to us. God wanted the best for us, so He gave the best to us. He gave His only begotten Son to us. He gave Himself to us. His Spirit. His nature. His life. Because on the cross Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it as He lives His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love in us, and through us, and as us. When we take the measure of the man Jesus--the Son of Man... and the Son of God--what we find is, "...in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). When we take the measure of the man... we find all of God. And God is love. So when we take the measure of the stature of the man... we find love. The fulness of love. And that's important because... as He is, so are we in this world. What we find in Jesus is what we find in ourselves. Because Jesus lives in us, and we live in Him. He is the Truth. What is true about Jesus is true about us. When the Father spoke over Jesus's baptism and said, "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased..." That's the ultimate truth of the universe. God is love and He loves you. The Father loveth the Son and has placed all things in His (our) hands. We don't have to try to measure up to anything or anybody. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the universe. By the God who is love. It's not about measuring yourself against these impossible standards, and inevitably falling short. It's about seeing ourselves (and each other) for who we really are. Which is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. Who we are in love. Which is who love is in us. And who love is in us... is love bursting out of us! The measure of the stature of love... is infinite. It (HE, love) can't be measured. Even when you test the height, and length, and depth, and breadth of His love... you do it by loving people bigger and harder and stronger than you ever thought you could. But there's no limit. Love is limitless. That's the measure of the stature of the man... and the love!

Here's our key verse in this Rant series, Ephesians 4:13, in the Message Bible, "Until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ." Man, there's so much good stuff there. The phrase "moving rhythmically and easily with each other" grabbed me right out of the gate. Because this life is supposed to flow, right? It's not always supposed to be a struggle. We aren't supposed to have to fight and scratch and claw every step of the way. But the only way that works is to be still and know that HE is God. We are efficient and graceful only in response to Him. In fact, that's our whole entire "job" if I can say it that way. God made the Way of Grace. And we respond with the Walk of Faith. We are simply responding to who God is and what He did on the cross in the person of Jesus. We don't have to do the heavy lifting, because He already did. In this world we WILL have tribulation, but we can be of good cheer because Jesus already overcame the world. That's what makes us overcomers--not the ability to overcome, but the truth that we already have... in Him. That's what maturity is: Not knowing you can win every battle, but knowing that Jesus already fought and won the war to end all wars. And once that war is over... there are no more wars left to fight. The only fight we should ever concern ourselves with is the good fight of faith. Laying hold of the gift we've been given. Receiving and releasing it. Receiving it BY releasing it. And releasing it by receiving it. That's what a fully mature, fully developed (within and without) Son is all about. Fully alive like Christ. Fully alive IN Christ. See, what it means to know the measure of the stature of the man is knowing Jesus inside and out. Knowing who He is. Knowing what He's about. And that, in turn, shows us who WE are. Shows us what WE are about. Because as He is... so are we in this world. Knowing the measure of the stature of Jesus... is knowing the measure of the stature of ourselves... and each other. Looking at Jesus is looking into a mirror. Seeing Him for who He truly is, is seeing ourselves for who we truly are. Fully alive like Christ. Living the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of God (life of love) by letting Jesus live His own life--because nobody can live Jesus's life except Jesus--in us, and through us, and as us. Again, being still and knowing that He is God. Filling ourselves up to overflowing with what God has already filled us up with. Letting what is already inside come out of us. I'll end this Rant series with one of my favorite passages of Scripture, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19). We are filled with the fulness when we use what we've got. When we let what's inside come out. By knowing and believing that it is in there. By testing the height and length and breadth and depth. Taking the measure of the stature. Loving as large as possible by letting God us all large as possible!

Knowing and believing is the way this "Christian" life works. And I put that word in paranthesis because I don't think I use it the same way most people use it. To me, "Christian" simply means Christ-like. Which you can't experience unless you know who Christ is. We can say, "As He is, so are we in this world." But if we don't know how He is... that's not super helpful. Not real practical. Look at our key verse for this Rant series, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). The unity of faith... is the knowledge of the Son of God. Because you can't believe what you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. He tells us, and shows us, who He is. Proves Himself faithful. And that's why, and how, we can put our faith in Him. Faith, as simply as I can put it, is sitting on a chair because you believe it will support your weight. Faith is not hoping for something. Faith is not wishing for something. Faith is the EVIDENCE of things not seen. The SUBSTANCE of things hoped for. Look... hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when the desire of your heart comes, it is a tree of life. Because the desire of your heart is the fruit that grows on that Tree of Life. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. The only thing the heart is concerned with... is love. Because it's all about love. Love is all we need. And love is what we have. Because of the finished work of the cross. And don't misunderstand me here--we've always had love. The cross is when the light of the world shined so that we could SEE that love. Jesus said the greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. And then He went to the cross and did just that. He put His money where His mouth was, so to speak. Didn't just tell us... but showed us. So that we might know not only what love truly is... but so that we might know how much our heavenly Father loves us. Look at Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." When we were at our worst, He was at His best. That's who God is. That's the knowledge of the Son of God that brings us into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. That's what He has filled ourselves with--Himself. His Spirit. His love. And that's what we can now fill ourselves with. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Believe what we know in that way, in a sense, activate it. Because the truth has set us free and made us free. But knowing and believing the truth is what equips and empowers us to enjoy that freedom. Knowing who Jesus is, is what equips and empowers us to be who we really are. Which is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. The measure of the stature of the perfect man, the Son of Man, Jesus... is the true measure of the stature of... us. As He is, so are we in this world. So that behooves us to know who He is. To believe that when we look into the mirror we see Jesus. To believe that He lives in us and we live in Him. That there is no separation between God and man because God lives IN man!

Longsuffering is a very important, vital part of any inter-personal relationship. Because nobody matches up with anybody in every way all the time. Even the people we love most in the world... can get on our nerves. People aren't robots. They are GOING to do things we don't agree with, or don't want them to do. People are going to be who THEY are more often then they are going to be who WE want them to be. And that's ok. That's where grace, and mercy, and forgivness, and longsuffering come into play. Because if you clip someone like a coupon everytime they do something (or don't do something) that you think they shouldn't (or should) do... you're going to be left all by yourself real quick. Looking around and wondering why nobody wants to be friends with you. Well, because you didn't develope those relationships. You didn't build and strengthen those bonds and connections. You didn't build on that foundation of love. What you wanted was more important than anything else. That kind of expectation--giving someone what they want every second of every day--is impossilble to live up to. It's too much. Especially when we, as a species, are so universally bad at letting people know what our wants and needs are. "Well you should have known!" How? By reading your mind? My point is... we need to work at these relationships. Love is maximum effort. Giving everything you have and everything you are to someone. Laying your life down for them. Esteeming them higher than yourself. Seeing a need in someone else and meeting it, if at all possible. I once had someone say it to me like this: "If I'm looking out for you, and you're looking out for me... then neither one of us needs to worry about ourselves." So simple, but so powerful. And that's what I've tried to make my relationships look like. That's why I say, "I've got your back" so much. Even to the point where my mom saw a shirt that said that and bought it for me. Go big or go home is what I usually claim as my motto. Or when people tell me, "Never mind," I tell them that's what I do best. But in reality, what I've tried to build my life on is having people's backs. Going the extra mile for them. Making sure I'm doing whatever I can do in order to help people. And, listen, I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. I'm simply trying to illustrate the way I think God set this thing up as. The Divine Order. Give, and it shall be given unto you, right? Which is not to say that God hasn't already given us everything we need--receiving it and releasing it is what makes it real--but simply to say that instead of trying to get, get, get--especially when it comes to dealing with other people--our focus should be on giving what we've got. Trusting God to take care of us and then using what we've got to take care of each other. Letting people be who they are, or who they THINK they are until they know better, and loving them anyway. Loving people no matter what. That's the foundation that our relationships must be built on, if we want them to be strong, healthy, and successful. So sometimes you can't always get what YOU want, but you can always give people what THEY need!

Dealing with people can be a lot sometimes. Because people can be a lot sometimes. The thing we need to really remember is that everybody is going through stuff. Everybody is fighting a battle that you might not know anything about. And even if you know about it, you might not know the whole story. You might think you know, but realistically you might have no idea. Because even if it's something you've been through, that doesn't mean you know exactly how they feel. We are all different. We all experience things differently. Point being: We need to make sure we are building our inter-personal relationships with each on the right foundation. The foundation that has already been laid. And the only foundation that can stand. Jesus. Love. If you love someone, you can not only tolerate them when they are a lot, but you can actually embrace it. Celebrate it. You can let people be who they are without trying to change them and make them fit into your idea of who and what you think they should be. A relationship is never about control. It can't be. That's manipulation. Trying to get what you want from people is never going to be able to sustain a relationship. Because relationship is not about getting anything. Relationship is about giving. Giving everything you have and everything you are. That's how you sustain a relationship. When you get all upset because you think you aren't getting what you want (or need) from someone... that's when you've gotten the whole point of the whole thing twisted. When you think you're lacking something you have forgotten the face of your heavenly Father. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). And I've always said the best part about that verse is how MY God shally supply all of YOUR need. Like, Paul was so unconcerned with himself--because he knew he was covered--that all he wanted to do was make sure YOU knew YOU were covered. He wanted to give what he had. He wanted to edify others. Help others. Build up others. And build relationships with others. Paul was all about giving what he had. Making sure everybody else had what they needed. That's the attitude we must bring into our relationships. Otherwise they will be doomed to failure. Relationships won't work without love. They can't. Relationships won't work when someone is trying to get, get, get. It's not even a give and take, really. It's a give and give. Like how people say it's 50-50. When really it's 100-100. If I give my all and you give your all... that's when it all comes together. And a lot of that is just taking people as they come. Letting people be who they are and loving them anyway. Loving them FOR who they are. Not simply tolerating people, but celebrating people. Letting them know they are special by showing them how special they are. And that doesn't mean you have to like everything. Or accept everything. It means grace, and mercy, and forgiveness... and love are the active ingredients to a strong, healthy, successful relationship!

How we relate to each other is so important. Because we're all in this together. We can't do it by ourselves. No man is an island. It is not good that man should be alone. We need each other. So we need to be able to build those relationships. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:11, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Or, in the Message Bible, "Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ."  The only foundation we can build these inter-personal relationships on... is Jesus. Now, that doesn't mean shove Jesus down everybody's throat and try to force them to believe exactly the same thing you do and call that "fellowship." It means the only foundation that you can build on... is love. Some of the best conversations I've ever had about God didn't even have the word "God" in them. You don't have to be "religious" in order to be holy. In fact, at this point I think the one almost crosses out the other. Jesus didn't really get along with the religious folk, right? Because He was all about love and they were focused on everything and anything else. The people Jesus was really able to get along with were the people who knew they couldn't do it by themselves. People who knew they needed help. Kind of the whole idea of His strength being made perfect in our weakness. I believe God will let you do what you're of a mind to do. I believe God is too much of a gentleman to force His will upon you. Sometimes you get called, and, yes, sometimes you get cornered. Sometimes God can be very persuasive. But I believe, at the end of the day, you're allowed to do what you want to do. That doesn't mean you SHOULD do whatever you want to do. Simply that you CAN. There IS a more excellent way. And that is the Way, the Truth, and the Life that is Jesus--that is love. No other foundation can any man lay. Because no other foundation will withstand the ups and downs that come with relationships between people. People are messy. People are unpredictable. People do things that THEY don't even understand. If you don't have grace, and forgiveness, and mercy... LOVE... then there's virtually no chance that you'll be able to relate to anybody for any extended period of time. If you just clip people like coupons every time they don't fit into your box... you'll find yourself all alone. It's all about love, guys. I keep saying it, and I'm going to keep saying it. Love is the glue that binds us together. And, listen, I'm not saying that you're going to be best friends with everybody. Some people won't pick up what you're laying down. They just won't. No matter what you do or how hard you try. And that's when you simply shrug your shoulders and move on. Turning the other cheek isn't about standing there and letting someone slap you over and over. It's about not retaliating. It's about letting people be who they are and do what they do. You don't have to accept everything in the world... but you CAN love everyone in the world. Even if that means loving them from a distance. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes. But all of the successful ones are built on love!

Relationship. The way we relate to each other. That, in large part, is what this life is all about. And here's the key: Our relationship with each other flows from our relationship with God. We have to have the one (with God) figured out before we can succeed in the other (with each other). And let me be as clear as I can with this--from God's perspective, the relationship IS figured out. Look at Romans 3:24 in the Message Bible, "God did it for us. Our of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ." As far as God is concerned... you are WHO you're supposed to be, and you are WHERE you're supposed to be. Remember we touched on that? Seated at the right hand of the Father? As Jesus is, so are we in this world. The beloved Son of our heavenly Father. God in the flesh. Love in a body. A man filled with the Holy Spirit. With the very Spirit of God. The Spirit of love. And that's how our relationships work--love. That's the foundation that we have to build on if we are going to see anything that we do succeed. Because loving people IS success. Loving people is the most (possibly the only) holy thing that we can do. Love is what God is concerned with. First, last, and always. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, right? The beginning and the end. And everything in between. And God is love. So LOVE is the beginning and the end, and everything in between. Relationships don't work unless they are built on love. That's my point. And you can't give what you don't have. You have to have love before you can give love. And, since love is giving, it's important to know that we have it. Not that we need it. Not that we can maybe possilby get it if we jump through all the right hoops in all the right ways. But that we have it. On the cross Jesus did everything that was necessary to put us right with God. We were conformed to the image of God's beloved Son. Made in His image in the beginning, but unable to see who we were--who HE is--until the light of the world shined and showed us the ultimate truth of the universe: That God is love and He loves you. God has filled us up with love. Equipped and empowered us to be able to love Him back by loving each other. He did it for us. Out of sheer generosity. Put us in right standing with Himself. Settled that relationship once and for all. So, unlike Adam and Eve who hid from the presence of God when they thought He was mad at them... we can run TO God instead of running FROM Him. We can let Him hide us under His wings. We can let Him lead us, guide us, direct us, and protect us. We can let HIM fill us up to overflowing with what HE has already filled us with. We can let what we are full of come out. Naturally. And in that way we can connect with each other. We can build those relationships on the strong foundation of love that will stand forever. The foundation that will last. And because of the way God loves us (unconditionally) we can love each other that same way! We can love each other no matter what. We can buld those inter-personal relationships and make them strong and long-lasting. We can enjoy this life by living with (loving!) each other!

I think I talk about relationship a lot. Probably because I think it's important. Because we are all in this together. Because we need each other. We are all connected. And because of this connection, it is important that we spend our three T's (time, talent, treasure) on what really matters--each other. And, as always, it begins and ends with Jesus. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Look at our key verse for this Rant series, 2 Corinthians 5:18 in the Mesage Bible, "All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other." Everything flows down from the Father of lights. Everything. Our relationship with each other is directly dependent upon our relationship with God. And did you catch the important part there? HE has settled the relationship between us and Him. We couldn't, so He did. Jesus did all of the heavy lifting. He finished the work. He did what needed to be done to put us where we need to be. And, for the record, where we are is shown in Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." And, if you're asking "that verse is talking about Jesus, isn't it?" Well, of course it is. Which means it is also talking about us. Jesus is our true identity. He is the truth... about the Father... and about us. Jesus is God in the flesh, love in a body. God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body. As He is, so are we in this world. He lives in us and we live in Him. So where He is... so are we. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. WE are seated at the right hand of the Father. When God looks at Jesus He sees us, and when God looks at us He sees Jesus. There is no difference or separation. That's so important. So key. We have to understand that our relationship with God has been settled. Because HE settled it. The cross settled it. On the cross we were conformed to the image of Jesus. The only begotten Son of God. A Father's love to His Son. That is our relationship with God. And because that relationship is settled... we can let our relationship with each other flow. It takes hard work, don't get me wrong. But it's worth the effort. And--one more time--Jesus finished the work. What He accomplished is what equips and empowers us to enjoy this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that He has already given us. And that's how we have those inter-personal relationships with each other. We love each other. First and foremost. First, last, and always. And then we let that love work everything else out. Listen, you don't have to agree with everything somebody else says or does. You don't have to agree with anything they say or do, to be perfectly frank and honest. And you can still get along with them. You can still fellowship with them. You can still love them. You don't have to change people. You don't have to convince them of anything. You can simply let them be who they are and love them no matter what. Because that's how God loves you. Receive it... and release it!

Life doesn't always go the way you want it to. Or the way you think it should. That's just a fact of life. That's just the way it is. So you basically have two choices: You can either let life wreck you... or you can live life to the fullest. And what that comes down to... is your attitude. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Because what's going to happen is going to happen. A lot of the time we can't stop things from happening. You can't control everything. All you can really control is yourself. Some things, I think I'm trying to say, you just have to endure. That's why longsuffering is included in that long list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Some things you just have to grit your teeth and go through. The key there, I believe, is being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Knowing that things don't happen just to happen... but that things happen for a reason. That the things we go through are teaching us. Guiding us. You can't learn from your mistakes if you never make any, right? You learn more from "failures" than successes. And, really, the only true failure is failing to try. It doesn't matter how many tries it takes. You almost always have to do something wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning and growing. That's what happens when you have that grit. That stick-to-it. That commitment. Because if you're not invested in something--fully invested, 100%--you won't be able to endure. You won't even want to. The juice has to be worth the squeeze, I think is what I'm trying to get across to end this Rant series. If you don't see that light at the end of the tunnel you won't even want to endure the ups and downs. And I'm not saying you have to be on an emotional rollercoaster all the time (or any of the time). Jesus has brought every mountain low and every valley high so that we could walk the straight and narrow path that leads to life. That's what He did for us on the cross. He gave us everything we could ever need by giving us Himself. His Spirit. His nature. His life. His love. So that's not what we need. That's what we have. That's who we are. We can endure because He endured. When Jesus went to the cross He knew all the suffering He was going to face was worth it. Because He was doing it for us. Because He loves us. The greatest love a man can have is to lay his life down for his friends. Give everything he has and everything he is. That's what Jesus did for us (and as us). So that's what we can do for each other. And by doing it for each other we are doing it for God. Whatsoever you do unto the least of them you do unto Him, right? How we treat people is how we treat God. Because God lives in people. So when we endure each other (and I might Rant about this aspect starting tomorrow, we'll see), we are really honoring God. When we work on that relationship with each other we are really strengthening our relationship with God. So just remember, in the midst of trial and tribulation, that it came to pass, not to stay. Tough times don't last, but tough people do. And when life doesn't go the way we want it to, we can still have joy in our hearts... and we can still love each other!