I started this Rant series with the memory verse 2 Corinthians 3:5, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." And my point has been that we are "self"-sufficient only when we find everything we need in Him. Which means we find it in each other. Because the Lord works in mysterious ways... because the Lord works through people. And, listen, I'm not saying you should depend on someone else--anyone else--for your happiness. People can make you happy. Yes. But that's not exactly the same thing. It puts a lot of pressure on someone else when you tie your happiness to them. Because sometimes that person that makes you happy... won't. People are people, not robots. They won't always do what they've done before, or what you expect them to do or want them to do. I went back to our key verse for this Rant series because I want to add the preceeding verse to it: "And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward" (2 Corinthians 3:4). Our trust isn't in other people, even though God works through people. Our trust is THROUGH Christ TO God. I've preached and Ranted on this topic a lot. Faith, right? Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. Which is Jesus. Which is love. Faith comes from hearing that still, small voice deep inside of us that says "I love you" with every beat of God's heart in our chests. Faith comes from us hitching our wagon to Jesus, if I can say it that way. If we have enough faith to just trust in Him... HIS faith makes everything else happen. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. Because it's really HIS faith. It's all about Jesus, right? He is the Alpha and Omega. The beginning, the end, and everything in between. His death was our death. His life is our life. Jesus is our true identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. We have everything we need... because we have Jesus, and He IS everything we need. God is the provider, right? Before He made cows He made grass for cows to eat. He has never required something from us that He has not first provided to us. We love... because He first loved us. That's how all of this works. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights. Our heavenly Father is the Father of lights. Because we are the light of the world. He has shined His light on us, and into us, and that's why (and how) it shines out of us! Not that we are shining on our own... but our light comes from Him. When we stop trying to do everything ourselves, that's when God has the room and the opportunity to get involved. When we depend on Him, that's when He does what He wants to do. And I'm not saying God won't do what He wants to do regardless. I'm simply saying we can make things a lot easier on ourselves by just letting go and letting God. By depending on Him instead of on ourselves. By letting Him take care of. Letting Him take care of us through people. Building those connections and relationships so that we don't have to depend only on ourselves. We're all in this together. And that's a give AND a take. Helping people and letting them help us. Learning and growing and going... together!

We have everything we need because we have everyONE we need. Jesus. Each other. That's where our "self"-sufficiency comes from. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:9, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." His strength. God's strength. Love's strength. That is what gets us through the day. That is what we need, and thank God that is what we have. I love the part about His strength being made perfect in weakness. When we need Him the most... that's when He shows up the most. And I think one of the reasons for that is because when we need Him the most... that's when He has the most opportunity to show up. I think God will let us try to do things ourself, for the most part. He won't force His presence into our lives. I believe He is always there, completely available, ready and waiting. Hovering over the face of the deep. But I also believe He is too much of a gentleman to force Himself on us. Even when He wants to. Like... there are times as a parent where I want to step in and just handle things for my son. But I really try not to. Because that won't teach him anything. He needs to learn how to be self-sufficient. He needs to learn how to do things for himself. Now, having said that, we have a rule that says, "If you try your best, and you still need help... I've got you." I'm not going to leave him stranded. I'm not going to let him suffer or fail. When he invites me into a situation, I'm going to give him everything I've got. I think, in large part, that's the way it is with OUR heavenly Father. If we think we've got it under control, I think He will let us do what we're of a mind to do. It's in our weakness, when we get to the point where we know we CAN'T do it on our own, that there is an opportunity for God to help us. And I'm telling you, He usually helps us through other people. When someone helps you... that's God helping you. He lives in people. Works through people. We always say "God works in mysterious ways. And I can get with that, to a degree, because people are mysterious. People do things that don't always make sense to us. People can be confusing. People can be unpredictable. The good thing about God is that He is NOT unpredictable. He is NOT really that mysterious. He just loves us, loves us, and keeps on loving us. He shows up when we need Him. He gives us everything we need by giving us everything He's got. His grace is sufficient for us. It doesn't matter what we've done (or what we're doing, or what we're going to do). God loves us. Regardless. Always. Unconditionally. No matter what we go through, His grace will carry us through. No matter what we need, He has it. He IS it. And He has given it to us. Given HIMSELF to us. We have no lack because our God has no lack. We have no lack because we're all in this together. Maybe I have what you need, and you have what I need... and connected through the bond of Christ... we all have it all!

I have no lack because my God has no lack. And because I have you. We're all in this together. We complete each other. No, really, we do. There are things that I can't do, but there are also things that only you CAN do. That's why it's so important for me to stay in my lane. To do what I was created to do. And to let YOU do what YOU were created to do. If I try to do everything, everything will get messed up. Because I can't do everything. I always say, "I can do anything, but I can't do everything." Because, according to, Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Whatever God sets out for me to do, I can do. He won't set out things for me to do that aren't for me to do though. If that makes any sense. He created me specifically to do specific things. I'm a writer. That's where I think I can do the most good--putting words on the page (or the screen). Not everybody can do that. But some people can sing. Some people can dance. Some people can teach. Like my beautiful wife. She's a teacher. The world needs that. The world needs more than just writers. Or more than just singers. If variety is the spice of life, then we need to spice it up! We need to stop trying to be someone we're not, and we need to be who we are. To let what's inside come out instead of trying to chase something without to force it inside. Listen, we already have what we need. Because--again--we have each other. We have God. We are connected to the unlimited source of love. God IS love. And He lives in us. So not only CAN we love, but we ARE love. It's not just what we do. It's who we are. Who we were created to be. I'm completely self-sufficent, when I depend wholly and completely on God. When I depend wholly and completely on love. That's what it's all about. That's what we were created to do (to be). And when I love someone, I'm not only doing what I was created to do... I'm also helping them do what they were created to do. I'm edifying them. Building them up. Helping them to be who they really are. Not necessarily who I think they should be, but who GOD created them to be. Even my son, whom I always call "Mini-me" is really his own unique person. Some things we agree on. Some things we don't. And I'm good with that. God gave me a son, not a little robot to program in my own image. We were created in GOD'S image. We were created in LOVE'S image. That's the key to this whole thing. Remember the song lyric I always quote? "What you got if you ain't got love... the kind that you just want to give away..." Because love IS giving. You can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you have. That's a big part of being "self"-sufficient. Knowing and believing that God loves us. Unconditionally. So that we can receive and release that love. So that we can give what we've got, and so that we don't have to worry about what we haven't got. It's all about knowing and believing. Receiving and releasing. Letting what's inside come out. Naturally. Letting the LOVE that's inside come out. Naturally. We have what we need. What matters is what we do with what we have!

I remember one time when I used to preach on a regular basis I was doing a series--much like a Rant series, yes sir, I am who I am--but for whatever reason it made sense for me to break from that and do a one off message. And the message was about self-sufficiency. When I was done one of the people who listened to the message was like, "Wow! You just had that in your back pocket, so you could pull it out when you needed it?" Pretty impressed with the message. Hit them right in the heart. Now, I didn't say all that to toot my own horn. Just to say that I think this idea is important. I think it's one we need to hear. And that's why I'm going to spend the next few days really diving into the idea that we ARE self-sufficent... because we HAVE everything we need... because we have God. Because we have each other. I know that sounds a little unconventional. "I have everything I need because I have you." But that's what this life is all about--it's all about those bonds and connections, and relationships. It's about God loving people, and people loving God back (with the love He first loved them with) by loving people. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:5, which is our key memory verse for this Rant series, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." That word, "sufficiency" is number 2426 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it simply means, "abililty." Let me say this another way: ""But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). Or, "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible" (Mark 10:27). Or even Luke 18:27, "And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." I've really been stuck on the idea of us all being in this thing called life together. I can't do it all on my own. And that's ok. Because I'm not expected to. I'm not supposed to. It takes a village to raise a child, right? We need each other. So the idea of being self-sufficient... well... no man is an island. At my old church we always used to say, "I have no lack because my God has no lack." That's kind of what I'm talking about here. It's not ME, it's Christ IN me. It's the Jesus in me connecting to the Jesus in you. The light in me connecting to the light in you. That's the bond. That's the love. That's the relationship. That's how we make it through. What I'm trying to say is that we need to change our mindset from "I need this, this, and this" to "I have what I need... because I have God. Because I have love. Because I have... you." There are some (a lot of) things I can't do. And you might be just the person who CAN do some of those things that I can't. Like puzzle pieces fitting together in order to make a bigger picture. I AM complete, because I am complete in Him. I AM who I need to be. But that doesn't mean I don't need to share who I am, or let you share who you are. My sufficiency, my ability, comes from God. It comes from letting go and letting God. It comes from letting people help me instead of hurting myself (and others) by trying to do everything by myself. Do I have what I need? Yes I do. Because I have God. I have love. I have... you!

It's hard to deal with disappointment. It really is. But that's the thing about expectations--they almost always LEAD to disappointments. Because humans aren't robots. They are humans. They don't always (or ever, really) do what we want them to do. They do what THEY want to do. The nerve, right? Almost as if they have their own thoughts and needs and desires that don't necessarily add up with our own. I'm being a little bit facetious, but only to make my point. We can't expect people to be who we want them to be, or do what we want them to do. All we can do--ALL we can do--is love people no matter what. And love is what will edify people. Love is what will show people that more excellent way that is Jesus. Building people up works. Beating people down just makes things worse. Kicking people when they're down is kind of the worst thing you can do. Because they're already down. And, listen, I'm not saying you should just passively sit back and accept everything that people say and do. I don't think turning the other cheek when someone slaps you means you should stand there and let them keep slapping you. I think Jesus was more speaking of not retaliating. Which is a good policy when it comes to being a peacemaker. Here's what I'm trying to say tonight: You don't have to love everything someone does in order to love THEM. Love is not conditional. It is, in fact, unconditional. Love has nothing to do with what someone does and everything to do with who someone is. With who our heavenly Father is. With that relationship between ourselves and our heavenly Father. And how that relationship with HIM manifests in our relationship with EACH OTHER. Because that's the key: Receiving God's love... and RELEASING God's love. Letting what's inside us come out of us. Letting God edify US, and build US up... and then edifying each other by building each other up. And there's the rub. Because it's hard to build someone up when you're disappointed in them. Or angry with them. When they've done something you don't like, or approve it. It's hard to continue to express your love for people when you're upset. The thing you have to ask yourself is whether what you're doing is helping or hurting. Because, again, kicking someone when they're already down is kind of the worst thing you can do. It's just going to make matters worse. So you don't have to like it, but you do have to deal with it. You do have to... listen. When Jesus was on the cross... when the very human race that He had come to save were killing Him... when they had a chance to let Him off the hook but cried out for Barabbas... Jesus raised His voice to His Father and cried out. Not for vengeance. Not for salvation. But for forgivneness. Even then and there, with His dying breath, all He wanted to do was take care of us. Take care of the people that were beating Him, and mocking Him, and killing Him. That's our example. That's the kind of love that God has filled us with. That's the kind of love that we can fill each other with. Unconditionally. No matter what. And that's the kind of love that makes a difference in this world. That's the kind of love that changes things. That's the kind of love the people--ALL people, everybody--needs. We don't need to be beaten down. We need to be built up. We need to be loved!

I keep saying it, and I'm going to keep saying it: We're all in this together. So check this out: "Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Comfort yourselves together. Because we're all in this together. Edify one another. It's a give and a take. Receiving and releasing. And that's the thing that's so cool about relationships-- it's a ying and a yang. Sometimes you pick up the slack, and sometimes you let them pick up the slack. There's a theme song on one of my favorite shows that goes, "I can't do this all on my own... I'm no Superman." It's so true. We can't do it all on our own. And we're not supposed to. Even Matthew 18:20 says, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." When we come together... it's powerful. Things work out better when we work together. There are things that I cannot do. That you can. So if I try to do things that I'm not supposed to, not only am I robbing you from doing what you were meant to do, but I'm probably going to screw it up because I'm not supposed to do it! It's a double threat. Good for nobody. Now, on the other hand, if we edify each other, build each other up, that's when things really do work out better. The tide raises all ships. A victory by one person doesn't have to be a defeat for another. We can root for each other. Support each other. Help each other. We can make things better for each other. See a need in someone else and meet it. Let what's inside come out. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. And the coolest part is, when we edify each other... we are also, in a sense, edifying ourselves. We get a side bonus, if I can say it that way. If you want to feel love... love someone. You get what you give, if I can say it that way. You experience what you put out there. You manifest what you magnify in your life. What you feed is what will grow. So if you feed the PEOPLE in your life... they will grow. Feed them love and they will flourish. I always say love to a human is like gas to a car. Without it you can't go anywhere or do anything. It's that important. We were built to be love machines--and not in a weird way, stay with me. We were created to receive and release love. That's why, when we feel like we aren't getting any love... everything is off. Everything suffers. Another song lyric, "What you got if you ain't got love? The kind that you just want to give away..." If we don't have love we really don't have anything. Nothing that matters, anyway. Didn't Paul write about counting everything but Christ as dung? So in order to experience what we've got, we have to give it away. Because love IS giving. And when we love each other, we edify each other. We equip and empower each other to experience the life that we are experiencing--the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love that is the life of God! You can't experience love all on your own. You need to receive it and release it. You need other people. You need those bonds and those connections. Those relationships. We need each other. We're all in this together. And the best way to experience that is to edify one another!

I don't know why it seems like it's easier to break things down than to build them up. Especially when one of those (the building) is so much more postive and important. Train a child up in the way he SHOULD go and he will not depart from it. Set that strong foundation and build on it. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). He is our foundation. And He is love. So love is our foundation. That's what we build on. That's how (and why) we edify each other; because we love each other. Look at 2 Corinthians 13:10, "Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction." Those, to me, are the two sides of the coin. Edification and destruction. We can either build people up or tear them down. We can either help or hurt. And, as I was trying to say yesterday, the thing to understand is that love focuses on others more than it does on itself. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. Taking care of the things of others and not just ourselves. If you're ok with something, but someone else isn't... put them first. Don't do that thing--or at least don't do it around them. You don't have to flaunt your freedom. Especially if it makes someone else feel like they aren't free. Putting others first is the sacrificial, agape, God love. He laid His life down for us. Literally gave His life for us, and to us. For no other reason than He loved us and wanted us to have it. He wanted us to experience His life so He gave it to us. Period. And that's what we can now do for each other. We can love one another as Jesus loves us. That is, in fact, the New Commandment for the New Man. Receive and release God's love. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Let God love us with every breath we take and every move we make and love Him back by loving people with every breath we take and every move we make. That's the Divine Order of things. That's how this life--this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life--is supposed to work. But it has to start with Him. He is the foundation that was laid. We love... because God first loved us. Listen. You can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. God gave us His love. Because He didn't want our destruction. He didn't want us to perish. He wanted us to live. To have everlasting life. And, as we know, to live is to love and to love is to live. Living and loving aren't just connected. They are the same thing. When we love people... we live. We experience that life that Jesus gave to us. Because when we love people... HE is living HIS life in us, and through us, and as us. And watch this--which is where I think I'm going for tomorrow's Rant--when we edify others, we are also edifying ourselves. When we build that bond with someone else it also strengthens us. The tide raises all ships. We are all in this together so the stronger we ALL are... the better off we ALL are!

This is what I think I've kind of been stuck on: How we act should be more focused on others than on ourselves. We should esteem others higher than ourselves. We should know and believe that God has US covered, so that we can then cover each other. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" (Philippians 2:4). And, as always, being humble doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It simply means thinking of yourself less. I think, really, that that's what love is: Putting others first. Doing what's best for THEM instead of trying to do what you think is best for yourself. Here's my memory verse for tonight: 1 Corinthians 10:23, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." I can do whatever I want... but that doesn't mean I should. All things are lawful for me, but that doesn't mean all things are good for me. And when I think about "all things edify not" I think about how my actions affect others. Even if I'm ok with something, that doesn't mean that everybody is. And it doesn't mean I have to shove my beliefs down anybody else's throat either. "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend" (1 Corinthians 8:13). Just because you're cool with something doesn't mean everybody else is. And if you care more about the other PERSON than the THING that you're "cool with," it should be easy to make that sacrifice. Putting others first. Showing people that they matter. You don't have to agree with someone in order to love them. And when you give them what they need, instead of what you want, that's that sacrifical, agape, unselfish, God love. That's laying your life down for your friend. And proving to them that they ARE your friend BY laying your life down for them. My own personal philosophy is live and let live. I'm not worried about what you believe, and I don't need you to worry about what I believe. I probably won't even tell you unless you ask me. And even then I'll probably make sure you don't just want to argue about it. I have no interest in arguing. Ever. About anything. You do you and I'll do me and we can get along... or not. Which may sound harsh, but it is what it is. I know I'm not for everybody. And that's ok. I can still love you. Even if it's from a distance. Now when we're talking about relationships with people, that's when we go past "live and let live" and get to the point of edifying each other. Building each other up. If you really have a problem with something I'm doing, and I can stop doing it (or at least not do it right in your face), then it's an act of love for me to give that to you. To see a need in you and meet it with my own actions. Just because I CAN do it doesn't mean I should. Especially if it's not good for me. And especially if it's not good for YOU. We really do have an effect on people. We don't know sometimes how much of an impact we have. People are always watching us. We are an epistle--or a letter--written by God to all men. So let's give people a good read. Let's give 'em something to talk about, if I can ssay it that way. Something GOOD to talk about. The gospel. The good news of God's love!

I learned a long time ago that it does no good to do things just to do them. You need a reason. You need to know WHY you're doing what you're doing. You need to do things purposefully. With purpose. On purpose. By purpose. And I think that motivation really boils down to one thing: Love. Do things heartily. Because they are in your heart to do them, and to the best of your ability. Do things for others. See a need a meet it. Look at Romans 15:2, "Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification." That word "edification" is number 3619 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "architecture, that is, a structure; figuratively confirmation: - building, edify." I really like that. Because even though I know Jesus was a carpenter, and carpenters are generally builders of, like, tables and chairs and things like that... I've always thought of Him as an architect. Hebrews 3:4, "For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God," and Psalm 127:1, "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain," seem to bear this out. He is the builder. The Divine Architect. And WE are the house that He built. (And is building, and will build.) But the Lord works in mysterious ways, right? Because He works though people. WE are the architects. We are kings and priests given authority and power to rule and reign on this earth. To rule and reign with, and through, and according to... love. That's how we build each other up--by loving each other. That's how we edify each other. I remember when I worked at K-mart a bunch of years ago I asked my boss a question and he kind of looked at me. Because while it had to do with work, it didn't have to do with MY work. And I said, "Just for my own edification." Because I was trying to learn about the business in order to be better AT my job. I certainly didn't think it would hurt, as we know knowledge is power. Knowing is half the battle, as Sergeant Slaughter used to say on the old G.I. Joe cartoon. So I think I always knew, deep down inside, that knowing was better than not knowing. You can drive yourself crazy wondering, and worrying, and stressing out. But when you know... you know. Then you can deal with it. Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you deal with it, right? But what I really want to talk about for the next few days, is how we treat each other. Yes, I'm still stuck on that. And I'm going to take my pastor's advice and preach it until my heart is empty on it. And here's the thing: It's so much easier to build up someone than it is to "repair" them after they've been knocked down. Look at Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." That foundation is everything. That's what we build ON. And that foundation is Jesus. That foundation is love. Love is what confirms us. Love is what builds us up. Love is what FILLS us up, so that the love inside can come out of us. Naturally. And that's the whole point of the whole thing--living a life of love. Letting God love us and loving Him back by loving people. Building people up instead of running them down. Giving what we've got so that other people can have it, and experience it, and enjoy it!

I've been trying to use this Rant series to encourage people. I think that's really the point of ministry. To edify people. To train them up in the way they should go. And so, to that effect, I want to end this Rant series by kind of looking at the other side of the coin. "And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:24). Which is to say, we bring a lot of hardships upon ourselves. In this world we WILL have tribulation. I get that. The hardest part of life is living. At the same time, we often makes things harder for ourselves. When Jesus spoke of the robber, who came only to steal and to kill and destroy, I believe He was talking about US. Because He said the theif is the one who tries to enter the sheepfold any other way but through the door. It's a hard deal trusting in anything or anybody but the Lord. We rob (from ourselves) the gift that has been given. We make things so much harder than they need to be. God wants us to be still and know that He is God. We seem to think the best option is to run around like chickens with their heads cut off. God wants us to rest. We seem to think the best option is to work. Spiritually speaking, works don't work. You can't earn a gift. And you certainly can't earn a gift that has already been given unto you. All you can do at that point is receive it and release it. All you ought to do is let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Hard times come. That's life, man. But we don't have to feed into those things. We don't have to make things harder on ourselves (or each other). Love is maximum effort, but that doesn't always mean it has to be hard. It should flow out of your innermost being because you are filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. I tell the cookie story a lot, because it really opened my eyes. I love cookies. I'm more of a cookie monster than a cookie giver. So when I was at work, and I had ONE cookie that I had been staring at all day long, just waiting for the right time to chow down on that bad boy... and my co-worker started talking about being hungry and not having a lunch... I just shrugged and gave my cookie away. And it wasn't hard. It was a sacrifice, sure, but it didn't hurt. It felt good to see a need and meet it. Love really is our nature. When we stop focusing on everything else and let God's love for us overwhelm us... that's when it can come out through us. What you feed is what will grow. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. If you magnify the hard times, they will just get bigger and harder. But if you put your trust in the Lord--where it belongs--there is nothing too hard for Him. He's been there, done that, got the t-shirt. So let go and let God. Don't make things harder than they need to be. And when things ARE hard... be still and know that HE is God. Know that God is love. And know that love will carry us through whatever it is we have to go through. That's encouraging, right? Right!