We looked at the first time the word "Create" is used in the KJV. Now let's look at the last time. Interesting side note, that word is only used 8 times, and all of them in either Psalms or Isaiah. David crying out for God to create in him a clean heart and a right spirit... and the great prophet telling the people of what God has done and is going to do. Interesting. So, Isaiah 65:18, the last time the word is used. "But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy." Be glad and rejoice in that which the Creator created. Pretty simple stuff, if you ask me. Because the Creator creates... love. He creates OUT of love, because He creates out of Himself, and He IS love. You can't make something out of nothing. God made everything out of Himself. Out of love. From that point of view, it makes it easy to be glad and rejoice. That attitude of gratitude that comes from knowing that we have everything we need. I have no lack because my God has no lack. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. OUR hands! God (love) created everything. And He gave us that same creative power. He expressed Himself (to us, and in us, and through us, and as us) through His love. That's how we ought to express ourselves. We create our own realities based on what we believe--either the Word of the Lord or the lie of the world. By either trying to get what we think we don't have (by trying to be someone we're not) or by simply receiving and releasing the gift we've been given. We create by letting what's inside come out. And that's why it's a joyful undertaking. God created Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. We aren't supposed to be sad all the time. We aren't supposed to struggle. This world isn't meant to just be survived. We were created to thrive. To have dominion. To enjoy the time we've been given. And that doesn't mean you don't work hard. Just the opposite. Rest is not inactivity, it is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the only thing the Holy Spirit ever has or ever will direct you to do... is love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth. The truth that God is love and He loves you. That is the Rock that all of creation is built upon. God is love. And He loves you. That's what God created for us--an abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. That's His gift to us. And we experience that gift by giving it away. By sharing it. We create what God has created by being joyful. By letting God love us and loving Him back by loving each other. By receiving and releasing God's love. What you believe is inside you WILL come out. It has to. It's too big and too powerful not to. So you create the true reality (the Divine Order of things) that God has already created... by knowing and believing that His love is what is inside us. If it's in there... it will come out. It IS in there. Know it. Believe it. LET what's in there come out. Experience it. Enjoy it. Give it away. Share it. Breathe it in and breathe it out. Create the true reality that God has created for you (and in you, and through you, and as you)!

I love this. Law of first mention, right? The first time the word "create" is used in the King James Version of the Bible is Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Creation is linked directly to the heart. The heart of God consuming the heart of man. God giving us what He has--who He is--so that we can experience this world that He has created for us. Living is loving, right? You can't have one without the other and you can't do one without the other. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. Create in me a clean heart. That was man's cry. That was David, the man who was after God's own heart. Which didn't mean he HAD it, at the time, but that he wanted it. He was after it. He knew there was something missing. That God-shaped, love-shaped void that we talk about so much. But unlike his son, Solomon (who tried to fill that hole with everything under the sun and found it all to be vanity), David knew that the only thing that could fill a God-shaped hole... is God. The only thing that can fill a love-shaped void... is love. So he went straight to the source. Now, listen, because this is where it can get a little bit tricky. I've been building this Rant series on the premise that we have the same creative power that God has. He is The Creator and He created us in His image and likeness. As He is, so are we in this world. But now we see David crying out for God to create in him. Well, as simply as I can put it: the Psalms were written before the cross. We live after the cross. The difference is the Comforter. The Holy Spirit. That spark of creation. The down payment, I believe the New Testament calls it in one place. And, in reality, THAT is the clean heart, the right spirit, that David was crying out for. He asked for it, and on the cross Jesus delivered it. On the cross Jesus asked His Father to forgive us, and I believe God did. So we are equipped and empowered to do all the things that Jesus has done... and more things. We don't have to literally walk on water. We can just understand that everything--EVERYTHING--is under our feet. We don't have to ask God for the clean heart, I think is what I'm getting at. We have it. He gave it to us. Created it in us. It's not something we need. It's something we have. There's a different covenant that we're under. It's not God up on the mountain and us afraid to touch the mountain lest we die. It's Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father and us in Him. WE are seated at the right hand of the Father. The power seat. The seat of authority. When God created man He gave man dominion over all the earth. All the animals. To keep it and protect it. To take care of it. That's what the heart is for--love. That's what our clean heart and our right Spirit equips and empowers us to do. We are equipped and empowered to create. To let the love that's inside us come out and to experience things in Divine Order. Things work out so much better when we see them, and hear them, and experience them in Divine Order. That, in a sense, is what we create when we let the love that's inside come out. We create the reality that God has created for us. By accepting it. By receiving it and releasing it!

In the beginning God created. If you want to talk about the Law of First Mention (and I often do), we need to understand what a powerful statement this is. The first thing God is recorded as doing... is creating. That defines Him. He is The Creator with a capital T and a capital C. Let me put it another way, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). You can't make something out of nothing. What you can do is create an extention of yourself. When God created the heaven and the earth... He was expressing Himself. His creative force. He didn't make the heaven and earth out of nothing. He made it out of Himself. He made it out of His love. Because God IS love. Everything He does is love. He does things for love. By love. In love. Because of love. He does things because He IS love. There's nothing else He can be and nothing else He can do. God is love. And because He is love... because He so loved... He gave. He created. He expressed Himself. He didn't destroy. He created. He made an entire universe. And in the middle of that universe He made a planet. And in the middle of that planet... He made us. If love is giving, it requires someone to receive it, right? So God made man. In order to have someone to express Himself to. He is love. So He needed someone TO love. That's us. That's our purpose. That's why we were created. We were made in His image and likeness in order to receive and release His love. In order to express love we must first receive it. You can't make something out of nothing. We love (we CAN love) because He first loved us. Because He gave us His only begotten Son. Because He gave us His Spirit. His heart. His life. His love. And now that we know and believe that we ARE loved... we CAN love. Now that we have something, we can give something. That's our creative power--the same as His creative power. We don't have to destroy things. We don't have to tear things down. We can create things. We can build things (and people) up. We don't have to be on a sin hunt. We can be on a righteousness hunt. We don't have to tell people what's wrong with them. We can tell people what's right with them. We don't have to knock people down to make ourselves look bigger or better. We can pick people up and all go higher together. The tide raises all ships. Helping others doesn't diminish ourselves. In fact, helping others helps ourselves. Because we're all in this together. It's a faith issue. If you trust God to take care of you, you don't have to worry about taking care of yourself. And that opens you up to be able to take care of others. Which is the whole point of the whole thing. This life is for living. And to live is to love. To love is to live. God created this world because He wanted us to have it. He wanted us to enjoy it. We enjoy it... by sharing it with each other. By giving ourselves to each other. Love is never about getting, or taking. Because love is giving. That's how we create something that matters. Something that will last. We stop trying to get what we think we don't have and we simply give what we've got--the love that we've got!

There are two ideas that I want to link together in this Rant series. The first one comes from Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Right from the very beginning (literally) God is established as a Creator. And not just "A" Creator, but THE Creator. The Creator of everything. Both heaven and earth. Before there was anything else, there was God. And then, at the beginning of the story, He created. Because that's who He is. That's what LOVE is. Because God is love. Love is not a destroyer. Love "destroys" our enemies by making them our friends, right? It creates friends out of enemies. I feel like a lot of the time we feel so helpless--and so hopeless--in life because we think we can't change things. We think (and I say this a lot, I'm guilty of it) it is what it is. When in reality we have this same creative power. That's the second idea I want to focus on for the next few days. Same chapter of the Bible. Genesis chapter one. All the way down to verse 26, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." God is the creative force of the universe. And we were created in His image and likeness. Let me say it another way, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). As He is... so are we. He is the Creator. We have that same creative power within us. Jesus understood this. He changed the world to fit His needs. He turned water into wine. Walked on water in order to get where He wanted to go. Told a storm to be still. He didn't just accept things. Didn't just shrug His shoulders and say, "It is what it is. Nothing I can do about it." No... He did something about it. He chose to listen to the voice of His Father instead of believing the lie of the world. To Jesus, it didn't matter what a situation looked like. Because He knew what it really was. And He knew how to get it from what it looked like to what it really was. He knew all about revelation. Revealing what is underneath. Uncovering what is below the surface. So much of our life is wrapped up in, or concerned with, that surface stuff. Stuff that really--in the grand scheme of things--doesn't matter. We put so much emphasis on things that really don't matter. I remember my step-mom (other mom) once saying, "If you're not going to be mad about it a year from now, do you really need to be mad about it right now?" Probably not. But we make mountains out of molehills. We get all worked about stuff. Instead of just knowing and believing that everything is under our feet. Because everything is under Jesus's feet, and He walks around WITH our feet. We were created in the image and likeness of the Creator. Jesus said all the works He did and greater works than those would we do. We have that same creative power. That same Spirit. That same love!

One of the biggest misconceptions I see, especially in this holiday season, is that people think they can give you a gift and also control what you do with it. When the straight truth is: Once you give it... it's gone. It's out of your hands. Out of your control. You don't give someone something in order to assert control over them. You don't give someone something and then get upset with how they use it or what they do with it. That's not how it works. Now let me show you how I believe it's supposed to be. "I will glady spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me" (2 Corinthians 12:15 NLT). My personal definiton of love. Giving everything you have and everything you are. No matter what happens next. Not worrying about what happens next. Doing your part and letting that be enough. So, by now you might be wondering what that has to do with our inheritance. Why I said all that to close out this Rant series. And here it is: God has given you His love. That is your inheritance. What you do with it is up to you. 1 John 4:11 says, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." But "ought to," quite frankly, doesn't mean "have to." God doesn't punish people. He chastens and corrects people. He doesn't want us to go the wrong way... but He doesn't force us to go the right way. You have a measure of free will in this life. You can do what you want to do. You shouldn't feel obligated. To do anything. Owe no man anything but love, right? And even in that... do it because it's in your heart to do it. Don't do it because you think you're "supposed" to. I think people can tell what's real and what's not. I think people are desperate for what's real. We want so badly to have that connection with people. The real thing. A deep bond that means something. Because it means everything. I always say the little things ARE the big things. Because the little things are the day to day things that get us through the day. Letting someone know you care. Letting someone know you're thinking about them. Giving someone an ear when they need to talk. Or a shoulder when they need to cry. Just being there for people. Love is spelled T-I-M-E, right? And while we do have an infinite supply of love, we don't have an infinite amount of time. How we choose to spend the time we have is the most important choice we can make. Mother Teresa said, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." Touch the people you can touch. I'm not for everybody. I know that. I've accepted it. So instead of banging my head against the wall (and only ending up with a headache), I choose to pour into those people who I AM for. I choose to give everything I have and everything I am to the people in my life. There are enough people that I can love in my life already that I don't need to look for more. Or try to reach people that aren't for me. My inheritance is that I am blessed... to be a blessing. Filled... so that I can empty myself out. I don't have to control anything or anybody. I can simply experience what I've got by giving it away. By sharing it. By letting what's inside come out... by knowing and believing that it's in there. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love simply gives what it has. Who it is!

Our inheritance--love--is a gift. Freely given. It's not something we are entitled to, and it's not something we have to (or can, even) earn. But here's the key: Look at 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." Eternal life is the gift of God. He has given it to us. That happened. 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. Now we have it. It is availabe to us. Faith is not "I hope God will give me something." Faith is laying hold of what we've already been given. Faith is the substance of things not seen. Faith is knowing and believing that God's Word (which is Jesus, which is love) is true. Knowing and believing that we are who we are supposed be and we have what we're supposed to have. Listen, on the cross Jesus won the war to end all wars. That means there are no more wars left. The only fight left is the good fight of faith. Believing God's word instead of the lies of the world. Listening to that still, small voice instead of whatever the world is shouting at you. What you believe--either the report of the Lord, or the lies of the world--is what manifests in your life. If you think you don't have anything (which, basically, is what the world wants you to think. You're not good enough. You don't have enough. You need to be better. You need to do more) you'll always try to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. But if you know who you are, and if you know what you have, that's when you can rest. That's when you can run TO God instead of running FROM Him. When you know that you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased you can stop worrying about God "getting" you. He already got you. 2,000 years ago on the cross. In the best way. By drawing you into Himself and planting Himself in you. An inheritance is passed down from Father to Son. Our heavenly Father has given us everything we could ever need. Because He gave us Himself. His Spirit. His love! And now, because we are loved (and because we know and believe the love of God), we can love. We can receive and release what we've been given, and in that way experience it. We can let what's already inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. We can experience and enjoy that gift because we are equipped and empowered to give it away. To share it. Our inheritance is not something to hoard up. Or to work for. It's not something we're entitled to. It's a gift given from a Father who loves His Son and has given all things into His hands. It is, quite frankly, the ability to live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. It's a gift, and it has already been given. It simply needs to be received. We need to lay hold of it. By knowing and believing that we have it. There was a death. 2,000 years ago on the cross. And because of that death we have inherited life. God's judgment was not to kill His only begotten Son. God's judgment was to raise His Son (and us in Him) to life. Abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life! That's what we've been given. That's what we have. That's what we can do. Because that's our inheritance!

There's a lot I want to say tonight, so it might (probably will) spill into tomorrow's Rant. Which, realistically, is why I started doing my Rants in five part series. But let's quit wasting time and get into it. There's a story in the Bible about a prodigal son. One who couldn't wait for his father to die so he could have his inheritance. So his father, loving his son no matter what, went ahead and gave the inheritance. Which the son promptly (and predictably) squandered, before coming back home to daddy's house, hat in hand. What strikes me about this story is the way the son felt entilted. Like his father OWED him something. Whenever I hear that word, or that concept, I always think of two things. One, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). And two, a quote by Rocky Balboa. And, yes, it is true that I kind of base a lot of my morality and values on Rocky Balboa. I grew up on him. It all seemed (and still seems) solid. Anyway, Rocky was arguing with Paulie and Paulie was upset because now that Rocky was rich and famous Paulie felt like Rocky owed him something. Rocky said, "Nobody owes nobody nothing! You owe yourself. Friends don't owe. They do because they want to do." So those are my thoughts on obligations. If you don't want to do something--if it doesn't come from your heart--don't bother with it. And, listen, I'm not telling you "if you don't want to go to work... you don't have to.' Paul said if you don't work you don't eat. And I've found that to be pretty wise. Pretty true. I'm saying when it comes to relationships with people... do it heartily. Do it to the best of your ability because it's in your heart to do it. Or don't. Because if you're just going through the motions, doing things because you think you're "supposed" to... you aren't really doing any good for anybody. You're probably making yourself miserable, and you're not really helping them either by doing things that you don't want to be doing. Have you ever heard the phrase "made with love"? Usually in terms of cooking, right? "These might not taste the best, but I made them with love." Well, because of that they DO taste the best. Love is the secret, special ingredient. Anything done with love is done right. That's our inheritance, right? Love. The gift of God. Not something we were owed (now I'm getting to the point) but something that we were freely given. God gave us His only begotten Son--His Spirit, His life, His love, Himself--because He loves us and He wante us to have it. It wasn't a debt that was owed. It wasn't something we were entitled to, or something that we earned. It was something that He had... that He wanted us to have. Love is giving everything you have and everything you are. Love is giving. For God so loved... He gave. And because He gave, we ought to give. Not out of obligation, but because what we have--what we have been given--is so wonderful that it is a shame to keep it to oureslves. We have what everybody needs. What everybody wants. And we experience it by giving it away. By sharing it. It's not about debts and obligations and who deserves what. It's about, "I have something. Something worth sharing." God first loved us. We love Him back by loving each other. Not because we owe it to Him, but because it's our genuine pleasure to share the gift we've been given!

Here's the thing we need to understand--our inheritance isn't just BECAUSE of Jesus... our inheritance IS Jesus. Look at Ephesians 1:11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." In whom. John 3:35 says, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." To me this is the ultimate truth of the universe. But it doesn't mean anything for us until we believe and understand that we ARE that Son. That WE are the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased. They say the truth will set you free, and really, it already has. But it's not just the truth that sets you free. It's the truth you KNOW (and believe) that sets you free. Because while the truth is true no matter what, if you don't know you're free you're going to keep acting like you're not. It's the picture of us being in a jail cell and Jesus unlocking the door. Well, if we don't know the cell door is unlocked it's pretty hard to walk through it. If we don't know that the Father loves us and has given all things into our hand we're going to keep trying to get what we think we haven't got. We're going to keep trying to earn something that can't be earned. Something that is freely given and must be simply received and released. And that's the key, because we receive it BY releasing it. We prove (to ourselves) that we have it by giving it away. Because you can't give what you don't have, right? And you can only give what you do have. So if you step out in faith and love someone, that means (on some level) you believe that you are loved. If you're giving what you've got that means, on some level, that you know you've got it. If you're sharing your inheritance that means you've received your inheritance. And, again, it gets a little tricky when we're talking about Jesus dying so that we could get what our heavenly Father has for us. But you have to understand John 10:30, when Jesus said, "I and my Father are one." You have to understand that Jesus died so that we could have His life. He literally gave it for us and to us. And then He rose again so that we could experience His life as He lives it Himself in us, and through us, and as us. So that we might be able to live a life of love knowing and believing that we are loved. It starts with God. In the beginning... God. He is the Alpha. And the Omega. The first, and the last. And everything in between. We love because He first loved us. We love because He has given us His love. His Spirit. His only begotten Son. Himself. We love because the God who IS love dwells in us. He loves us, and has given all things into our hands. He wanted us to have it... so He gave it to us. So that we could give it away. So that we could share it. Because God doesn't just want you to have things just to have them. We are blessed... to be a blessing. Our inheritance is not to be hoarded. It is to be shared. To be given away. Because that's what love is: Love is giving. Giving everything we have and everything we are. Letting God fill us up and then filling ourselves up to overflowing with what we've already been filled with!

Listen. There's way too much to say about our inheritance. It would fill a lot more than a five-part Rant series. So all I really want to talk about for the next few days is the idea that, "What's mine is yours." This is something I've told my son ever since the day he was born. And he took it to heart. One of my favorite stories is one day when he was younger I was making lunch. For me. So I made a sandwich. For me. And put it in my spot at the table. Went to the fridge to get something to drink. Turned back around. And that little rascal was sitting in my chair. Eating my sandwich. But here's the thing, I didn't get mad. I didn't get upset. I smiled. Because if my son is hungry... I want to feed him. If he's cold... I want to clothe him. It's my job to take care of him. Yes. He's my responsibility. Because I'm his dad. But it's also my genuine pleasure. I love taking care of him. Teaching him to live life. Of course. Because I want him to be able to do the things he needs to do. I want him to be a productive, well-rounded human being. But there's just something special about being able to do something special for someone. Or, in the case of the sandwich, having such a bond and relationship with someone that they don't feel the need to beg (or even ask) for things from me. To this day he will still "sneak" a sip of my soda pop. Things like that. Because he knows, in his heart of hearts, that what's mine is his. And I know I called this Rant series "inheritance," but with God it's so much more than that. It's so much more than just what we get when our Father dies. We get it all when He's alive! We get to experience everything He has and everything He is! And I know it's a little tricky with the whole, well, He died 2,000 years ago thing. And that it was the Son dying. Like I said at the jump, there's way too much to really get into. Look at Ephesians 1:11, "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." We have already obtained the inheritance. He has already given us everything He has and everything He is. According to the counsel of His OWN will. He gave us what He wanted us to have... simply because He wanted us to have it. He gave us His life--His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love--so that we could experience and enjoy it. He gave us His life... simply because He loves us. What's His is ours. Everything God has and everything God is, is available to us. Doesn't need to be earned. Can't, in fact, be earned. All we have to do is receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Release it by receiving it. Fill ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. That HE'S in there. That LOVE is in there. Because, when you get right down to it, love is our inheritance. Passed down from Father to Son. Not just what we have, or what we do, but who we are. God is love, and whatever's His... is ours!

I almost didn't go here. But I figured I might as well. Especially to end the Rant series. Just kind of drop it here and let it be what it is. Hebrews 12:7, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" Something that we don't necessarily like to talk about in the church world. Especially weighted against grace. But I believe chastening and correcting is a part of grace. It's not condemnation. It's not kicking people when they're down. It's training up a child in the way he should go. And, by the way, you don't have to be a natural youngling with only a few years under your belt to be a child. In fact, we are supposed to be child-like in our walk with God. Not childish, throwing fits when we don't get what we want and all that sort of nonsense. But being child-like in the sense that we just believe our Daddy and let Him take care of us. Being corrected doesn't mean you are wrong. It means you are learning and growing. When you know better, you can do better. Knowing and believing that God loves us is what equips and empowers us to love Him back, by loving each other. It's almost kind of the idea of how we will never be able to connect with each other if we get so offended by each other. And, listen, sometimes I think people do try to make themselves feel bigger by making others feel smaller. I've seen that. That happens. But I think a lot of the time people do genuinely want to help. And, I'm telling you, my kid... he doesn't like to be corrected... because he doesn't like to NEED correction. I get that. Nobody goes around hoping to make mistakes in order to have someone correct them. But sometimes mistakes are made. It happens. Here's the thing though: If you never make mistakes, how can you learn and grow from your mistakes? You can't. And if you reject correction how can you learn and grow from your mistakes? You can't. Is correction fun? Probably not. But if you can endure it you can make things easier on yourself. My dad always talked about us wandering. Going around the mountain. "He'll be alright. He's just going around the mountain. He'll figure it out." And I think that's so key. We need to give people time, and space, and room... and grace... to grow. We need to let people take their journey instead of expected a finished product at every turn. We're all running the same race. But we're also at different places. Some people might be a lap ahead. Some people might be sprinting through something. Some people might be power walking. And, yes, some people might be limping along. Instead of telling them to hurry up, maybe we should slow down and help them. Maybe we should endure... and let others also endure. It's not about getting there first. It's about continuing to move forward. Tough times don't last, but tough guys do. If you can make it through to the other side you'll be better off than you were. Because you'll have learned and grown... and because you can then turn around and help people get through what you've been through. That's what being a Son is all about--taking what you've been given and sharing it. Loving people with the love you've been loved with!