"I saw the whole thing!" That's a valuable commodity. Because seeing is believing. Look at this: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Key for today: Crucified with Christ. So we need to see the cross. We need to see that when Jesus took the Six Steps to the Throne (Crucified, Died, Buried, Quickened, Raised, Seated) He didn't just do it for us. He did it AS us. We are crucified WITH Him. His death was our death. And now His life is our life. He gave it to us. Because He wanted us to have it. Because He loves us. But the trap we seem to find ourselves in is one where instead of seeing and believing... we try to earn. We try to get. We can't quite believe that God would just give it (Himself, His Spirit, His life, His love) to us. So we try to get what we think we don't have. Because, let's face it, we need it. Human beings need love. It's that simple. Cars can't go without gas. Humans can't go without love. And that's why Jesus gave His life to us. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). Love is giving. Giving your life. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Jesus did it for us, we ought to (and are now able to) do it for each other. But you can't give what you don't have. You can't give when you're trying to get. So it's all about receiving and releasing. Knowing and believing. Experiencing Jesus's abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love by letting HIM live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. I was crucified with Christ. I died. But now I live. Because HE lives in me! Now I can share what I have, because now I know that I have something worth sharing. Something worth giving away. Something that everybody else needs. Now that I've seen what Jesus has done for me--laying His life down... giving His life for me, and to me--now I can do the same thing. I can release what I've received. By filling myself to overflowing with what God has filled me up with, I can let it out naturally. And then it will get to the other people who need it. Naturally. I can be the branch of the Tree of Life. And what does the branch do? It bears the fruit. It makes the fruit available to those that are hungry. I can be a witness. I can share my experience. I can tell people what I've seen, and heard. I can tell people that there IS a more excellent way, and that His name is Jesus! I can share the love that I have, instead of chasing the things that I think I don't have. That's the key. That's the mindset shift. Not trying to get something, but giving what we've got. Not getting upset about what we think we're missing, but experiencing and enjoy what we've been given by giving it away. By sharing it. It's one thing to witness something. But then you have to take the next step and BE a witness. Get that message out there. Preach the gospel at all times... and if you have to, use your words. Let your actions speak louder than words as you SHOW people what you've seen... by loving them!

Experience. That's what really makes or breaks us. Sometimes, occasionally, once in a blue moon, someone might be "naturally" good at something. Or, at least, it might appear that way. Because we don't often see what goes on behind the curtain. We don't see how much blood, sweat, and tears is shed in order to achieve that "perfection." Here's my point. For the most part, you have to do something wrong before you can do it right. That's called learning and growing. We grow because of the things we go through--even if they seem like a disaster at the time. And then, once we've gone through something... we can share that experience. We can help others go through it. Because, let's be honest, we all go through the same sorts of things. Now watch this: "Wherefore in all things it behved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17). And again, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Which is to say... Jesus knows what we are going through. He's been through it. Touched by the feelings of our infirmities. Made like unto us. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). God wrapped Himself up in human flesh so that He could experience what we experience. So that we could trust Him every day in every way. So that we would never have to feel alone. Because we are NEVER alone. God lives in us. In our hearts. Just as we live in Him. So don't sweat it if things don't always work out "perfectly" the way you think they ought to. It's about the ride more than the destination. It's about enjoying the ride. Learning and growing with every twist and turn. Letting people help you along the way, and helping people along the way. Receiving and releasing. When someone shares what they've experienced... it can help us with what we're experiencing. And I'm not talking about "know it alls" who haven't been through it but have an opinion on it. Unasked for advice is unwanted advice. But if you've been there, done that, got the t-shirt... and you can share yourself with someone else... that's powerful. A map is nice (the Bible) but a guide is priceless (the Holy Spirit). So what I'm trying to say in my normal wander around hoping my point makes itself way, is that it's ok to go through things that don't SEEM like they're necessarily great. Because we know that all things work together for good. Either a lesson or a blessin', right? Every experience we go through shapes us. Makes us who we are. So we need to take the good and leave the rest. Eat the watermelon and spit out the seeds. Find the silver lining in every cloud. And then share what we've got. If you know it, throw it. If you've been there, help others get there. You can't be a witness without sharing your experience. What you've seen. What you've heard. What you've been through. What you've... lived. It happened for a reason. Share it!

"Did you see that?" Usually exclaimed in utter disbelief, hoping that someone else can verify what you think you just saw. Shared experience is much more powerful than individual experience. Look at Hebrews 12:1, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We're not in this alone. The reason we CAN lay aside every weight, and the sin that can so easily beset us, is because of the support we get. Remember the other day when I quoted the verse about Jesus holding us up? Keeping us from falling? That comes in the form of US holding EACH OTHER up. Edifying each other instead of chopping each other down. You don't look better by making someone else look worse. That's not how it works. Especially--one more time--because we're in this together. We succeed when WE succeed. We're all part of the human race but that doesn't mean we have to race each other. I think of it more as a relay race. I do my part and then pass the baton on to you. You do your part and together we get it done. Together WE win the race. What's that old saying? Many hands make light work. Something like that. So what I'm trying to say is, when we're talking about God--about LOVE, about the finished work of the cross--we're all looking at the same thing. Witnessing the same experience. And going through it together. Building each other up in the faith. "Did you see that?" I sure did. And it was awesome. That's how we learn and grow together; we grow together when we go together. When we go through things together. And if you're going through something that I've already been through, I can help you through it. That's part of the point of me going through it. We go through things so that we can help others through those same things. God puts people in our paths for one of two reasons, right? Either for a lesson or a blessin'. And either way it's to help us, not to hurt us. God knows the thoughts that He thinks toward us. Thoughts of peace and not evil. He doesn't want us to suffer. He wants us to enjoy the gift He's given us--the gift of God which is His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. He wants us to have the good life. To enjoy our life. But we can't do it alone. Because to live is to love. To love is to live. And you can't love without having someone TO love. It's relationship. Connection. We are all in this together. Did I mention that? So when we have something to share... we need to share it. When we go through something together... that makes it even more powerful. Even more meaningful. Even more real. So whether we ARE the witness, sharing our experience, or whether we need the experience of other witnesses... it's all about running the race with patience. Learning and growing with each other. Running together. Holding hands. Not leaving people behind, so that we look fast. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together!

I try to make things simple. Probably because I consider myself a pretty simple guy. But also because I think this God thing--this LOVE thing--is way too important to make people jump through hoops to get it. Word Without Walls, right? I don't want to swim too deep that it's hard for people to hold their breath in order to get down to where I'm at. So let me try to say this as simply as I can: It's our "job" to be a witness. Plain and simple. But what is a witness? Someone who tells others what they've seen. What they've heard. What they've experienced. We don't have to "figure God out" all the time. He is revealing Himself to us (and in us, and through us, and as us). We simply have to receive and release what He has for us. Pick up what He's laying down, if I can say it that way. Bear witness to it, and then share the good news of the gospel. Look at Romans 8:16, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth--bears witness with our spirit. He testifies of our true identity by testifying of Jesus. Because Jesus IS our true identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. So basically it's just look into the mirror. INTO the mirror. Not AT the mirror. If you look AT the mirror you'll see surface flaws. You'll see who the world tells you you are. But if you look inside... you'll see Jesus. When God looks at Jesus He sees us and when God looks at us He sees Jesus. So we need to start seeing ourselves that way. And we need to start seeing each other that way. You can't be a witness to something that you can't, or don't, see. That's not how it works. Look at Romans 9:1, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost." It's about the truth. That ultimate truth of the universe that God is love and He loves you. That ultimate truth of the universe that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. That ultimate truth of the universe that WE are that Son! Our heavenly Father hath given all things into OUR hands. We have everything we need. We are who we are supposed to be. But here's the key: What you see is what you be. What you magnify in you life is what manifests in your life. What you feed is what will grow. Seeing is believing. One more time--you can't be a witness to something you haven't seen, or heard, or experienced. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So the key is setting your affection. Setting your eyes on the prize, if I can say it that way. Letting love light the way... so that we can see clearly. See HIM clearly. See ourselves clearly. See each other clearly. Once you've witnessed the truth, the lie has no hold over you. When you know the truth you can ignore the lie. When you know you are loved you can stop looking for love in all the wrong places. When you're a witness, it's because you've experienced something that is so good that you can't keep it to yourself. Something that you wouldn't keep to yourself even if you could. Because it's so good. So good. So GOD. Because... it's love!

When we stop looking at God as a taskmaster--someone who just tells us what to do and then we have to do it, or else--that's when we can stop working "for" Him and start working WITH Him. That's when we are truly co-laborers with Christ. Not trying to be Him, but letting Him be Himself in us, and through us, and as us. Not trying to walk in Jesus' foot steps, but letting Jesus make His own foot steps with our feet. It comes from rest. It comes from trust. Not trying to go our own way--even in the hopes of somehow stumbling into doing what God has for us to do--but simply letting the Holy Spirit guide and direct us. Those who are led by the Spirit are called (or identified as) the Son(s) of God. When we love each other, people recognize the God in us. And, again, not this distant, angry, lightning bolt throwing god of Greek mythology... but the God who is love! Love is the whole point of the whole thing. So think about it: Depending on God is really depending on love! God has chosen to "depend" on us, in a sense. He has filled us up with His love so that we can then fill ourselves, and each other, up with that love that we have been filled with. That's our "job." That's our calling. That's our purpose. What's this life for? Living. And to live is to love. To love is to live. This life is for love. Making connections. Relationships. That's what it's all about. And the only way to make those connections... the only way to have true, meaningful relationships... is to depend on love. To love people. No matter what. Whether they've "earned" it or not. Whether they "deserve" it or not. And, listen, as always, I'm not saying you should put, or keep, yourself in a bad situation. Some people will reject you no matter how hard you try. All I can say is, those aren't your people. Not everybody is for you, and you're not for everybody. But I don't think God will direct you to put yourself, or keep yourself, in those kind of situations. Remember in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit stopped them from preaching in (I believe it was) Asia? Loving people doesn't mean you have to do any and every thing. It just means you have to give what you've got to whoever comes into your path. And it doesn't mean people are going to stay in your life forever, either. Sometimes people just show up to either be a lesson or a blessin'. Not everything is forever. You have to trust the Lord. Trust the process. Trust the journey. You have to see God for who He really is--again, LOVE--and then experience everything through that love. With that love. In that love. Because of that love. Don't try so hard. Let it go and let it flow. Stop thinking you have to do things FOR God, when really He wants you to do with WITH Him. It's not a slave/master dynamic. It's a Father/Son dynamic. It's doing things together. Enjoying each other. Doing things for each other, sure, but more importantly doing things with each other. Sharing your time. Sharing your life. Letting God fill you up and then filling yourself up to overflowing with what you have already been filled with! I know it's a big shift going from "for" to "with." But it's so powerful. Such a big difference. In fact, it makes ALL the difference!

God works in mysterious ways. Because He works through people. So the "co" part of this co-laboring, co-dependent relationship with God really does work both ways. Not that He depends on us because He HAS to, but because He CHOOSES to. If anybody has to depend on anybody, it is us depending on Him. Like our life depends on it. Because it does. Not because He'll kill us, or punish us, or any of that nonsense if we don't depend on Him... but because He IS life. Without God--without LOVE--there IS no life. You can't have life without love because they are not just connected, they are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. Now look at this: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:29-30). Basically, if God wants you to do something... He first qualifies you to do it. And then He does it with you. In you. Through you. As you. We don't do it FOR God as much as we do it WITH God. Look, if it's God who wants it to happen, it is God who will MAKE it happen. He simply chooses to do things through His people--through us--so that we can enjoy His plan. So that we can learn and grow, so that we can understand what we have (and who we are), and share what we have (who we are). God doesn't set His children up for failure. Why would He? If He puts a desire in your heart, He will also put the ability to accomplish that desire. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). It is both the desire and the ability. Coming from God working in us. Coming from us... working with Him. LETTING Him do His good pleasure by "using" us to do it. By including us in it. I believe we are blessed to be a blessing. I believe that God gives us good and perfect gifts so that we can, in a sense, pay it forward. He gave us abundant life so that we can live out of our abundance. So that we can receive and release the gift of God--which is eternal life. So that we can experience and enjoy the gift we've been given... by giving it away. By sharing it. Sometimes when God gives you what you need to do what He wants you to do, that takes the form of other people. People working together. Things work out better when we work together. I can't do it all on my own. But maybe you can do what I can't. And maybe I can do what you can't. So that together we can make it happen. Together we can get it done. But it all comes from God. The ability to connect with each comes from love. And God is love. With man it is impossible. But with God all things are possible. WITH God. Not "for" God. And, listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't do things for God. Or for people. I'm saying the way in which we truly do that is by doing those things WITH God. WITH people. Building those relationships. Not depending soley on ourselves, but depending on God even as He chooses to depend on us!

I think one of the most important words in the English language is "with." Especially when we're talking about relationships. Being a co-laborer. Doing things together. I can tell you, from experience, that if you say to someone "Come do this with me," it is SO much more well received than, "Can you do this for me." And I'm not saying you should never ask anybody to do something for you. I ask my kid to do things for me all the time. "Go grab my phone charger for me." Whatever. That's no big deal. And when you have the kind of relationship that we have--I've always got his back and he's always got mine--it really IS no big deal. But I'm saying... things work out better when we work together. Especially when you apply this truth to our relationship with God. I don't think He wants us to do things FOR Him, as much as He wants us to do things WITH Him. Yesterday I was Ranting about leaning on Him. Letting Him pick up the slack and keep you from falling. But that's still a little bit too close to trying to do things yourself. We need to get rid of that "break glass in case of emergency" mentality where we only call on the Lord when we've made a giant mess and need help cleaning it up. We would be so much better off if we just included Him in everything we do right from the jump. If we would do things WITH Him instead of trying to do things FOR Him. And the difference, of course, is that trying to do things FOR God means WE are trying to do it. In our own strength or our own power. When we know that HIS strength is made perfect in weakness. When we can't... that's when He will. When you work, God will rest. But when you rest, God will work. When you let Him do what HE wants to do in you, and through you, and as you... that's so much better (and easier) than trying to do it yourself. And I want to drop this here before (probably) picking it up tomorrow. I called this Rant series "Co-Dependent" because as dependent as we are on Him... in a sense He is dependent on us. Not because He NEEDS us to do anything for Him--God said if He was hungry He wouldn't tell us because He owns the cattle on a hundred hills, right?--but because He CHOOSES to operate through us. God works through people. That's why we say He works in mysterious ways--because people do some strange, mysterious things. So if you chooses you for a task, but you refuse it, that task might not get done. Or, more probably, He'll choose another way and you'll just miss out (rob yourself) of all the good that was involved in it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that God "depends" on us because He wants to include us. Like Jonah and the fish, right? He will go to great lengths to get, and keep, us involved in His will. But if we simply depended on Him we could make things a lot easier on ourselves. We could jump in the river and flow downstream, right to where God wants us, instead of kicking and fighting against the current to get to where WE think we should be. If He's depending on you... Depend on Him. Do it together. Go WITH God. With man it is impossible. But with God--WITH God--all things are possible!

I don't know why, but I can vividly remember a scene from one of my previous jobs. At the time I worked for a car dealership. Washing cars. There were about half a dozen of us, and... let's just say we had to think creatively to make the job fun. To make the days go by. So one day, one of the other porters--the boss's son, in fact, which kind of explains a lot--decided it was a good day to sing. This was actually one of my first days on the job. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. And then, all of a sudden, we were in a circle with our arms around each others shoulders as he lead us in the chorus of "Lean on Me." If that's what the song is even called. You know it. "Lean on me... when you're not strong... I'll be your strength... I'll help you carry onnnnnn!" Well, guys, that's Jesus. Look at Jude 1:24 (which is one my favorite verses, but one I never hear preached), "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." It seems like the religion we've built says, "You're a dirty sinner. You're flat on your back. But if you do this, this, and this... maybe, just maybe, the Lord will pick you up and save you." But what the Scripture says is... you're faultless. You're beautiful. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. You are exactly who God wanted you to be. And you don't have to keep falling. He can--and will, because He wants to--keep you from falling. You don't have to fall. You don't have to ride the rollercoaster of highs and lows. You can stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to life. Because you can lean on Him. I really don't like this idea of "following in Jesus' foot steps." Because nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. The harder you try to be someone you're not... even with the best of intentions to be "like" Jesus... the more you fail to be who YOU are. That's all you are ever supposed to be. Just be cool. Just be you. Let Jesus be Jesus IN you... and now we're cooking with peanut oil. Co-laborers with Christ means doing what we do in love. With love. Because of love. Doing what we do because it's in our heart to do it. Because GOD (love) put it in our heart to do it. The power of God working in us is where both the will and the power to do HIS will comes from. Every good gift comes down from the Father of lights. And, look, if He is the Father of lights, and He is OUR Father... logically, that means we are the light. Which is what Jesus said. He identified Himself as the light of the world and He identified US as the light of the world. Same light. Same Son. So my point for today is, you don't have to keep falling and trying to pick yourself up. Daddy's got your back. He can hold you up. LOVE can hold you up. Love doesn't waver. Love never fails. If you're standing in, and on, love... you don't have to fall. You can give Him glory and praise because He has kept you from falling. Kept you safe. Kept you clean. Presented you (to Himself) faultless. God always wants what best for you, and that's why He gave the best to you. He gave you His Spirit. His Son. Himself. Love. And love can hold us up. Love is the only thing that can, and the only thing that will!

This might seem like it flies in the face of what I just Ranted, about being self-sufficient, but it really doesn't. Because, as we saw, God is our sufficiency. He is the reason that we can do anything at all. It is the power of God in us that EMPOWERS us both to will and to do of HIS good pleasure. The only reason it's about us at all is because He lives in us, and through us, and as us. But what I want to focus on for the next few days is the truth that we don't "just" do things for God. Like... He's not a taskmaster who tells us what to do and then we better do it. Or else. That's not the Kingdom. That's the world. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:9, "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." In the Message Bible, "What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God's house." We are the field, and we are working the field. Because HE is the Gardener. Remember when Jesus rose from the dead and they asked Him that? Are you the gardener? Well, we are the garden. And we work in the garden. Because HE is working in us. And through us. And as us. We are working together. Labouring together. "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1). Workers together with Him. Not working FOR Him. Working WITH Him. That's the key. That's how it works. Because if I try to do it on my own--even if I have the best of intentions and I'm trying to do it for God--I won't be able to get it done. Not on my own. Not by myself. When I find my sufficiency in the Lord that doesn't mean He just winds me up like a wind up toy and let's me loose. It means that I'm not even really the one doing it. HE is doing it in me, and through me, and as me. I can tell you, the times I've loved people the most, when I've looked back on it I was like "That wasn't me, man. That was all God." Because it's greater than my idea of me. And I say "my idea" because really it IS me. It just doesn't seem like "I'M" capable of that kind of stuff. And it's only through God--through love--that I AM capable of that stuff. It's really the difference between doing things "for" and doing things "with." And I can tell you right now, I've worked with kids for most of my life. They would much rather do things WITH you than for you. Things work out better when we work together, right? In the same way that we cooperate with each other, we can--and should--cooperate with God. Not trying to do things "for" Him all the time, but doing things WITH Him. Letting love guide the way. Letting what's inside come out. Living a lifestyle where we are dependent on God. Letting Him be involved in EVERYTHING. Not just before meals and at church time. But all of the time. Living a life that stems from love and is all about love. Doing everything we do heartily--to the best of our ability and because it's in our hearts to do it. Getting God involved in everything. And being involved in everything that God is involved in. (Which is love.) Co-laboring with Him. Depending on Him. Letting the love that's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there!

I have everything I need. Because I have Jesus. I am entirely sef-sufficient... because I have the ability to connect with people. I know that seems counter-intuitive, but I think it's supposed to. I don't think we're supposed to be able to "figure everything out." Certainly not by ourselves. If we could, we wouldn't need each other. And we wouldn't need God. If we could somehow save ourselves, we wouldn't need a Savior. Remember that passage of Scripture I quoted where Paul asked three times for Jesus to remove the thorn in his flesh? And instead of just making the problem go away, Jesus assured him that His grace is sufficient. It's not about never having problems, or challenges. It's about going THROUGH those things in order to learn and grow. In order to then be able to help others thorugh those same sorts of things. If you know it, you can throw it. If you've been there, done that, got the t-shirt... that's when you can look someone in the eye and say, "I've been where you are. I got through it. You can, and will, too." And that's so important. That's what people need a lot of the time. Not necessarily someone to "fix" their problems for them, but someone to be there with them and let them know that it's going to be ok. Listen, there's a certain sense of pride that you get when you CAN do something yourself. Especially if it's something you've struggled with and worked really hard to accomplish. I get that. I think that's good and proper. But at the same time, there are some things that I just plain can't do. Because I'm not supposed to do them. Not everything is for me. And I'm ok with that. As long as I stay in my lane and do what I can do I think I'm ok. As long as I do my part I can be at peace. Because here's the thing: God won't put things on you to do that you can't do. Even when He recruited Moses, and Moses insisted that he wasn't a good public speaker... God gave him Aaron. He never requires anything from us that He doesn't first equip and empower us to do. If it's from God... GOD will make it happen. And, oftentimes, He does that by connecting us to the people we need to be connected to. He will give us an Aaron. So that TOGETHER we can make it happen. Things work out better when we work together. Our "self" sufficiency is really God sufficiency. He is our provision. When we rely on Him, that's when HE can move in our lives. I heard a preacher say it like this, "When you work, God will rest. But when you rest, God will work!" If you want to try to do it yourself, I believe God will let you. To a certain degree. Sometimes He steps in whether you (think you) want Him to or not. And thank God for that. But there's a more excellent way. And that way is Jesus. That way is love. Letting love link and bind and connect us together so that we don't even ever THINK we have to do things on our own. I can't do everything. And that's ok. Because I don't have to. Because I'm not alone. We're all in this together. What I can't do, maybe you can. And maybe you're supposed to. So I don't need to look at it as lack on my part. I have everything I need... because I have God. Because I have love. Because I have you!