Praise doesn't come first. You don't praise your way into things. That's backwards. You can't praise something that hasn't happened yet. You can't make something happen by giving praise. If my kid does something awesome, that's when I can praise him. And, listen, don't get me wrong. I can encourage my kid SO THAT he does something awesome. But that's different. And God doesn't need our encouragement. He doesn't need us to tell Him how wonderful He is in order for Him to be wonderful. Look at Hebrews 13:15, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." The praise--that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks. "How great is our God?" Answer: He's great. Because He's shown us His greatness. He has lavished His love on us. Given us everything we need. Blessed us with all Spiritual blessings. Given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He has literally given us Himself. Every bit of Himself. He gave us His only begotten Son. And then His only begotten Son, Jesus, gave us His. Jesus gave His life FOR us, and He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could enjoy it. So that we could experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. And that's the best thing about all of this: God has given us every reason to praise Him. We just need to shift from an attitude of trying to get, get, get into an attitude of gratitude. Count your blessings, right? Be happy with what you have instead of being upset about what you don't have. If your focus is always on what you don't have--or what you THINK you don't have--then you're robbing yourself of what you DO have. And oftentimes what you think you don't have IS what you actually do have. Like the Wizard of Oz, right? The journey isn't GETTING something, the journey is finding out that you already have what you need. You're looking for a heart, but you find out that you've had one all along. You find it out by USING it. By guarding and keeping your heart... by keeping it open. Keeping it open to love. Letting God's love fill you up to overflowing and then praising Him--giving Him thanks--for it. Stop trying to get, and be thankful for what you've got. That's as simply as I can put it. Receiving, yes. But receiving and releasing. Letting what's inside come out. Filling yourself to overflowing with what God has filled you with. And then that attitude of praise just feeds that love so that it grows and grows. What you magnify in your life is what will manifest in your life. What you feed is what will grow. If you focus on what's really important--what you have, not what you want--then you can enjoy what you have. If you're always chasing the carrot but only ever getting the stick, that's so frustrating. So hard. But if you stay in your lane and let God take care of you, that's when His love inside you can flow out of you. That's when you can enjoy what you have instead of ignoring what you have in pursuit of what you think you want, or need. It's not begging God for stuff. That's not praise. It's thanking God for who He is and what He's done... and letting the love--the God--in you come out!

Ok, let me try to work this patch today. Praise isn't about getting, it's about being grateful for what we've got. The first time the word "praise" is used in the Message Bible is Genesis 29:35, "She became pregnant a final time and had a fourth son. She said, "This time I'll praise GOD." So she named him Judah (Praise-OD). Then she stopped having children." Judah means praise. One of the 12 tribes of Israel. Now watch this: 2 Chronicles 13:15, "Then the men of Judah gave a shout: and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass, that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah." The tribe of Judah was put in the front of the army. To lead them into battle. But you have to see it the right way. We don't praise God--or shout, in this case--in order to GET a victory. We praise God because He has GIVEN us the victory. Praise is always a response to God's goodness. That's the only way it can be true, and pure. When you're not trying to get anything, but instead you're giving what you've got. Not robbing yourself of what you have by trying to get something you (think you) haven't got by being someone you're not, but instead having that attitude of gratitude that allows you enjoy what you do have by being who you really are. And here's the cherry on top: Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. Jesus is the praise of God. He is God's gift to the world. When I opened this Rant series with the idea of God dealing bountifully with us... that's how He did it. He gave us His only begotten Son. Because He loves us. Because He wanted us to be able to experience that abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love. And we experience it by letting Jesus, of the tribe of Judah, which means praise, live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. We don't have to try to overcome. Or beg God to do things for us. We don't have to "convince" Him to move. He already moved. On the cross. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew all men into Himself. When Jesus planted Himself in all men. Be of good cheer, for Jesus has already overcome the world. And we, in Him, have already overcome. You're not an overcomer because you "can" overcome. You're an overcomer because you HAVE overcome. You don't praise God in the hopes that you'll some day, some how overcome. You praise God because He overcame. In you and as you. He finished the work. And now we get to enjoy the fruit of His labor. The fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. I'm telling you, if God's unconditional love can't pull a praise up out of you... probably nothing will. But we have to look at it the right way. We have to stop chasing the carrot and only getting the stick. We have to understand that everything we could ever need has already been given to us. Simply because we have a heavenly Father who loves us and wants the best for us. And that's praise-worthy. That's worth shouting about. When you shout about God--in a "how great is our God" manner--that can drown out everything else. That can win a battle for you before the battle even starts. Because God has already won the battle. And we just need to claim that victory by praising the victor!

Praise is a response to something praiseworthy happening. Praise is not how you make something happen. See, God is first. We love Him (by loving each other) because He first loved us. He is the source. Every good and perfect gift flows from the Father of lights. And every time I quote that description of God I like to point out that He is the FATHER of lights because WE are the light of the world. Jesus identified Himself that way, and He identified us that way. Because it's the same light. It's Jesus in us. He is the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased... which means WE are the beloved Son in whom God is well pleased. Jesus is our true identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in our flesh. Love in our body. When God looks at Jesus He sees us. And when God looks at us He sees Jesus. I said all that to say this: If you have to convince your heavenly Father to take care of you... then, really, He's not much of a Father at all. The picture of God that is most prevalent--especially in the New Testament--is a Father. A provider. A giver. All good GIFTS come from our Father. He doesn't wait for, or expect, us to earn His love. He lavishes His love on us. Like any true father lavishes his love on his children. That's what MAKES one a true father. So this idea that we have to praise Him in order to soften Him up so we can ask Him for stuff... "Wait until Mom's in a good mood. Do some chores. Tell her how young she looks." That kind of sneaky stuff isn't necessary. And, as a parent myself now, I can see how that would be mildly offensive. Buttering me up before asking me for something instead of just trusting my love for you. Especially when you consider that on the cross God moved. He did everything He would ever need to do, both for us and as us. So if we're trying to get Him to do something for us... when He's already done everything for us... what that really means is that we haven't received what He has already given us. We need to shift away from "I need, I want," and into, "I have, I am." I have everything I need. I am who I am supposed to be. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you need to know what you have. You need to know who you are. That's what changes our mindset. It is the GOODNESS of God that leads men to repentance. It is what God has done for us--It is finished--that jerks a praise up out of us. We don't praise Him in order to butter Him up so we can get what we want. We praise Him because He has already given us everything He has and everything He is. And the natural response to that love... is praise. Singing it from the moutaintops. Letting that love bubble up out of us. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've been filled with. When we drink the living water, it flows out of our innermost being. When we receive the love of God, we release it. It's too big to keep it inside. The natural response to God loving us... is to love Him back. By loving each other. Receiving it and releasing it. Not trying to get anything, but giving what we've got!

Sometimes I like to take things that we have taken for granted, and really look at them. Tipping over sacred cows, some call it. So for the next few days, let's talk about praise. And let's talk about how some people seem to think that we need to praise God in order to get Him to do something. Think about that for a minute. Really think about it. The all powerful Creator of heaven and earth... depends on us for His motivation to do something? "Like this post so Jesus will heal this person." Yikes. That doesn't seem right to me. Seems absurd, if I can be perfectly honest. Like we're trying to almost trick God into doing what we want Him to do. That's not praise. Praise comes when someone does something praiseworthy. I don't praise my kid when he messes up. I praise him when he does something awesome. So, let's look at my memory verse for this Rant series: Psalm 13:6, "I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." Did you catch that? We don't praise Him in order to get Him to deal a certain way with us. We praise Him because of HOW He has dealt with us. And, really, that's the best part of our God. The God who is love. He knows the thoughts He thinks toward us. Thoughts of peace and not evil. To bring us an expected end. He only has good thoughts for us. He only has good intentions toward us. Everything He does is for our benefit. And that's praiseworthy. When you start to experience the goodness of God in your life--the goodness of God that leads men to repentance--it will jerk a praise out of you. It will fill you up so much that that very goodness will overflow out of you. And you won't even be worried about trying to get God to do what you want. You'll be much more interested in doing what GOD wants you to do. You'll be so full of God--so full of LOVE--that the only thing that will matter to you will be GIVING what you have instead of trying to get what you think you don't have. Praising isn't about getting. It's about being thankful for what you've got. Love isn't about getting. It's about giving what you've got. Knowing and believing that you have something worth giving is what equips and empowers you to, you know, give it. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. But if you're trying to make something happen, or get something, that means you don't know and believe that you have something. And that's a problem. We have no lack because our God has no lack. We have everything we need because God has given it to us. Because He wanted us to have it. Because He loves us. And that, friends, is worthy of praise. Receiving what He has given us and using what He has given us is HOW we praise Him. Using His gift wisely, like that good and faithful servant, is praising God. It's not always about singing. Or saying, "How great is our God." Those things have their place. I'm not saying they don't. But I want to look at praise in a different way. "Thank you" is a pretty good way to praise someone. Especially when they've given you everything they have and everything they are. You don't praise in order to get something. You praise because you've got something. And you praise the person who has given it to you... by being a good steward of what you've been given!

If you're anything like me, you probably feel like you could use a break. The old Kit-Kat bar commercial, right? Gimme a break? Because, if you're anything like me, you go hard. Getting from the beginning of the day to the end of the day is exhausting. And I really like that idea of a Kit-Kat break. A little "me" time with some chocolate. Some days, that's all that gets me through. But what I want to talk about tonight--what I want to end this Rant series on--is the idea of cultivating a lifestyle of rest. Which, as always, don't mean inactivity. No Holy Ghost couch potatoes here. It simply means Holy Spirit directed activity. And the only activity the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth that leads and guides us into all truth... the truth that God is love and He loves you--the only activity the Holy Spirit will ever guide you to is love. Loving people is what life is all about. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. 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. I know it's popular to say things like, "Build a life you don't need a vacation from." I see a lot of famous people talking about how bizarre it is that people work five days so that they can have two days off. But here's the deal: You have to work. Even Paul himself wrote about how if you don't work you don't eat. There's a lot of grind involved. Doing what you've got to do. So I can see the value in taking a break once in a while. Getting that (in my case) chocolate. Doing little things to keep yourself going. I think that's important. But I also conceed that there's a more excellent way. Not being rich enough to NOT have a five day a week job and then telling people they shouldn't do such a thing. But just resting WHILE you're working, if I can say it that way. Having an attitude, and a posture, of rest. Doing what you do to the best of your ability--working hard, maximum effort--but not banging your head against the wall either. Letting things go and letting things flow. Not getting too upset when things don't go your own way. Feeling what you feel, but not letting it control you. Like me with my writing--I don't just half-@$$ it. I put my heart and soul into it. And while you might think that would take a lot out of me, it actually puts a lot into me. It fills me up. Makes me feel like... me. When I'm writing, I don't feel like I need a break. I don't feel like I need to get away. Maybe someday that WILL be my 9-5 job. Who knows? But what I'm trying to say tonight is, even when things aren't exactly the way you want them to be... you don't have to struggle. You can still rest. When I'm at my "actual" job... I do it heartily. I do the best I can. And it doesn't fill me up the same way writing does, but I know I'm making it easier on myself. Because I'm not fighting it. I'm flowing with it. I'm being ME no matter what. Taking care of business from a posture of rest. Working for the weekend, but enjoying the ride as much as possible in the meantime. Giving it all you've got, but making sure you let love fill you up at the same time!

When we start to understand that God--love--not only GIVES us rest, but IS our rest, we can begin to operate from that place of rest. That place of being loved by God and loving each other with that same love. But here, I think, is the problem: We are so busy trying to finish the work, to earn rest, that we miss out on the truth that Jesus already finished the work. Over two thousand years ago on an old rugged cross. When He gave His life both for us and to us. When we see the cross, when we see that the work is finished, we can stop trying to finish it. We can stop trying to earn something that can't be earned. Something that has already been given to us. The gift of God. Which is His life. His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love! Look at Psalm 116:7, which I think says what I'm trying to say better than I can, "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee." When we have been dealt with bountifully, we CAN returne to rest, because we don't need to keep trying to get something. But it all flows from down from the Father of lights. Jesus worked so we can rest. And, as a preacher once said, "When you work God will rest. But when you rest, God will work." God is gentleman. He'll let you try to do it yourself, if that's what you're about. But there's a more excellent Way. And His name is Jesus. His name is love. We don't have to do it ourselves. We can let love guide our way. We don't have to work our fingers to the bone, and only end up with bony fingers. We don't have to bang our heads against the wall and only end up with a headache. We can let it go and let it flow. We can live out of our abundance, when we know what we have. What we've been given. We can give what we've got, but only when we know what we've got. And, in giving what we've got, we can experience (and enjoy) what we've got. It's not about working really hard and then finally being able to rest. Jesus already did the work. It's about being able to rest WHILE you're doing the things that you need to do. Because, as always, rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Living a life of love by letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. Receiving and releasing the gift you've been given. Letting what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Not forcing things, but letting things flow from your innermost being. Letting the grace, and mercy, and peace, and forgiviness, and... love... of God flow through you. Knowing that He HAS dealt bountifully with us. He HAS given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He HAS blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in the heavenly Christ. We have everything we need. And we DIDN'T have to work for it. It was a gift. All we have to do is receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Release it by receiving it. God gave us rest because He loves us. He doesn't want us running around like chickens with our heads cut off. And the rest that He gave us... is love. When we rest (in love) we can enjoy what we have (by giving it away, by sharing it)!

I started this Rant series with Matthew 11:29 in the Message Bible. Well, today I want to back up a little bit and get the previous verse too. And I want to get it in both the Message Bible and the KJV. We'll do the MSG first. "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you." That's so powerful to me. Recovering our lives. By getting away with Jesus. And that doesn't mean taking a literal vacation to the beach somewhere--as amazing as that might sound. That means making sure that love is the focus of our lives no matter where we are or what we're doing. Letting love guide the way in every way! Look at it in the King James Version: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." I like the focus in the KJV on rest. Jesus says He IS our rest, and He says that in learning of Him we will find our rest. If you're tired, burned out on religion, sick of trying to get something you think you haven't got by being someone you're not... that's when you need a change. Enough is enough, and it's time for a change. So come to Jesus. A "come to Jesus moment" doesn't have to be one where you get a life-threating piece of news or whatever. It can come from being sick of the hamster wheel. Being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Wanting that more excellent Way, and then finding it in the One who is the Way (and the Truth, and the Life)! God is love, right? Jesus is God in the flesh, love in a body? God in our flesh, love in our body? So if He IS our rest, that means LOVE is our rest. We can rest in it, and we can operate in it. Loving people can be hard work. But that doesn't mean it's not worth it. Loving people is the only thing that IS worth it. And, at the end of the day, when we stop forcing it and just learn the unforced rhythms of grace, when we let it go and let if flow, that's when even the hard things get easy. That's when we can truly begin to enjoy this never ending everlasting life-long journey that we're on. A journey into the heart of the matter. Which is the heart. God's heart beating with love in our chests. Rest is not inactivity. It's getting "away" from what's wearing you out by rising above it. Going through things but not letting those things go through you. Rest is not inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. And the Holy Spirit only ever directs us to love. To live is to love. To love is to live. To love is to rest and to rest is to love. Loving people doesn't empty us out. It fills us up. Love IS our rest. When we are operating from a posture of rest, we are operating from a posture of love. If you feel like you're working yourself to death, you need to start doing what you love... so you can live!

I always try to use myself as an example, so that no one else will get offended. So when we're talking about resting--which is NOT inactivity, but is Holy Spirit directed activity--kind of the best way I can desribe it is by doing the thing that makes you... you. For me, it's writing. When I'm sitting at the keyboard, or when I have a pen in my hand, I feel like I'm where I belong. Writers write, right? That's not just what I do. That's who I am. I have story ideas rattling around in my head 24/7. So when I let them out, or when I let out my (some would call them) crazy ideas about Jesus... I'm working, but really I'm resting. I'm not forcing anything. I'm just letting what's inside flow out. And I have to tell you, I've been writing all my life. But it wasn't until I started writing Jesus books that anything really happened. Now--starting with my Jesus books--I've published like a dozen books. I've written about half a dozen more that I haven't published yet. I'm not bragging, I'm trying to illustrate that when you, as Psalm 37:5 says, "Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." When we invite God into the situation HE makes it happen. That's my point. I'm a writer. Yes. But it wasn't until I committed my writing to the Lord that anything came from it. So in order to rest--to let the Holy Spirit lead you--you don't stop doing. And you don't start trying to be someone you're not. You do you. You do that thing that lights your soul on fire. That thing that fills you up. That thing that gives you peace. Both of mind and body. And by that I don't mean being a couch potato. I know people that only feel at peace in their body when they're being active. Working out, what have you. And as physically exhausting as that can be, it is also a form of rest for those people. Let me say it like this: "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and finish the work" (John 4:34). Now a little context: Jesus sent His disciples to go get Him some food because He was hungry. In the meantime He found a woman to minister to. When the disciples got back He wasn't hungry anymore. Because what filled Jesus up--more even than physical food--is serving people. Doing the will of His Father. LOVING people. I've found that sometimes when I'm in a groove, in the zone, when the words are just spilling out of me and onto the page, that I don't always stop to eat. There have been times when I stayed up late because writing was more restful to me than sleep. So I guess my thought for today is: as my middle school wrestling coach would say, "Find something you're good at and stick with it." Find that thing that really let's you be YOU. Stop trying to be someone you're not. Embrace who you are. You can't be someone you're not, no matter how hard you try. But when you be who you are everything flows. Everything lines up. When you be who you are you won't wear yourself out. You'll be able to OPERATE--again, not inactivity, but Holy Spirit directed activity--from a posture of rest. And what you do, as you empty yourself, will fill you up. The more you love, the more you feel love. The more you be who you are, the more you ARE who you are!

Let's talk about grace. Let's talk about what it really means to be able to stop trying so hard. So stop trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. Let's talk about this journey--this never ending, eternal life-long journey into the heart of the matter, which is the heart. Matthew 11:29 in the Message Bible says, "Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you." That, really, is what it's all about. Walking with Jesus. When we think all the way back to the beginning, all the way back to Eden's misty gardens, that's what we see, "...they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." (Genesis 3:8). The voice of the Lord. The Word of God. Jesus. That is what He has always wanted for us, and with us. God says it over and over in the Old Testament, "I will be their God, and they will be my people." But in the garden, if we read the rest of that verse in Genesis, "...and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." He has always wanted to walk with us, and we have always let things get in the way. Even when Jesus took on the flesh of a human His cry was for us to walk with Him, to learn from Him. To be a witness to what He is all about. And then, in seeing, to BE those things He is all about. Look at what happens when we get to the other side of the cross: "I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God" (Revelation 21:3 MSG). Before the "fall" God walked with men. But then we hid from Him, and it was His heart's cry to repair that breach of relationship. That's what happened at the cross. Through the cross. Because of the cross. That's where we are now. Look! He's our God. We're His people. That fellowship has been restored, because Jesus was lifted up on the cross and drew all men into Himself. He planted Himself in all men. Brought us out of a dimension where we had to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow by sweating great drops of blood and redeeming the ground. Redeeming US. He doesn't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on us. He doesn't want us to suffer. He wants us to to do more than just survive. He wants us to thrive. He wants us to enjoy our life--HIS life. That's why He gave it to us--so that we could experience and enjoy it by letting Him live His own life in us, and through us, and as us. I heard a preacher say it like this: "When you work, God will rest. And when you rest, God will work." He won't force His will on you, but He does make it available to you. He has given us everything, because He has given us Himself. We don't have to try to earn it. We can simply receive it and release it. We can LEARN (and that's going to be a big part of my focus here) the unforced rhythms of grace. We can learn and grow in grace. Because grace gives us space. Grace doesn't disqualify us when we mess up or make mistakes. We don't have to try so hard all the time. We can rest. We can let the love of God flow from a place and a posture of rest!

Being filled with the grace, and mercy, and forgiveness, and love of God is what allows--equips and empowers us--to be who we are. Who we really are. Which is the righteouesness of God in Christ. Jesus--God in the flesh, love in a body... God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body--is our true identity. The love nature is our "new" (true) nature. We are new creatures in Christ. And we are in Christ... because Christ is in us. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth He drew all men into Himself. And planted Himself in all men. He brought us out of the world an into the Kingdom. He gave us everything we could ever want or need by giving us Himself. Jesus gave His life FOR us, and He gave His life TO us. In the Bible when it talks about names, the word means nature. It is not just what we do. It is who we are. God IS love. And because God lives in us... LOVE lives in us! And because love lives in us... we can love. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Hurting people hurt people. But loved people love people. What's inside comes out--or rather, what you believe is inside comes out. That's why knowing and believing the love of God is so important. When you know and believe that God loves you, you can love Him back by loving people. You can stop trying to get something you think you haven't got, simply by accepting that you have it. By receiving and releasing the love of God. That's how you experience it. If you want to feel love... love somebody. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. It doesn't come from trying to get something we think we haven't got (by trying to be someone we're not). It comes from God filling us up, and then us filling ourselves up to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Receiving and releasing. Receiving BY releasing. Releasing by receiving. I'm telling you, if you let God love you to the point that His love is the focus and center of your life... that love WILL come out. Naturally. It's too big and too good not to. And, again, it's not just what we do. It's who we are. Love is our nature. Fueled by the grace of God. It is His grace in our lives that let's us be who we really are. Without fear of making mistakes. Mistakes happen. And then we learn from them so that we don't keep making them. Learning and growing. That's life. So don't get down on yourself if you mess up. When you know better, you can do better. When you know (and believe) the love of God, you can experience that love by giving it away. By sharing it. By loving the people God puts into your path. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you become in doing it. The more you do it, the more natural it is. Until it's not even something you need to think about. Until you don't have to fake it 'til you make it. Because you're so full of it that it just comes out... naturally. You do what you do heartily--to the best of your ability, and because it's in your heart to do it. You do what you do because it's who you are. You love because you are loved. You love because you are... love!