If you push someone, one of two things will happen. 1. They will fall over. 2. They will push back. Neither one of those choices is probably what you were looking for. So my point for today is, "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but greivous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). To me its about de-escalation. Making things better if you can, but (almost more importantly) not making things worse. Jesus kind of said it like this, "You have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39). Such an important passage of Scripture. Because we have in our heads (in our hearts?) that we can't let anybody get one over on us. That we have to retaliate. Or even get our retaliation in first. I've seen it so many times--people reject people so that they can't find themselves in a position to be rejected. "I'll hurt you so you can't have a chance to hurt me." And I believe that comes from being hurt. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Hurting people hurt people. Once you've been burned you'll do just about anything to avoid that flame. The idea of keeping or guarding your heart by closing it down. But that's not what the heart is for. That's not how you keep it, or guard it. You keep your heart by keeping it open. By keeping it open to love. By letting God love you and loving Him back by loving people. No matter what. Blessed are the peacemakers, right? So, really, there's a third option when someone pushes you. You don't have to push back. And you don't have to fall over. You can stand firm, firmly planted on the Rock that is Jesus. The Rock that is love. You can let someone yell at you and, as the Message Bible puts it, "A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-flame" (Proverbs 15:1 MSG). Someone yells at you--and realistically its probably not about YOU. How people treat you says more about THEM then it does about YOU--and you say, "Its ok. I hear you. I'm here FOR you. If you need to yell, yell. Then we'll get to the bottom of this and figure it out." Man... that's so powerful. Turning away wrath and getting back to good. Defusing that anger so that things can move forward in a productive way. I always tell my kid, "Feel what you feel, but don't let it control you." Because emotions aren't bad. Getting upset isn't bad. Being sad isn't bad. Its when we let those emotions consume us, or control us... when we're out of control... that's when things take a turn for the worse. So don't push people. That's number one. And if someone pushes you, stand firm. Don't retaliate. Don't resist, or fight back against, the "evil." Let the storm rage, and then let them know that its ok. That you're there for them. That you love them. A soft answer. A gentle response. A kind word (Word... Jesus... Love). It makes all the difference. Its literally the difference between life and death, but we'll get there tomorrow to finish this Rant series off.

Its ok to disagree. In fact, I won't argue with people. I simply agree to disagree. If you don't want to pick up what I'm laying down... that's ok with me. I have no interest in forcing my beliefs--about anything--on anybody. I'd rather take it easy. Because easy does it. And guess what else: just because we don't agree on something, that doesn't mean we can't get along. In that case, in most cases, its about finding common ground. Finding something we CAN agree on. And, listen, if the thing we disagree on is--for example--drinking, let's say. You drink, I don't. That's ok. I'm not going to try to convince you that I'm right and you're wrong. But I'm not going to go to the bar with you either. I'm not going to buy booze for you. I'm not going to enable you. I can still love you. Still fellowship with you. And at the same time I can still stay true to my own beliefs. That's ok. You don't have to compromise your values, or who you are. You can, and should, always stay true to yourself. That's important. And even in relationships, where compromise is so vitally important, you don't have to give up who you are. You can go out of your way to accomodate people. Yes. Look at 1 Corinthians 8:13, "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend." If what we do will cause someone else to stumble... then its not worth it to do it. Because people are more important. People are more important than what you want to eat. In fact, I've long said there are only two things that ARE truly important; God and people. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. And if you love someone, you will do whatever you can to keep them from stumbling. You will go out of your way to try to help them. But I gotta say, condemnation has never helped anybody. Ever. Even the girl caught in adultery. Jesus didn't condemn here, and that grace equipped and empowered her to go out and sin no more. It wasn't Jesus telling her what was wrong with her. It was Jesus telling her what was RIGHT with her. So, like the title of this Rant series says, "Easy does it." Take it easy on people. Help where you can, but make sure you're not hurting whatever you do. Sometimes less is more. If you can't get involved without making things worse... don't get involved. Not everything is for you. Not everything is your business. You can't fix everything. Sometimes you need to just let go and let God. Love people, yes. But sometimes the best you can do is love people from a distance. Taking it easy means taking it easy ON people... AND it means taking it easy WITH people. There are some people that I can't be around. It wouldn't be good for anybody. So rather than trying to force the issue, I just let sleeping dogs lie. I don't see any reason to poke the bear. I prefer to avoid confrontation. And sometimes its unavoidable. But I think it best to go out of my way to do my part so that things can stay on an even keel. Don't rock the boat, unless you're ready to go for a swim. Be cool, as much as its in your power to be cool. Easy... easy does it.

I know I claim almost all Bible verses as my favorites, but this is one of my favorites: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" (Matthew 5:9). Now for a lot of my childhood I was the middle child. Then my mom had the second set of kids and I became one of the older boys. But I always kind of had that middle child mentality. Being in the middle, but keeping my head down so as to get through unscathed. Trying to keep the peace. Trying to keep things on an even keel. Don't rock the boat, that was my philosophy. But here's the deal--and I say this all the time--you can't give what you don't have. You must be at peace in order to make peace. And that peace, well, let me give you another memory verse. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). We DO have peace. And not just any peace. The peace of God. The peace of love. I think most people kind of define "peace" as the absence of enemies. And that might be as the world giveth. But I don't think we trust that at all. When things are going ok, its like we're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. God's peace doesn't have another shoe. There is nothing hanging over our heads. Its love. Love is what gives us peace, and love is how we make peace. I'm always Ranting about keeping and guarding our hearts. This goes with that. Don't let it be troubled. Don't be afraid. Let the perfect love of God cast out that fear. So that we can love fearlessly. So that we can live fearlessly! I'm telling you, the fire in you (the LOVE in you) is always hotter than the fire you're in. And even if things are burning, we can walk through the fire like those three Hebrew boys who came out of the fiery furnace smelling like roses! Only their bonds were burned off. Because LOVE is the consuming fire. Love does what nothing else can. It gives us that peaceful, easy feeling. Love is our blessed assurance that no matter what happens... we'll be ok. We'll get through it. We'll be able to learn and grow. Its a journey. A marathon, not a sprint. A never-ending life-long journey into the heart of the matter. Which is love. God's heart is the heart of the matter. God's heart beating with love in our chests. That's how we are called (or identified as) the Son(s) of God. We make peace, by giving people the peace that Jesus has given to us. That unshakeable Rock that we can stand on no matter how much shaking is going on. Receiving and releasing, right? He IS our peace. LOVE is our peace. And while you can't give what you don't have, you can only give what you do have. So strive to make peace. As my hippie of a mother says, "Make love, not war." We don't need to force people to think like we do, or act like we do, or believe like we do. We can just love them no matter what. We can live and let live. We can be peacemakers. Support people. Edify people. And, most of all, love people!

I've never understood why people find it so important to make other people agree with them. I've always thought it was ok to agree to disagree. Like with all of my favorite things--they are MY favorite things. They don't have to be yours. You don't even have to like them. And we can still get along. But for the most part I really do try to go along to get along. I draw my line as far away as possible. So if you still find a way to cross that line... I figure that's on you. You cross the line, you get what you get. But here's what I want to really talk about in this Rant series: "Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with--even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently" (Romans 14:1 MSG). What I really want to talk about in this Rant series is the old saying, "You don't know what people are going through... so be kind." Everybody has their own history. Their own baggage. And while in some ways it might be similar to yours, its still unique. History is HIS story. Or HER story. And we see things through the lense of our history. Our experiences shape us. If you've been lied to, its hard to trust people. It just is. Especially if the person who lied to you was important to you. You let someone in, and you get burned, and your natural reaction is to try as hard as you can to avoid the fire. Because you don't want to get burned again. I remember something my dad always said about big mistakes--well, he'll probably only do that once. And that was one of my dad's big things: Make a mistake, but only make it once. Learn from it. Because when you know better you can do better. And I truly believe that a lot of the time you have to do things wrong before you CAN do them right. So if we're jumping on people every time they stumble... if we're kicking people while they're down... we're not giving them that opportunity to learn from their mistakes. We're not giving them grace to grow. Look at 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." Growing in grace. The grace to grow. Growing in the knowledge of who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. And giving others that same grace. Letting people run their own race. Its all one race, but maybe we're on different laps. Maybe we're in different lanes. Taking different paths to the finish line. That's ok. That's good. Because, like I was trying to say earlier, not everybody wants what I want. Not everybody likes what I like. Not everybody thinks what I think. And that doesn't necessarily make me right and them wrong. Variety is the spice of life, right? God doesn't want robots. He wants unique individuals. That's the way He made us. So take it easy on people. Easy does it. Let people be who they are and do what they do. Don't jump on people. Don't try to force your understanding of Jesus down people's throats. They'll choke on it. Gag on it. Run FROM Him instead of TO Him. What I'm really trying to say, in a nutshell, is just love people. Right where they are. No matter where that is.

This is my favorite one, which is why I saved it for last: "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Because this verse tells us HOW to put on the new man that God has already put on us. Because, again, the Bible says we HAVE put on the new man. Already done did. But its the idea of sinking into the garment that has already been put on us. Getting comfortable in it. Breaking it in. And the way we do that... is renewing ourselves in the knowledge of Him who created us. What you see is what you be. You are what you eat. We are Son(s) of God, but we don't know what exactly what that looks like. But we know that when we see Him we will be like Him. Because when we see Him... we see our true selves. Because Jesus IS our true self. Our new (true) identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. Its the same way that we are conformed to the image of God, but we are continually transformed (into what we've already been transformed, or conformed into) by the renewing of our mind. The mind of Christ. And we let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us... by using it. By thinking the thoughts of God. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. Thoughts, really, of love. Its all about love. Love is the Word of God. And He speaks what He thinks. What's inside comes out. It has to. Its too big not to. Or, rather, what you BELIEVE is inside will come out. That's why faith is so important. And faith comes from hearing the Word of God. One more time: Love. When you hear those magic words, "I love you," it does something. And I'm not talking about how people say those words to each other a lot of the time when they really mean, "I want something from you." Or, "I want you." Because love--real, true, sacrificial, agape love--is never about getting. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Never has, never will. Even on the cross when Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew all men into Himself, what He did was He GAVE Us His life. Made it available to us without forcing it upon it. Its the way of grace and the walk of faith, right? God made the way and we respond to it with the walk. He put the new man on us, and we put on what HE put on. We receive it. Receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Release it by receiving it. Let what He's put inside us flow out of us... by knowing and believing its in there. Knowing. Renewed in the knowledge. And I'm not talking about head knowledge. I'm talking about knowledge that passes knowledge. Heart knowledge. Experiential knowledge. Because God always puts His money where His mouth is. He doesn't just sing it. He brings it. Jesus said the greatest love a man can have is to lay down your life for your friends. And then He went to the cross and did just that. And because of that sacrifice, that love, we can love Him back by loving each other. We can be renewed in the knowledge of who we are, as we learn who HE is. Who we are in Christ is who Christ is in us. For the last time today: God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body!

Let's talk about the armor of God today. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." And you all know I don't preach or Rant about the devil very much. But to put it simply, he is the accuser, right? Coming at you with lies. Or perhaps trying to dreg up the past to use against you. Literally a bully who will try to dominate and control you. Sometimes even under the guise of "love." But that's not love. Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love doesn't keep a record of rights and wrongs. Love is what protects us from those lies. Love is what protects us, even, from the mistakes we've made in the past. Because while we can't pretend like the past didn't happen, we don't have to let it define us. We can learn from our mistakes. Learn and grow. Because when you know better, you can do better. When you know who you really are, you don't have to try to be anybody else. When you know the truth, you can ignore the lie. And I think you can literally just ignore it. You don't have to fight it. Religious folk always want something to fight about. Something to attack. But I'm more of the mind of, "Blessed are the peacemakers." I don't think we need to condemn, and control, and bully people to get them to do what we want. I think we can live and let live. Love people no matter what. And that doesn't mean enabling people. That doesn't mean being ok with any and every thing. To that point, I always say, "Trust your gut." If something makes my tummy hurt, that's something I'm probably going to avoid. Stay away from. Say no to. God gave us instincts, we ought to use them. So what I think this armor is, rather than something that allows us to attack each other... is really more of a shield. I always thought Captain America was one of the coolest super heroes. Partly because he uses a shield. Because, I mean, people shoot at him. Quite a bit. So what better to have than something to block those shots? The world is always taking shots at us. Trying to knock us down. Or drag us down. Lying on us. Lying to us. But I'm telling you, the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. Because the fire in you is the consuming fire of God. The consuming fire of love. And love never fails. So when we read a verse like Romans 12:20, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head," we need to understand that the goal is not to burn anyway, or hurt anyone. The goal is to melt their hurts. To destroy our enemies by making them our friends. The armor protects us, and the fire inside consumes everything but itself. The fire of love consumes everything but love. So that only love remains. Think about what that would look like--that would be a world where we wouldn't even need armor, right? We wouldn't need to defend ourselves. And while Jesus never defended Himself, to the point of not even answering when He was on trial, He has given us the way. The more excellent way. Look at 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." And, for the record, "escape" there means an exit or end. Which is to say that it came to pass, not to stay. Love never fails because love endures. We can endure. When we're going through hell, we need to keep on going. The only true failure is giving up. Getting knocked down and staying down. This armor that we are to put on is what helps us stand. And when Jesus, when LOVE, is holding you up... nothing can drag you down. So keep that head up. That you may be able to stand against any and everything that comes up!

Tonight I want to link three memory verses together under the umbrella of put on the New Man--which, as I hope we're starting to see, doesn't mean changing into the New Man. It simply means putting on what God has already put on us. Getting comfortable in our new (true) skin, with our new (true) nature. And the only way we'll ever get comfortable being who we really are is by giving ourselves (and each other) grace to learn and grow. Maturity is a process. You have to wear clothes more than once, or wear shoes more than once, before you break them in. Ok. So look at 1 John 3:9 to start, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." That's where I want to start. The New Man CANNOT sin. Because He (yeah, I capitalized that on purpose, Jesus is the New Man, Jesus is our true identity and He gets the capital H) is a believer. And sin is unbelief. So by definition a believer cannot sin, because a believer cannot unbelieve. But what are we believing? The truth of course. The truth that God is love and He loves you. The truth that, "There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1). This is so important. So key. Because, unfortunately, a lot of "religious folk" spend everything they've got condemning everything they can find. Including themselves. Especially themselves. But guys, what about grace? You know, mercy? And the best definition I've heard of those two terms goes like this, "Mercy is not getting what you deserve, and grace is getting what you don't deserve." You know, like getting a second chance after you've royally screwed up. Because there is no condemnation. Look at our final verse, about the woman caught in adultery. Literally caught red-handed. The religious folk ready to stone her to death. Then this happens--Jesus happens. Jesus tells him who is without sin to throw the first stone. Then He asks the woman where her accusers are. He asks if anyone has condemned her. "She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more" (John 8:11). Do you smell what I'm cooking here? Jesus wasn't telling her she better not sin again. He was empowering her to stop. By NOT condemning her. By letting her know that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. By letting her know that once you believe its impossible for you to unbelieve. You're not destined to sin. That's a myth. You don't have to believe everything you think. You can set your affection on things above. On things like mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, and... love. You can put on all these good things. You can put on the whole armor of God. And you can let the rest of it--even the accusations of others--roll off you like water off a duck's back. You can always be who you are, no matter what's going on around you. The fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. You simply have to know and believe that you are who God says you are. Not a sinner, but a saint. His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased!

"Are you putting me on?" You know, like when you're trying to fool someone. Trick them. I guess these days its called trolling people. Or at least that's what my seven year old son tells me. But that idea of being fake in order to get one over on someone is the exact opposite of what we're talking about here in this Rant series. What we're talking about is putting on what God has already put on us. Sinking into that garment. Getting comfortable in it, and with it. Understanding that what He has put on us (IN US) is our new (true) nature. And it takes time to get comfortable with something new. I get that. Maturity is a process. Learning and growing. Not faking it until you make it, but doing your best and forgetting the rest. You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't make any mistakes. And you learn more from failure than success. In fact, the only true failure is the failure to try. So don't get discouraged. Even on your bad days. Especially on your bad days. When you know who you are... you never have to try to be someone you're not. You can just be who you are. You don't have to put on a false face when you can look in the mirror (which is Jesus, which is love), and see your true face. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). The more we look into that mirror and see Jesus--our true identity, God in the flesh, love in a body... God in OUR flesh, love in OUR body--the more we understand who we really are. And in understanding, BE who we really are. Changed from glory to glory. Did you catch that? We start at glory. Its not a change in the sense that we start at crap and then change into something better. Its a "change" in the sense that we didn't know who we were, and now we do. Its the idea of being transformed (into what we've already been transformed into) by the renewing of our minds. By letting the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us. And we do that... by using it. Remember in our key verse in Colossians 3:9-10 it opens up with "Lie not one to another"? That's so important. We need to be transparent. We need to be who we are. Even when we're struggling. Again, especially when we're struggling. The struggle is real. And its not good that man should be alone. We need each other. Knowing that someone has your back no matter what is so vitally important to being able to not just survive this life we've been given, but thrive in it. Shared experience is so much more powerful than individual experience. I wrote a whole Rant series about how amazing it is to share your life with someone. But you can't do that if you're lying. To them OR to yourself. Honesty is so important. Telling the truth in love. Especially when you understand that the truth IS love. Its all about love, baby! Telling people you love them... and showing people you love them. Not putting them on. Not putting on over on them. But giving them what you've got. Everything you have and everything you are. Putting on the love that God has put on you. Putting the love on them!

I'm not trying to put you on. I'm trying to get you to see that we have already been given everything we need, and all we have to do is put it on. Look at Colossians 3:9-10, "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." Now let me start at the end. We HAVE put off the old man. We HAVE put on the new man. This isn't something that needs to happen. This is what happened on the cross. This is what happened when God conformed us to the image of His Son. When Jesus was lifted up from the earth and drew all men into Himself. When Jesus planted all men in Him. This is the truth--the ultimate truth of the universe that God is love and He loves you. Not because of what you do, but because of who you are. Because of who HE is. So lying to one another, really, is sinning. Because sin is unbelief. Telling each other (or ourselves) that God doesn't love us unless. Telling each other (or ourselves) that we have to do in order to be. And those are the old man's deeds, by the way: trying to earn God's love and acceptance through works and labor. Works don't work. You can't earn a gift. If you have to earn it, its not love. Love is freely given and must be received. Received and released. And I've long said the best (perhaps only) way to receive God's love is to release it. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you love someone... that means, on some level, you believe God loves you. And the more you show, the more it will grow. Love feeds on love and grows and grows like a Holy Ghost wildfire. Point being--we have what we need. We have been blessed with all Spiritual blessings. We have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. We don't need anything. God wanted us to have it all so He gave it to us. God wanted the best for us so He gave the best to us. He gave us His only begotten Son. He gave us Jesus. He gave us His Spirit. His heart. Himself. And while we have already put on the New Man... well, let me say this: The phrase "have put on" in Colossians 3:10 is number 1746 in Strong's Greek Concordance and it means, "in the sense of sinking into a garment." Basically, putting on what we've put on. Getting comfortable in it. You know that pair of pants that you absolutely love because you've had them for so long and they fit just right? They're almost like a second skin. Like you're not even wearing anything extra. Its just so natural. That's what maturity is. Knowing who we are--who we really are, which is who we are in Christ, which is who Christ is in us. So, again, we don't NEED to put anything on. We simply need to get comfortable with what we have on. It needs to become second nature. No, it needs to become OUR nature. Period. Our new (true) nature. The love nature. GOD put it on us. That happened. We have it. We don't need it. So let's start enjoying what we have. Let's start getting comfortable with who we are and start being who we are!

I started this Rant series with this verse in Genesis 2:24, and its where I want to end it too. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." And the word "wife" is number 802 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance. It means, "together, wife, woman." And that's the point of my whole Rant series! Together. Walking hand in hand. Taken from the rib--side--of the man so that neither is higher than the other. Its a partnership. Any real relationship has to be a partnership. And it has to be rooted and grounded in love. That's what cleaving together is all about. That's what being one flesh is all about. Making that decision--that vow--to share your life with someone. To forsake all others. To know that, at the end of the day, its husband and wife. Figuring things out with each other. Standing back to back against any and every thing. But think about that for a minute--leaving mother and father. Leaving that safety net and striking out on your own. That can be scary. And, I mean, I loaded up my truck and drove to California shortly after graduating from high school, so for me it wasn't something I dreaded. But the point I'm making is, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Genesis 2:18). The reason God created the woman was because was, in a sense, incomplete without her. It wasn't good for man to be alone. We aren't supposed to try to do this life all by ourselves. Its too big. Honestly, its too hard. What's the old saying? "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." Its a marathon, not a sprint. And in some ways its a relay race. Handing the baton off when you've done your part and trusting your partner to do their part. Listen: Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. It is a sign of wisdom. Because we all need help. And for a long time in our lives its our parents who help us. But there comes a time when we have to put away childish things and enter into adulthood. Maturity. Now, that's not to say we have to do it ourselves. The opposite. We simply find a partner that, in a sense, completes us. And I'm not saying we are incomplete as in we're not enough. Not good enough. But I AM saying, there are some things my amazing, beautiful wife can do that I can't. Like making phone calls, for example. Off the top of my head. So when you feel like you CAN'T do everything... you're right. But you're not supposed to. You're supposed to have someone to lean on. But don't forget that its a two way street. YOU are the person THEY can lean on. Receiving and releasing. Letting people help you and helping people. Again: Partnership. Hand in hand. Picking up the slack where you can, and letting them pick up your slack when you need to. Figuring things out together. Not one leading and one following, but both walking together. Does that take hard work? Compromise? Sacrifice? Of course it does. But is it worth it? Of course it is!